Himala ('Miracle') is a 1982 Philippine religious drama film directed by Ishmael Bernal and produced by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines. It stars Nora Aunor as a young woman living in the province who claims to have seen a Marian apparition. The film story and script written by Ricky Lee was inspired by a series of alleged Marian apparitions experienced by schoolgirls from 1966 to 1972 on Cabra Island in Lubang, Occidental Mindoro.MiracleHunter, Inc. (2008). "Marian Apparition Claims of the 20th Century". The Miracle Hunter. Retrieved on March 28, 2011.Pythias08 (November 27, 2008). "CNN Screening Room's feature on Himala". YouTube. Retrieved on March 28, 2011.
The film premiered at the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival, where it won Best Film and Best Actress for Aunor, among other awards. It then became the first Filipino film to be included in the Competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2012, on its 30th anniversary, Himala became the first film to be restored as part of the ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project, with a premiere at the 69th Venice International Film Festival as part of the Venice Classics section.
While getting positive reviews upon on its initial release, Himala is still widely considered today as one of the greatest Filipino films of all time. Nora Aunor garnered worldwide popularity and is best known for her performance in the film as the purported seer and healer Elsa. Her portrayal is considered by most Filipino critics as one of the best of her career.(2008-10-27). "Himala in CNN film poll" . Inquirer.net .Retrieved on March 28, 2011. On November 11, 2008, Himala won the Viewer's Choice Award for the Best Film of All Time from the Asia-Pacific Region in the 2008 CNN Asia Pacific Screen Awards beating nine other films voted by thousands of film fans around the world."Filipino film 'Himala' wins CNN APSA Viewer's Choice Award". CNN.com. Retrieved on March 28, 2011.Dlanorsk5 (December 26, 2008). "Nora Aunor HIMALA as CNN Viewer Choice Award as Best Film in Asia-Pacific". YouTube. Retrieved on March 28, 2011. The ten finalists were chosen by critics, industry insiders and actors.Plaza, Gerry (November 12, 2008). inquirer.net, "CNN: ‘Himala’ best Asian film in history" . Inquirer.net. Retrieved on March 28, 2011.
Himala was later adapted by Lee and Vincent A. de Jesus as a stage musical in 2003, and into a musical film titled Isang Himala in 2024, which is an entry for the 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Plot The small town of Cupang, located in an arid landscape, is suffering from a drought which the townsfolk believe is a curse, divine retribution placed upon them for driving away a leper years before.
During a solar eclipse, a girl named Elsa reports seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary near a dried tree atop a barren hill, where her adoptive mother Salíng found her as a baby. The local priest interrogates and doubts her, but Elsa soon after engages in faith healing for the residents. She is assisted by her friends Chayong, Sepa, and Baldo who eventually became part of her "Seven Apostles", which later includes the entrepreneur Mrs. Alba. Word spreads, drawing pilgrims and the curious to Cupang and Elsa's house, which is marked with a large banner proclaiming “Elsa Loves You”. At the same time, enterprising residents of Cupang begin selling food, religious articles, offering accommodation–all capitalizing on the sudden influx of local and foreign patients and tourists.
A Manila-based filmmaker named Orly arrives in town to make a documentary on Elsa, interviewing her and those who personally know her. Around the same time, Elsa's childhood friend Nimia, now a prostitute, returns to Cupang. Nimia establishes a kabaret (nightclub/brothel) for tourists, which is later ordered closed by the Seven Apostles.
One day, Orly approaches the town priest in the church's confessional. He tells the priest that he saw two drugged youths from Manila rape Elsa and Chayong on the hill of apparitions. Orly tries to unburden himself of his tremendous guilt and is unsure whether to publish his video of the incident.
A cholera epidemic spreads throughout Cupang, with Sepa's two children dying after eating tainted meat. Chayong is still traumatised by the rape, so she hangs herself out of shame. As the townsfolk process the three bodies to the graveyard, a fourth coffin follows; the deceased's crazed mother chastises Elsa, accusing her of failing to heal her child. Authorities quarantine Elsa's house, closing it off from would-be patients, while Elsa blames herself for the deaths and decides to stop healing. Eventually, the pilgrims and tourists stop coming, returning the town to its sleepy state.
Elsa is seen throwing up from morning sickness, indicating her pregnancy from the rape. Mrs. Alba erroneously concludes that it is an "immaculate conception" (when she meant virgin birth), and declares it proof of Elsa's sanctity. At that exact moment, thunder roars from the skies, followed by a sudden downpour. The townsfolk rejoice, convinced the miracle has returned and the curse on Cupang has finally been lifted. Mrs. Alba and the crowd rush to Elsa's house and call out to her while dancing in the rain. Elsa emerges from her window, and commands her devotees to assemble the townsfolk and pilgrims on the hill.
Speaking before an eager crowd, an initially apprehensive Elsa confesses that there were no miracles, no sightings of the Virgin, and that man invents gods, miracles, and curses. In the middle of her impassioned speech, a gun is fired at Elsa, mortally wounding her. A stampede ensues, with the old, the children, and the infirm being injured or killed in the mass hysteria.
Lying in Salíng's arms, Elsa takes her last breath as she gazes at the sky, while Orly and the press record her final moments. Baldo announces Elsa's death, eliciting wailing and weeping from the people who then rush towards the makeshift stage. Elsa's body is lifted and carried into a waiting ambulance, lying as though she was crucified – as the throng clambers to touch her. People scamper all over the hill and its precincts to follow the ambulance speeding away. Against her husband's will, Sepa addresses the crowd, proclaiming Elsa a saint (by implying she is a victim soul) and how they must continue her devotion to the Virgin. Sepa and the congregation then fall on their knees and creep up the hill, repeatedly reciting the Hail Mary.Lee, Ricardo. "Si Tatang at mga HImala ng Ating Panahon - Himala", p. 54-93. Bagong Likha Publications, Inc. (1988).
Cast
Production
Pre-production Ricky Lee began to write the script for Himala in 1976 under director, Mike de Leon. Ricky Lee (although requested to be uncredited), Gil Quito and Doy del Mundo together co-written Itim. Quito told Lee, about a female faith healer he and a friend visited in Malolos, Bulacan. The faith healer was cured of cancer by another faith healer, leading her to be a faith healer herself. She insists that medicine is just as good as the faith of people, but soon her cancer came back and eventually took her life. This intrigued Lee, enough so that he began to think about writing a story revolving around a faith healer, and soon he and Quito visited another faith healer in Tondo, Manila. While they were visiting, Lee and Quito remembered the story of Belinda Villas, of Cabra Island in Lubang, Occidental Mindoro. In 1966, the eleven-year-old Villas and several friends reported experiencing visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary dressed in white and blue, with her as the principal seer eventually healing people. The island experienced a boom in commerce, and this became the main inspiration for Lee's screenplay.
With the help of Bibsy Carballo, Lee approached several producers to promote the script but was rejected several times. He entered the script to a contest by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines where it became one of the selected scripts for production. Lee was given a month to come up with the final draft and was given ₱40,000. Several aspects of the script were revised. One of the unchanged parts is the casting of Nora Aunor as Elsa.
Alternate versions Lee came up with different endings for the script of Himala. In one version, Elsa did not die; the townsfolk gradually stopped flocking to her and she reverted to being an ordinary person. Many years later, Orly chances upon Elsa drawing water from an old well, having fallen into obscurity along with her "miracle." In another ending, Elsa was resurrected like Jesus Christ. In the end and the beginning, Elsa's devotees are depicted awaiting her return to continue healing the sick townsfolk.
Development Shooting began on July 13, 1982, with the arrival of the art department in Paoay, Ilocos Norte led by production designer, Raquel Villavicencio. The production team needed a location for the main setting of the film: a barren and arid land where plants hardly grow and where the soil cracks, suggesting that a slight rain would be considered a miracle by inhabitants. The problem encountered by the team is the shooting took place during the rainy season in the Philippines, and the film was to premiere at the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival. The region of Ilocos was selected as shooting location of the film after scouting locations around the country for the driest place.
Barangay Calayab in Laoag was used to depict the village of Cupang, with ten carpenters working 24/7 on the set. Around 3,000 extras were employed for the film. Director Ishmael Bernal also asked people actually inflicted by various conditions and diseases to portray the infirm within the film.
Bernal also called for the film to be minimalist, direct to the point, and "straight to the soul", discouraging unnecessary dramatic effects. For example, the characters of Elsa and Nimia stood still, with minimal gestures in the scene where they argue as it focused on the dialogue.
Another key element of the film was the bare tree where the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared. The tree was against the sky on top of a hill, but it was actually transplanted to the originally barren hilltop. The production team found the bare tree among green, leafy ones near the area, and it was discovered to be a hibiscus after it began sprouting leaves.
For the final scene at Suba Beach, the 3,000 extras were called to participate which were divided into eight groups. Rain fell and the August 6 shooting had to be postponed, while several of the extras fell sick. By the end of August, shooting for the final scene was finished. Eight cameras were used with one placed below a Meralco crane. 3,000 extras were still used for the scene which was done in one take. Production costs for the film grew due to delays caused by rain and in at least one occasion, a sandstorm. The shooting for the film took two months.
Subject and impact Himala is the story of Elsa, a barrio lass whose supposed visions of the Virgin Mary change her life, turning her into an overnight sensation and causing mass hysteria in a poor, isolated northern Philippine village suffering from a drought. The film is centred on the issues of religious faith and faithlessness, morality, and truth. As Elsa, Aunor delivered the film's most iconic line in the climax:
Release Himala became a sleeper hit, earning ₱30 million, becoming one of the highest grossing Filipino films in the 1980s.