Pulang Araw, the series on World War II produced by GMA-7 (streaming on Netflix), literally begins with a huge bang. It opens with a squadron of Japanese Mitsubishi Zeros attacking a group of Filipino guerrillas. The fighter planes nearly wipe out the entire troop. The few survivors continue the fight, among them, the show’s main protagonist Eduardo dela Cruz (Alden Richards).
Eduardo’s friend, however, is fatally injured. As the friend lies dying, Eduardo tries to comfort him. He’s going to make it, Eduardo tells him, and they’ll be home in no time. “Muli natin makikita ang ating mga minamahal sa buhay,” says he.
It was an unnatural way to talk in such a desperate situation. The movies that LVN Pictures produced in the 1950s come to mind. Soon enough, we realized the entire script was written this way. Words such as “nguni’t,” “dadatwat” and “salapi” are often used. This show is giving us a three-in-one review course on Philippine history, the Pilipino (or Filipino) language, and scriptwriting for Tagalog movies during the 1950s. It’s an interesting concept, and we pondered the possibility that the show would sound like a televised reading of Florante at Laura. It may sound quaint to some viewers, and it spoils this epic’s aim for realism.
Although the story begins at the height of WWII in 1943, the first six episodes focus on the childhood of Eduardo and his younger sister, Adelina (Barbie Forteza). Hence we’re shown lengthy flashbacks that take place in 1933. The young Eduardo (Francesco Maafi) and Adelina (Cassandra Lavarias) were raised by their single mother (Rhian Ramos). They’re actually half-siblings. He’s the illegitimate son of an American military officer. She’s the illegitimate daughter of a vaudeville star played by Epy Quizon. A dancer and impresario, Adelina’s biological daddy goes by the name of Julio Borromeo (a relative of Julie Borromeo?).
Eduardo and Adelina’s mother was Julio’s mistress. When she dies of tuberculosis, Adelina is forced to live with Julio and his wife Carmela (Angelu de Leon) and daughter Teresita (Cheska Maranan). Thus begins Adelina’s saga that’s straight out of Gulong ng Palad.
Meanwhile, Eduardo has to live with his nefarious aunt and uncle because his American father had rejected him. He thus grows up despising Americans. Ditto with Adelina and her half-sister, Teresita. Both have a crush on Hiroshi Tanaka (Miguel Gabriel Diokno), the refined and good-looking son of a Japanese immigrant. Their respective situations at that point would shape the way their view of the world as adults. It would also strongly influence their stance on the war.
Many episodes of Pulang Araw play like your typical telerserye. So we have Angelu de Leon as the show’s resident Bella Flores (the arch villainess of those teleserye years). Each of her scenes is merely a repeat of her previous scene. It starts with her tirades on her philandering husband and ends with her bullying Adelina who expertly cries on cue. Angelu de Leon never seems to have a change of costume. She’s always in red and bedecked in pearls even if she has nowhere to go.
Fans of old Tagalog movies will probably yearn for legendary villainess Etang Discher. Well, Discher is a character in Pulang Araw. Played by Lauren King, she’s seen as one of the vaudeville performers along with Chichay (Stephanie Dimaranan), Katy dela Cruz (Julie Ann San Jose), Pugo (Leo Bruno), and Togo (Dindo Divinagracia).
Epy Quizon is probably playing a fictional version of his father Dolphy. If so, it’s a brilliant piece of casting. But what could have been an engaging valentine to those entertainers of yore ends up just looking like an afterthought. Epy Quizon didn’t inherit the dancing skills of his revered father. The musical numbers are brief and uninspired.
A lot of the actors in Pulang Araw were also in GMA-7’s Maria Clara at Ibarra. First and foremost is Barbie Forteza (again cast as the female lead), Dennis Trillo (this time as a Japanese officer), and David Licauco (he plays the adult Hiroshi but he looks nothing like Miguel Gabriel Diokno). Also in the cast is Sanya Lopez as the adult Teresita. Each actor faces the challenge of making the unnatural sounding dialog sound natural. A few of them pass with flying colors, most notably the child actors, Epy Quizon, and Barbie Forteza.
When Barbie Forteza enters the picture she takes over the entire show
As the female lead, Barbie Forteza goes full throttle with the cuteness overload. It’s like she’s having fun with the script or even mocking it. When Barbie Forteza enters the picture she takes over the entire show. She gives each episode a boost in adrenaline and a sense of spontaneity. Her performance is never self-conscious.
With Pulang Araw, viewers do get to travel back to the 1940s. You can see where the budget went—the period costumes, the sets, and props. The sets sometimes look more like a theme park, but cinematographer Roman Theodossis makes watching the show feel like we’re leafing through the pages of old photo albums of our grandparents. Production designer Edgar Martin Littaua and art directors Pedrito Adove and Raymon Mercado also did well in bringing old Manila back to life. Much of the outdoor scenery is done with CGI which is also put to good use in the battle scenes. Yet the air raids by the Mitsubishi Zeros are hardly menacing. The fighter planes just zoom in and zoom out.
It also seems that our lead protagonists are isolated from the real world. There’s no mention of familiar names and places that audiences can identify with. Despite their connections with vaudeville, the world of Eduardo and Adelina is impervious to popular culture. This was the time when Filipinos their age were crazy about the jitterbug and the Glenn Miller orchestra. As my own dad recalled, anyone who owned a Glenn Miller album got invited to all the parties. That person’s Plus One would have to be Glenn Miller.
It was admirable of GMA-7 to invest a fortune in this historical project
It was admirable of GMA-7 to invest a fortune in this historical project. Pulang Araw is a well-mounted epic. Direction by Dominic Zapata is fluid and the camera work and editing is polished and crisp. Yet it’s the least we should expect of any local movie or TV show. It’s 2024 and it’s time we stopped raving about something that’s supposed to be a standard prerequisite anyway. While the show was marketed as a landmark production, it’s not that different from previous teleseryes. Fans of that genre will be pleased.
Coincidentally, one of the villains in the show appears to be channeling the brooding businessman played by Lee Min Ho in the K-drama Pachinko. In Pulang Araw, Jay Ortega plays a scheming Japanese businessman. He looks sinister in the role, but also dapper in his tailored suits. And like his debonair Korean counterpart, he looks ready for a GQ fashion shoot.
We saw Pachinko last year and we were impressed by the way the series portrayed the horrors of the Japanese Occupation of Korea. The actors were so persuasive they easily earned audience empathy. Pulang Araw doesn’t have that level of impact. Thus despite Jay Ortega’s similarity (or second-tier copycat attempt?) to Lee Min Ho, Pulang Araw just doesn’t have what it takes to win over the fans of K-drama.
