Blessings of the Land

Blessings of the Land (Filipino: Biyaya ng lupa)[1] is a 1959 Filipino drama film directed by Manuel Silos. It was entered into the 10th Berlin International Film Festival.[2] The film won Best Picture and Best Story from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences. In 1960, it was shown at the Asian Film Festival held in Tokyo. The story was written by Celso Al. Carunungan, while the screenplay was written by Carunungan together with Pablo Naval. The movie was produced by LVN Pictures.[3]

Biyaya ng Lupa
Film poster
Directed byManuel Silos
Produced byDña. Narcisa B. Vda. de León
Screenplay byPablo Naval
Story by
StarringRosa Rosal
Music byJuan Silos Jr.
CinematographyRemigio Young
Edited byIke Jarlego Sr.
Production
company
Distributed byABS-CBN Film Productions (restored version)
Release date
  • 16 December 1959 (1959-12-16)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino

The film is a melodrama about the life of a Filipino couple residing in a village. The couple's deaf-mute son, Miguel, is tested and "must rise above his handicap" after the tragedies experienced by the family.[1]

Plot

Maria and Jose begin their married life by establishing a countryside orchard of lanzones. They soon have four children, namely Miguel, Arturo, Angelita, and Lito. They live happily in the community, until Bruno comes along; he is a widower believed to have killed his own wife. Bruno wants to remarry and courts Choleng, a niece of Jose. Choleng dies by falling from a cliff while trying to evade Bruno. Bruno goes to the mountains to hide from the angry villagers, then returns and rapes Jose's daughter, Angelita. Together with the villagers, Jose pursues Bruno but is shot by the latter.[3]

Jose’s son, Arturo, goes to Manila, while Jose’s other son Miguel (the deaf and mute) courts Gloria, a woman in the village. Arturo returns from Manila accompanied by a woman from the city. Arturo succeeds in convincing his mother, Maria, to mortgage the rice fields before going back to Manila.[3]

A landowner from another town hires Bruno to destroy the lanzones harvest of Maria’s family. Bruno and his group fail because of the villagers. Miguel kills Bruno. Arturo comes back from Manila and reconciles with his family.[3]

Cast

Release

Blessings of the Land was released in Philippine theaters on 16 December 1959.

On 1 October 2020, the restored version of the film was live streamed on the social networking site Facebook by ABS-CBN Film Restoration (also known as Sagip Pelikula).[4]

Accolades
Year Group Category Category Result
1960 Asian Film Festival[3] Best Supporting Actor Leroy Salvador Won
Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear for Best Film Nominated
FAMAS Awards Best Picture Won
Best Original Story Celso Al. Carunungan Won
Best Actor Leroy Salvador Nominated
Tony Santos Nominated
Best Actress Rosa Rosal Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Marita Zobel Nominated
Best Director Manuel Silos Nominated
Best Screenplay Celso Al. Carunungan
Pablo Naval		 Nominated
Best Editing Enrique Jarlego Nominated
Best Musical Score Juan Silos Jr. Nominated
Best Sound Engineering Manuel Silos Nominated

References
  1. Pavlides, Dan. Biyaya Ng Lupa (1965), Alternate Title: Blessings of the Land, movies,nytimes.com
  2. "IMDB.com: Awards for Blessings of the Land". imdb.com. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  3. Biyaya ng Lupa (Blessings of the Land), kabayancentral.com
  4. ABS-CBN Film Restoration (1 October 2020). "ABS-CBN SAGIP PELIKULA and LVN PICTURES, INC. proudly present the restored BIYAYA NG LUPA directed by Manuel Silos from a script by Celso Al Carunungan & Pablo Naval..." Facebook (in English and Filipino). Facebook, Inc. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
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