Basic Information: Directed: Elwood Perez; Story, screenplay: Toto Belano; Cast: Vilma Santos, Christopher De Leon, Alma Moreno; Executive producer: Lily Y. Monteverde; Original Music: Ernani Cuenco; Cinematography: Johnny Araojo; Film Editing: Rogelio Salvador; Released Date: August 17, 1979
Plot Description: Two women, formerly the best of friends, become the worst of enemies when they fall for the same man. - ABS-CBN (READ MORE)
A story of a woman whose closest friend became her worst rival. They were once very close to each other, almost like sisters. She even confides all her troubles and heartaches to this friend. Later, she sensed some changes in her friend's attitude towards her which became obvious when this friend of hers tried to outshine her in everything. Philippines Filipino Tagalog movie. - Amazon (READ MORE)
A story of a woman whose closest friend became her worst rival. They were once very close to each other-almost like sisters. She even confides all her troubles and heartaches to this friend. Later, she sensed some changes in her friend's attitude towards her which became obvious when this friend of hers tried to outshine her in everything. She tried not to mind this but worse came to worst when she discovered that the other woman in her love one's life is the very same friend thus a never-ending conflict arised. It stars: Vilma Santos, Christopher de Leon, Alma Moreno. - Trigon Video
Film Achievement: One of Regal Film's biggest hit in the 1980s.
Film Reviews: Elwood Perez's Magkaribal tackles a complex range of human relations but problematizes it quite rigorously. Ensuing from the competing affections of best friends Lily (Vilma Santos) and Cristy (Alma Moreno) over Erick Guererro (Christopher de Leon), a man who exploits their varying degrees of vulnerability and aspiration to upward mobility, the film seeks to understand what it is that women want and why they want it under circumstances both within and beyond the control of their limited reckoning. How the women in this film choose to make their lives difficult and at times miserable by staking their right to love a man in spite of the circumscriptions of traditional heterosexist norms, engenders a creative tension that enables women to appropriate the power to break the culture of silence and expresses sexuality in specific terms within specific situations. One woman has to inevitably give up the fight, but only after she has achieved a realization that strikes at the core of practical realities. It assumes strong feminist position and transforms female annoyance and obnoxiousness into virtues and codes for contemporary survival. Magkaribal tears asunder from within the patriarchal principle that informs the gender discourse of popular filmography. As the two women who previously clawed at each other over a man decide to leave the bone of contention behind, one senses feminine triumph.
Christopher de Leon embodies the physicality and psyche of a sexy beast whose complexity is at par with that of a De Niro or Pacino. De Leon, here in his prime epitomizes the dramatic range and animal magnetism akin to Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski. Alma Moreno's portrayal of a woman who desires a new life in the face of a very uncertain future is competent. The acting method employed here is able to twist the logic of cliché and reconstitutes the drama of yearning with passion and grace. Vilma Santos shows that the strength of women need not come from the repudiation of "feminine" traits and roles. Neither should they come from brute, shrewish adamance as exemplified by the stereotype, nor from machismo as embodied by her husband. Santos demonstrates that the concept of the beautiful, dainty, feminine and strong are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Rather, these form a character that is finally textured, complex and potentially oppositionist. Magkaribal is commendable for staging clever and well-thought out situations partaking of actual tension and punctuated by defamiliarizing comical scenarios and melodramatic circumventions. A certain style of filmmaking based on genre or other considerations is taken as any distinct mode of creating form in film and is made possible only against a background of options that makes a particular choice significant, meaningful and therefore recognizable stylistically. Film artists work within these possibilities in the process of making art, but are never limited to custom and habit. As an erudite art historian puts it, “The style forbids certain moves and recommends others as effective, but the degree of latitude left to the individual within this system varies at least as much as it does in games.” We can glean in Magkaribal traces of both rule and risk in the realm of style. Perez, with a degree of compassion for the material approximates this level of filmic grace and craftsmanship with effective and efficient execution which perfectly coheres with directorial design and genre expectations. - Jojo De Vera, Sari-saromg Sineng Pinoy (READ MORE)
Speaking of Elwood, the veteran, multi-awarded director says he has just stumbled upon a pristine, unexpurgated copy of “Magkaribal,” which he hopes to screen sometime soon. “Magkaribal” features explosive performances by Vilma Santos, Alma Moreno and Christopher de Leon. Incidentally, all three aforementioned landmark films tackling marital infidelity were topbilled by timeless star Vilma Santos. The Batangas governor was joined by Christopher de Leon in “Relasyon” and “Magkaribal” and by Phillip Salvador in “Adultery.” - Nestor Cuartero (READ MORE)
"...Elwood Perez and Vilma Santos colloborated in seven films (Ibulong Mo Sa Diyos 1988, Lipad Darna Lipad 1973, Magkaribal 1979, Masarap Masakit ang Umibig 1977, Nakawin Natin ang Bawat Sandali 1978, Pakawalan Mo Ako 1981, Pinay American Style 1979). The first one was the trilogy that he co-directed with two other director, Borlaza and Gosiengfiao (these three are the most underrated and under appreciated directors in the Philippines), the remake of Mars Ravelo comic super hero, Darna in Lipad Darna Lipad. The film was a record-breaking hit Box-office Film. They follow this up with a more mature projects as Vilma started to switched her image from sweet to a mature versatile actress, pairing her with Christopher DeLeon in five films starting with Masarap Masakit Ang Umibig in 1977. The Perez-Santos-DeLeon team produced seven blockbuster hits that gave Vilma two FAMAS best actress awards that secured her elevation to FAMAS highest honour, the FAMAS Hall of Fame award. She won in 1979 for Pakawalan Mo Ako and 1988 for Ibulong Mo Sa Diyos..." - RV (READ MORE)
"...Back in the late ’70s, “Magkaribal” was the title of a dream project, casting together for the first time the two reigning box office queens at the time, Vilma Santos and Alma Moreno. Cast as opposing women, they fought for the love of one man, played by Christopher de Leon. TV’s “Magkaribal” is not based on the landmark Regal film directed by Elwood Perez and produced by Lily Monteverde. The title was not part of a film package bought by ABS-CBN from Regal Films a few years ago, explains business unit head Deo Endrinal. At best, “Magkaribal,” the teleserye, can be considered an allusion, if not a homage, to the film version, a big box office hit in its time. By the way, the original “Magkaribal” is available on video, capturing the quite young Vilma, Boyet and Alma in their sexiest best..." - Nestor Cuartero, Manila Bulletin, 20 June 2010 (READ MORE)
Related Reading:
- IMDB: Magkaribal (1979)
- Love and marriage, horse and carriage
- Magkaribal...Of Rivalry And Feminine Triumph
- Elwood Perez: Isang Natatanging Pagkilala
- Nakawin natin ang bawat sandali (1978)
- Top 10 Leading Men
- Vi-Boyet Tandem: Pinagtibay ng Panahon
- The Films of Christopher De Leon and Vilma Santos (Videos)
- Video 48: Christopher De Leon-Vilma Santos Screen Tandem
