DURING the first meeting in a film class, our professor asked about the first film we have watched in the cinema. Some of my classmates were very quick to answer, while I was having a hard time recollecting. For some reasons, I could not remember the first movie I watched in the cinema. I can only remember watching a lot of movies on Betamax and VHS. So, I dug deeper down memory lane. Then suddenly, I realized I was searching at the wrong place.
When it was my turn, I told my professor that mine was a bit peculiar because my earliest recollection of watching a movie with my family was technically not in the cinema house. It was in a corn mill. We did not have any cinema house in our town and the nearest ones were in Cagayan de Oro City. One had to travel eight to ten hours by bus just to see a movie.
I didn’t have much time to tell the class the whole story, so I am writing this now in retrospect and in celebration of the Centennial Year of Philippine Cinema.
I remembered putting on layers of clothes and jacket because it was very cold outside. The whole family was preparing for a night out. We were about to watch a movie in the nearby “siliran.” “Siliran” (corn sheller) was a corn mill, just meters away from our home, where we played and practiced our jumps, back tumbling, and somersault atop the mountain of “pakaw” (corncobs). Days prior to the showing, it was announced via “bandilyo” that Titanic would be shown for free, courtesy of the incumbent mayor who was running for his second term.
We went to the venue ahead of time to secure a better viewing place. We brought with us a “banig” because there were no chairs provided. We prayed it would not rain that night because it was an open space. When we reached the “siliran,” there were already several people waiting. We found a spot and spread our big mat on the floor and squeezed ourselves in. We were very excited. It was the first time that we would get to see a movie on big screen.
While waiting for the movie to start, we lay down and looked at the sky. My father said it would not rain because we could see many stars. After almost an hour of waiting, the whole community was already there when the mayor arrived. He gave a talk before the show. Many did not care especially the children. We just wanted to see the movie. After the mayor gave his speech, they turned all the lights off and the movie started.
We were amazed with how big the screen was and I was looking at that machine wondering how it worked. It was like magic to me.
I may not have understood the whole film because I was very young then. I only remembered some scenes like when Jack taught Rose how to spit, the iconic “I’m flying” scene in front of the ship, Titanic breaking in half and when Jack drowned. Some cried when Jack died but many exclaimed in anger when Rose (the older) threw the necklace to the ocean. I didn’t get to see the whole hot-scene though because we were told to cover our eyes. I only saw that hand in the car’s window when I peeked.
We went home directly afterwards. It was already very late. You could hear all the town folks talking about it even days after the showing. We were very happy. But I reckoned mayor was happier. My brother told me he was reelected that year.