Ina Ka ng Anak Mo

Synopsis

This is a story of day-to-day living by Renata (Lolita Rodriguez), her daughter Esther (Nora Aunor) and Esther's husband Luis (Raul Aragon). Ester and Luis are a couple trying to start their own family while living in Renata's house. The couple can not bear a child due to Ester's sterility, which was ironic being that Ester is a family planning program worker. Ester's barrenness becomes a source of constant argument between the husband and wife, aggravated by Ester's unwillingness to allow Luis to seek employment out of the country. Renata often acts as a pacifier of her daughter during the couple's arguments. Unfortunately, Ester and her mother get into a heated argument resulting to Renata feeling emotional about it. She then confides to Luis about her problems, which results to one night of passionate union. The single night of union impregnates the aging Renata who refuses to have an abortion. Renata and Luis try to hide their fault until Ester discovers the truth accidentally when Renata gave birth to her child.

Cast

Reviews

Brocka specializes in acting vehicles. Aunor clearly deserves the Best Actress Award. In fact, she deserves it more than Rodriguez, if only because she is younger and has less experience. Before Ina Ka Ng Anak Mo, only Charito Solis could stand up to Rodriguez; now Aunor is on par with both veteran actresses.

I said that my all-time Nora’s best movie is Ina Ka Ng Anak Mo, a movie she made with Lolita Rodriguez and was directed by National Artist for film, Lino Brocka. That scene when she gets off from the tricycle that brought her to the house where she found her mother (played by Lolita) who just gave birth to a baby sired by her husband (played by Raul Aragon) to my mind remains the single most brilliant acting moment in Philippine cinema. It was all in her eyes – the shock, the humiliation, the bewilderment, the rage. She barely said anything, yet she said it all.

Let me share to you a slice of the gushing, exhuberant display of Nora Aunor’s overpowering, passionate magical spell in Ina Ka ng Anak Mo…By the door, she sees a midlle-aged woman who had just given birth to a baby sired by her husband. She is introduced to a woman, half asleep, tipped to one side, whose figure and voice she knows so well. That woman is her mother!

Stunned by the realization of deceit, she moves back in hushed disbelief while her mother fumbles for repentance. She steps back little by little against the wall as she whimpers in stupor, “Hayup! Hayup! Hayup!”, while the camera pans up close capturing the depth, breadth of pain, humiliation, shock, and quiet rage all over her face. ..It is an electrifying gamut of emotion on screen that triggers complete silence in the theater as if everybody stops breathing. I still have to see one actress who can pull a scene so moving yet in its blend of dignity and tenderness as well as silent rage. It leaves an indelible mark as the greatest acting highlight…