Dina recalls beginnings
Actress Dina Bonnevie had a throwback moment at the recent screening of the digitally restored 1985 classic, “Hindi Nahahati ang Langit” during the recent Cinema One Originals’ Restored Classics exhibition.
Dina recalls that aside from forming a “barkada” with co-stars Lorna Tolentino, Christopher de Leon and Edu Manzano, she was still, at the time, having a hard time delivering Tagalog lines.
“Kung mag- Tagalog ako nu’n, medyo may slang pa rin. I wasn’t that good in Tagalog yet (laughs),” she said. “Mapapansin mo, parang sosy pa rin ’ yung pagkaka- Tagalog.”
She even remembers Christopher telling her, “Mag- Tagalog ka nga! Ingles ka kasi nang Ingles kaya ’ yung dila mo ang tigas-tigas sa Tagalog.”
Add to the fact that her voice was “huskier” then, she also had to adjust her intonation and vocal delivery. “I was also parang rushing my lines, and (film director Mike De Leon) would always say, ‘Don’t talk too fast, don’t talk too fast!’” Dina added.
‘Too close to home’
What stuck the most, according to Dina, was that while filming the movie, she was also experiencing troubles in her own marriage to thenhusband Vic Sotto. She and Vic called it quits the next year.
“I was grieving na nga eh, kasi I know (my marriage) wasn’t going to last, kasi parang magulo na ( iyong sitwasyon),” she shared, adding that it was worsened by co-workers teasing her about the similarity between her situation and that of her character’s.
Dina jested, “Well they say movies imitate life.”
Did it help her flesh out her character better, we asked. “I don’t know, baliktad nga eh. Parang I think when you’re shooting something that’s too close to home, it’s harder to act it out kasi it’s real na eh. Parang hindi ka na nagwowork, parang you’re (dealing with real) emotions,” she said.
The experience taught Dina the meaning of “what being heartbroken was, what being hurt was,” which proved useful in her career as actress.
“Kasi, siyempre when you’re young wala ka pang nararamdamang hurts, wala ka pang nararamdamang mga tests in life… Parang dito sa movie na ’ to una kong naintindihan at na- feel kung ano talaga ’ yun, kasi it was really happening in my life.”
Restore, remaster
Dina believes ABS-CBN Film Archives Archives’ effort t to restore and preserve old titles could be beneficial to today’ today’s audiences.
“Like in this movie, iba naman ’ yung va values. It wasn’t that okay to be s swapping (partners), pero ngay ngayon it’s nothing new. I mean, it ha happens; parang accepted na ’ yu yun. Pero nu’ng lumang panah panahon, iba naman ang values ng mga tao kaya iba rin ang mga values na dinedepict ng m mga pelikula,” she said said.
AB ABS- CBN Film Arch Archives started res restoring films in late 2011 in partne nership with Centr tral Digital Lab. It has already re rehabilitated a t total of 63 films p produced from 1 1976 to 2011, a among them ““Himala,” “Oro P Plata Mata,” “G“Ganito Kami Noon Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon Ngayon” and “Virgin People.”