Synopsis: The story is set in Guagua, Pampanga a decade after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo which ravaged the province with lahar. It follows the lives of Rodolfo "Mang Rudy" Manansala, a woodcarver, and his three daughters and their relationships with the people close to them in the span of seven summers. Grace, the youngest daughter, marries the mama's boy Conrad, and has to face the reality of leaving the ancestral house, to which she is deeply rooted, to go and live with her in-laws. Much against her will, to the point of staging a escape, she yields to the dictates of tradition. Yet she manages to cope up with married life, and on the fourth year of her marriage gets pregnant with her second child. Lourdes, the middle daughter and married to the weakling Andy Pineda with whom she has a daughter, goes into an illicit affair with a bank manager, for which reason Mang Rudy succumbs to a heart attack and becomes bedridden.. The story is told in three segments, with each segment
told from the point of view of the three daughters. Attached to each segment are social occasion popularly observed in the Philippines, with a symbolic motif for each, represented by the elements sun, fire, water, air, blood, moon and earth. With Rowena's wedding at the end of the film, as in Grace's wedding at the start, a full cycle of life transpired.
Cast & Crew:
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Cast: Johnny Delgado, Cherry Pie Picache, Angel Aquino, Juliana Palermo, Allan Paule, Criselda Volks, Miguel Faustmann, Liza Lorena, Ama Quiambao
Scrteenplay: Boots Agbayani Pastor
Original Music: Jerrold Tarog
Cinematography: Odyssey Flores
Film Editing: Mark Philipp Espina
Production Design: Benjamin Padero
