Bulaklak sa City Jail (The Flowers of the City Jail) is a 1984 Filipino neo noircrimeprisondrama film directed by Mario O'Hara from a story and screenplay written by Lualhati Bautista that is based on her novel of the same name. The film depicts the situation of women in the city jail.[1]
The film stars Nora Aunor, Gina Alajar, Celia Rodriguez, Perla Bautista, Maya Valdez, Zenaida Amador, and Maritess Gutierrez as the women who were incarcerated inside the Manila City Jail due to the crimes they committed and the crimes that were framed by the others.
Synopsis
A pregnant woman is arrested for attempted murder and is sent to the Manila City Jail where she meets several women with shocking pasts.
Production Managers: Maritess Gutierrez and Andy Biag
Release
Cherubim Films released the film on December 25, 1984, and it is one of the following entries for the 1984 Metro Manila Film Festival. It won six awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director.
Digital restoration
The restored version of the film was premiered on November 11, 2019, at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City as part of the Cinema One Originals film festival. It was attended by the film's surviving cast and staff members: actors Ricky Davao and Tom Olivar, film producer Cherry Cobarubbias, and former actress and now chef Maritess Gutierrez (she also represented her mother Gloria Romero) as well as the staff and crew of the ABS-CBN Film Archives and the channel head of Cinema One, Ronald Arguelles. Actress Pinky Amador (niece of the late Zenaida Amador, who died in 2008), actress-producer Ruby Flores-Arcilla (daughter of Bella Flores, who died in 2013), and director Denise O'Hara (niece of Mario O'Hara, who died in 2012) also attended the premiere as the representatives of the cast and staff members who were deceased or unable to attend.[2][3]
Reception
Critical reception
In a review by Engelbert Rafferty for Film Police Reviews, the film is considered "a classic, no questions asked". Lualhati Bautista, the film's writer, was praised for the screenplay that made it alive and fascinated the viewers as well as the dramatic performances of the cast members. Nora Aunor was also praised for her widely accepted and realized performance as Angela, whose character was described as "a woman maltreated by society".[4]
