MANILA, Philippines?National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera is a self-confessed film buff. In fact, long before he started his love affair with the printed word, he got enamored with the magical world of the silver screen by watching cowboy movies in his hometown in Lipa, Batangas.

Title role

Lumbera?s aunts were also film buffs, so they would take the young Beny (as he is fondly called) to the theater to watch local movies starring Carmen Rosales and Leopoldo Salcedo.

Looking back, the 75-year-old National Artist reckons that the movies must have had a great influence on his writing career: ?I used to play by myself, and I would invent imaginary movies in my mind?but my characters were mostly insects!,? he laughingly relates in Filipino.

Today, Lumbera is a member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, a board member of the Cinemalaya Foundation and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and a professor at the University of the Philippines. These positions enable him to watch many Filipino films!

Themes

?I admire the new crop of filmmakers now?especially those who are into independent features. They tackle themes that are not normally discussed in mainstream movies,? he shares.

Good movies, he explains, should be technically polished and thematically significant. By significant, he explains that films don?t have to be socially relevant all the time?they could be about something as simple as a domestic problem or a personal issue, as long as there?s a fresh tweak in terms of narrative, characterization and style.

Having penned librettos of many Filipino musicals, such as ?Tales of the Manuvu,? ?Rama Hari? and ?Noli Me Tangere: The Musical,? Lumbera believes that the script is the spine of the stage, film and broadcast media. ?I?ve long wanted to write a screenplay,? he reveals, ?but I feel that the stories I have in mind are old and outdated?they lack the freshness that young audiences are looking for.?

He explains that ?freshness? doesn?t necessarily mean cooking up something new. A case in a point is the rich array of literary classics, which every now and then, are mined by writers and filmmakers.

Unfortunately, he says, a number of directors have been unsuccessful in transforming literary masterpieces to the big screen because of the differences between the languages of literature and cinema. Reading a literary work, he explains, is a long, solitary activity.

More graphic

On the other hand, films are more graphic. Their impact is instant, and they leave less time for reflection. So, when a literary work is adapted for the movies, Dr. Lumbera says that the screenwriter needs to make certain changes. Although the role of cinema is basically to entertain, filmmakers and screenwriters need to constantly open their consciousness up to stories that mirror the changes that are happening to our society.

Lumbera adds: ?Times are changing, so filmmakers they have to study their craft well in order to create better movies. Hindi puwedeng umasa na lang sa kanilang likas na talino. But, I can see that our young filmmakers are taking their work seriously?and I hope that, as technology continues to improve, they will create more exciting and relevant movies!"