TATLO, DALAWA, ISA

 A trilogy by Lino Brocka.

 

“Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa” is a compilation of three intimate stories directed by Filipino cinema legend Lino Brocka. The films show the perseverance of hope despite a sense of despair. Featuring a drug addict, an abandoned daughter and a repressed catholic.

 

Lino Brocka's Three, Two, One shows the filmmaker's versatility in the short form, working with various writers: The first segment, Tony Perez's The Shapes of Hope, has Jay Ilagan play Noni, a drug addict struggling in a drug rehabilitation center. It features cinematographer Romy Vitug's fine monochromatic camerawork and the startling image of Ilagan being shaved of all his hair.

 

Brocka is at his melodramatic best with Mario O'Hara's Hellow, Soldier. Hilda Koronel is Gina, a young slum dweller waiting for her American G.I. father to pick her up and take her to America; Anita Linda is Gina's mother Lucia, who wants her daughter to leave, yet is unable to face the loneliness of life without her. O'Hara's deceptively simple story is an evocative metaphor for any number of themes: the bitterness, the rage, and the lurid legacy left behind by the American occupation - Lucia was unapologetically the American's mistress, and raised the child herself. The troubling questions that arise when someone tries to find a decision: Should Gina live with her mother or father? And what happens to Lucia?

 

Orlando Nadres' Tomorrow, the Darkness is Brocka's uncharacteristically gothic short masterpiece. Brocka, who has rarely done a period film and who almost always locates his stories in the urgency of the here and now (almost always in the Manila of today), with Vitug's help creates an almost airless, languid realm, not so much isolated as abandoned by the outside world. (Noel Vera)

 

Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa (Three, Two, One) — quick facts

·         Original title: Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa (English: Three, Two, One). IMDb

·         Year / release: 1974 (sometimes listed as 1974–1975 in festival/program materials). AllMovie+1

·         Director: Lino Brocka (anthology film — he directs the three segments). IMDb

·         Format / runtime: Feature anthology — listed runtimes ~155–156 minutes. AllMovie+1

Structure — three segments

Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa is a portmanteau/anthology composed of three separate stories (each written by different writers) that thematically explore hope, despair, and escape:

1.      “Mga Hugis ng Pag-asa” (Faces of Hope) — about a drug addict (written by Tony Perez). Internet Archive

2.      “Hellow, Soldier” — the segment starring Hilda Koronel (written by Mario O’Hara and Sister Mary Angela Barrios). It follows Gina (Koronel), a young slum dweller waiting for an American G.I. father to take her away — and the fraught, emotional dynamics with her mother (Anita Linda). Viennale+1

3.      Third segment — focuses on a repressed Catholic / moral/religious tensions (one segment’s author credits include names such as Orlando Nadres and Angela Barrios across sources). FilmAffinity+1

(Each segment functions as a standalone short film but the three are thematically linked; Brocka uses them to examine generations, social constraints, and hope.) Cineaste Filipinas

Cast (selected / notable)

·         Hilda Koronel — appears as Gina (lead of the “Hellow, Soldier” segment). Viennale

·         Jay Ilagan, Perla Bautista, Laurice Guillen, Soxy Topacio, Bembol Roco, Anita Linda, Lolita Rodriguez, Mario O’Hara, Mary Walter, Jojo Abella and others appear across the three segments. (Full cast lists are on IMDb / AllMovie.) IMDb+1

Key crew / production notes

·         Screenwriters: Mario O’Hara, Tony Perez, Angela (Mary) Barrios, Orlando Nadres (different writers for each segment). Internet Archive+1

·         Editor: Augusto Salvador (credited in archive listings). Internet Archive

·         Cinematography: Romeo Vitug (credited in archival notes). Internet Archive

·         Composer / music: credits vary by source; some archival records list Minda Azarcon as composer/sound credits on the Archive.org upload metadata. However, there’s no widely available commercial soundtrack release. Internet Archive

Plot / short synopses

·         Overall: an anthology of three intimate stories about people trying to escape or survive the limits of their situation — a drug addict’s struggle, an abandoned daughter yearning for escape (Hilda Koronel’s story), and a repressed Catholic confronting moral crisis. The tone moves between social realism and melodrama — Brocka’s concerns with social hypocrisy and human dignity are central. Letterboxd+1

·         Hilda Koronel segment (concise): Gina waits for an American G.I. father to take her to America; the emotional knot with her mother (Anita Linda) and the neighborhood setting reveal class and personal longing. Viennale program notes summarize Koronel’s role and the mother-daughter tension. Viennale

Images, posters & where to watch

·         Posters / stills: Vintage posters and publicity stills exist in film-collector archives and festival pages, but high-resolution official posters are not plentiful online. Key places that host images or program art: IMDb image gallery, MUBI, film festival pages (Viennale), and collector blogs. IMDb+2MUBI+2

·         Online viewings / archive: A copy of the film (user-uploaded) is available on Archive.org and certain streaming/archive sites list it (links show the film and sometimes full uploads). (If you want, I can grab a clean screenshot or assemble available stills into a PDF.) Internet Archive+1

Reception & significance

·         The film is treated as an important Brocka piece from the mid-1970s and is discussed in retrospectives and film blogs / festival programs as a notable anthology in his body of work. It’s often paired in programming with Brocka’s other social-realist films from that period. Cineaste Filipinas+1

What I could not fully confirm online

·         A commercial soundtrack or published OST (no tracklist or album appears in major discographies). Internet Archive

·         Detailed, scene-by-scene shooting script or production diaries (these usually require archive/library access). Cineaste Filipinas

Reliable pages / sources I used

·         IMDb entry & full credits. IMDb+1

·         Archive.org copy + metadata (segment credits, runtime, crew). Internet Archive

·         Viennale (film program notes — summary of Hilda Koronel’s role). Viennale

·         AllMovie / FilmAffinity / MUBI program listings for runtime and anthology description. AllMovie+2FilmAffinity+2

·         Film blog / close analysis (Cineaste Filipinas) — useful for critical reading/context. Cineaste Filipinas