Himala: the temptress, the virgin, and the elusive miracle.(Movie Review) From: Cross Currents | Date: March 22, 2004| Author: Sison, Antonio D. | COPYRIGHT 2004 Association for Religion and Intellectual Life. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The Filipino film Himala (Miracle, dir. Ishmael Bernal, 1982) is set in a marginal barrio awash in folk religiosity and superstition. Desert-like, poor, and believed to be cursed, the veritable nowhereland craves for a miracle. The miracle incarnate is Elsa, a deceptively simple young woman who claims to have seen the Virgin Mary and who becomes the self-styled star of a miraculous healing crusade. At the other end of the village, Nimia, a prostitute and erstwhile friend of Elsa, s...