Moral

1982 / Color / Drama / 150 minutes / Direction: Marilou Diaz-Abaya / Story and Screenplay: Ricardo Lee / Cinematography: Manolo Abaya / Production Design: Fiel Zabat / Editing: Manolo Abaya and Marc Tarnate / Sound: Amang Sanchez / Music: George Canseco / Produced by Seven Stars Production / Cast: Lorna Tolentino (Joey), Gina Alajar (Kathy), Sandy Andolong (Sylvia), Anna Marin (Maritess), Ronald Bregendahl, Juan Rodrigo, Michael Sandico, Laurice Guillen, Mia Gutierrez, Lito Pimentel, Odette Khan, Dexter Doria, and Manny Luna

Moral is one of the few movies in local cinema that departs from the usual three-act structure with a tight cause-and-effect plot. It is a loosely structured film tracing the lives of four friends. The four women are authentically portrayed as real people set against the social, political, and economic milieu of 1979-82. The Filipino woman is shown not as victim but as shaper of her own destiny. It is the second of Diaz-Abaya’s film trilogy on women, done after Brutal, 1980, and before Karnal (Of the Flesh), 1983.

Joey bums around, with no particular place to call home. Beset by problems, she seeks release through drugs and casual sex. Kathy dreams of becoming rich and famous by singing professionally, unable to accept the fact that she is not a good singer. Maritess decides to be a housewife and mother, unable to develop her writing talents. Sylvia, a teacher, still loves her husband who has left her for a man. In the end, the four women make their separate decisions, which make them whole as persons.

Moral won the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences awards for Best Supporting Actress (Andolong) and Best Supporting Actor (Rodrigo). It was cited as the 2nd Best Picture at the 1982 Metro Manila Film Festival where it won the Best Screenplay award. It was nominated in the Gawad Urian for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Actress (Alajar and Tolentino), and Best Supporting Actress (Doria and Guillen). Some 20-30 minutes of film, however, was withheld by the censors from public viewing. The ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project had undertaken the digital restoration of Moral in 2017, which was done by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. The restored version was shown in selected cinemas as part of the 2017 Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival.