Hihintayin Kita sa Langit (transl. I'll Wait for You in Heaven) is a 1991 award-winning Filipino romantic drama film directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna based on a screenplay by Raquel Villavicencio, and starring Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. The film is a loose adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. The film was restored by ABS-CBN Film Restoration and Central Digital Lab and was subsequently released in select theaters on February 27, 2017.[1]

Hihintayin Kita sa Langit
The poster of the restored version, released in 2017. Poster was designed by Justin Besana.
Directed by	Carlos Siguion-Reyna
Written by	Raquel Villavicencio
Based on	Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Produced by	Armida Siguion-Reyna
Starring	Richard Gomez Dawn Zulueta
Cinematography	Romeo Vitug
Edited by	Jess Navarro
Music by	Ryan Cayabyab
Production company	Reyna Films
Distributed by	Bonanza Films
Release date	June 13, 1991 (1991-06-13)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	Philippines
Languages	Filipino English

Plot

After the whole Salvador family mourned the loss of their eldest child Gabriel, Don Joaquin returns from Manila after going on some business trips, especially with a promise of giving souvenirs to his children. While Carmina is finding her gift, she discovers a dirty-looking boy in front of her eyes, attracting the attention of Milo and Yaya Adora. Apparently, the boy was an orphan and he was found by Don Joaquin in Divisoria but because of his good intentions for the orphan, he decided to adopt him and named him Gabriel after the deceased eldest child. Gabriel was accepted by the family except for Milo, who has hostility toward him. One afternoon, Gabriel and Carmina went to the shores' cliffs, playing together imagining the lives of royalty, similar to the tales of princes and princesses. Carmina becomes close with Gabriel, telling him that he is not an orphan, only an ordinary person. By the time they returned home, Milo shows up and starts blaming Gabriel for stealing his horse and attention to his father, leading the latter to be attacked and beaten by the former. Milo's unacceptable behavior towards his adoptive brother caused his father to banish him to live in Manila with his aunt instead until he changed his intentions.

Many years later, Carmina and Gabriel grew up as adults. Don Joaquin and Yaya Adora were very happy that they are very close together. Suddenly, the family would become devastated when Don Joaquin died in front of his children and house helper. After the funeral, Milo returns from Manila and became the owner of the estate. Since he has a long-time grudge towards Gabriel, he starts to treat him as a servant instead of being expelled out of the estate, much to Carmina's disappointment.

As they walk to the balcony, Carmina and Gabriel began fantasizing about their happiness in the palace, similar to their childhood game, but only to realize that it would be in paradise. Gabriel tearfully promises to love again in heaven until Carmina dies in her arms. Gabriel's devastation continues to her grave where he suffers emotional grief and pain. However, this would cut short when Milo shoots Gabriel to death with his revolver, leaving to his death in Carmina's grave. Days have passed, and he is now buried alongside Carmina with the attendance of Alan, Sandra, and Yaya Adora. Alan stated they now rest in peace, he and Sandra, who was also devastated by Gabriel's death, will live in peace. However, for Yaya Adora, she believes that Carmina and Gabriel are not yet dead but they were just started to live. Before she leaves their graves, she hears the angelic laughter of the two and as she looks behind, she sees the souls of Carmina and Gabriel live happily in peace together in heaven. After a moment of witness, Yaya Adora smiled happily for them.

The film ends with the souls of Carmina and Gabriel running into the hills and dancing into the sunset together.

Cast of characters

Production

In all of the film’s 26 shooting days, only five[2] were spent in Batanes. The rest of the shooting days were shot in Villa Escudero in Tiaong, Quezon. According to Carlos Siguion-Reyna, the film's director, all of the scenes filmed in Batanes were shot in available sunlight, with the support of reflectors, and no camera dollies. In filming the most "iconic" scene, the director and Romy Vitug, the film's cinematographer, shot the scene in slow motion by shooting at high speed. The lead actors were exhausted from the running for the scene as well as the tiresome efforts of the film's staff and crew members.

Music

The film's theme song "Hanggang sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan" was originally composed and written by George Canseco. It was performed by Richard Reynoso and arranged by Ryan Cayabyab.

Release

Hihintayin Kita sa Langit was produced by Reyna Films and distributed by Bonanza Films. The film was theatrically released in the Philippines on June 13, 1991, which is two days before the unexpected eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Despite the volcanic eruption, the film became a box office success.[3]

Digitally restored version

The film was digitally restored and remastered by the ABS-CBN Film Archives in partnership with Central Digital Lab as part of their Sagip Pelikula campaign. The source element used for the film's restoration was the uncut original 35mm picture negative, which was taken from the storage of Reyna Films. The film was first scanned in 4K resolution and converted to 2K resolution for the preparation of its restoration. The image restoration took a total of 660 actual manual hours to eliminate and address its defects including unsteady shots, warps, missing frames, and bumps that originated from the splice marks of the print. For the color grading, it took 100 actual manual hours to restore the film's color and tonalities, with the assistance and supervision of the film's director and cinematographer. For restoring the film's audio, it was also supervised by the director.

It was premiered on February 27, 2017 at the Glorietta 4 Cinema in the Ayala Center, Makati, Metro Manila.[2] The premiere was attended by the film's director Carlos Siguion-Reyna; writer Raquel Villavicencio; stars Richard Gomez, Dawn Zulueta, Eric Quizon, Guila Alvarez, and Vangie Labalan; cinematographer Romy Vitug; editor Jess Navarro; and the singer of the film's theme song, Richard Reynoso.[4] It was also attended by Richard Gomez's wife and 4th District of Leyte representative, Lucy Torres-Gomez and the director's family consisting of his wife, actress-writer Bibeth Orteza and children, actor Rafa Siguion-Reyna and Sarah Siguion-Reyna.

Television broadcast

The restored version of the film has received a free-to-air television premiere on ABS-CBN and its high-definition service on November 26, 2017, as a feature presentation of its Restored Classics banner for the network's Sunday late-night presentation program Sunday's Best. According to AGB Nielsen Nationwide Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) ratings, the ABS-CBN broadcast of the film attained a nationwide rating of 1.2%, losing against GMA Network's broadcast of Manny Pacquiao's monthly drama anthology program Stories for the Soul during its first hour, attaining a 2% rating but won against Diyos at Bayan, also broadcast by GMA Network, which attained a 0.7% rating during its second and last hour.[5]

Reception

Critical reception

DJ Ramones of Reverse Delay gave a positive review of the film and described the film's story and visuals as old-fashioned but it continues to give the romantic thrills to both old and new audiences.[6]

Indonesian film critic Bavner Donaldo rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and he praised Carlos Siguion-Reyna's direction, acting performances of the Richard-Dawn tandem, and Romy Vitug's photography. Despite he didn't like the tragic ending, the film made him enchanted and it has been his favorite Filipino romantic drama film.[7]

Television adaptation

The film was adapted for television by ABS-CBN in 2012. The TV series ran from January 16 through October 24, 2012, and was top-billed by Coco Martin and Julia Montes and original stars Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta along with an ensemble cast.[8]

The song "Hanggang sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan" (performed by Richard Reynoso in the film) was also used as the program's theme song.

See also

• Wuthering Heights
• List of Wuthering Heights adaptations
• The Promise (2007 film)
• Walang Hanggan (2012 TV series)

References

External links

• Hihintayin Kita sa Langit at IMDb