FLASHBACK: LANGIT AT LUPA (1967)

FPJ Productions’ Langit at Lupa is a love story salvaged from the chaos of war. It tells the drama between two individuals who meet at a moment when one is about to be married to a vocation.

Ronnie Poe plays the role of a miner in one of Baguio’s mining camps, Susan Roces is a postulant.

In a mining mishap, nuns from a nearby convent rush to rescue the casualties. Raul (Ronnie Poe) meets Veronica (Susan Roces) and from that moment, each knew of the strong attraction between them. But they are cautious and careful not to entertain the feelings because they are aware of the gap between them.

War breaks out and Raul, with his fellow miners, become soldiers, and later guerillas. They camp near their old mine. In one instance, when the Japanese pursue them, Raul and company have no other recourse but to seek refuge in the nearby convent. Veronica and Raul meet again, but the she is about to be committed to Christ.

When Raul and his group leave, Veronica feels and realizes that she will be more happier with Raul. She talks with the mother superior.

After the war, Raul once more returns to the convent, only to find out that most of the nuns detailed that time perished when the Japanese bombed the place.

Did you know that National Artist,the late Fernando Amorsolo, a well-known and famous painter did a portrait of Susan Roces in this movie. The painting was very essential to fully project the dramatic implication of a sequence in the film. The story called for the renowned painter being requested by FPJ, in the role of Raul to do a portrait of a woman he had known in the past but only from his (Ronnie’s) description as he envisioned her from memory. The woman was Susan Roces who portrayed the role of Veronica in the film.

Susan with the Amorsolo painting