DARNA vs. THE PLANET WOMEN
dir. Armando Garces, 1975
Philippines, 101 minutes
Tagalog with English subtitles
SAT AUGUST 5 – 10:00 PM
SAT AUGUST 12 – 7:30 PM
WED AUGUST 16 – 10:00 PM
FRI AUGUST 25 – MIDNIGHT
Darna is the Philippines’ most celebrated superhero. Appearing in comics, films and tv series siunce 1950, she is the Filipino Wonder Woman- a deceased extraterrestrial warrior magically manifesting herself through a human girl from Earth, named Narda. After Narda swallows a magic white stone, she transforms into the mighty warrior by shouting “DARNA!”. As Darna, she stands up for those who cannot fend for themselves. She fights against both common criminals as well as greater forces of evil, often accompanied by her younger brother, Ding.
1975’s Darna Vs. The Planet Women, directed by Aramando Garces (who made more than 140 features between 1952 and 1980), is the ninth Darna movie, and the third starring Vilma Santos (aka the Grand Slam Queen, one of the Philippines most beloved actresses, now a popular politician), who would come to personify the character in Filipino popular culture. In the film, Vilma’s Narda is portrayed as a disabled teenager who has been given a magical stone from the planet Marte which allows her to transformer into the powerful Darna. The Planet Women (Noche, Elektra, Orang, Maia and Kara) are a band of bikini-clad space amazons, each coded with a different shade of primary-hued body paint. They arrive on Earth armed with a shopping list of Earth scientists whom they plan to abduct, so it’s up to Darna and her dorky brother Ding to save the world from their evil scheme!
