Kapag Langit ang Humatol

Kapag Langit ang Humatol (English: Judgement from Heaven or When Heaven Judges) is a 1990 Filipino revenge drama film directed by Laurice Guillen. The film stars Vilma Santos, Richard Gomez, Gloria Romero, Carmina Villaroel, and Jeffrey Santos. In the film, an ambitious house helper who wishes to become a successful person but her life becomes miserable when she is humiliated, abused, and maltreated by her evil employer. By the she achieved her dreams, she began to take revenge against her.

A radio drama story written by Salvador M. Royales that was serialized for DZRH, it was adapted into a screenplay by Royales and Emmanuel "Maning" Borlaza. It is the first film directed by Guillen that was adapted from a radio drama.

The film was released and produced by Vision Film Exponents on October 11, 1990. The film became a box-office success and received acclaim from critics and accolades from various award-giving bodies. In 2014, the film was digitally restored and remastered by the joint cooperation of ABS-CBN Film Restoration and Central Digital Lab.

Plot

Florida Blanca is an ambitious woman who works as a servant at the Villaroel family's estate and wishes to become a successful woman one day. At the estate, she is in love with Hector, the son of Doña Octavia, despite his engagement and eventual marriage to Carol. During the wedding reception of Hector and Carol, Florida felt dizzy and nauseated and later, told Aling Tindeng she was pregnant. The act was witnessed by Octavia who decides to chain her inside the quarters. Throughout her time being jailed inside the quarters, she experienced cruelty and torment by Octavia and the evil servants and then, they expelled Aling Tinding. When Hector returns home, he finds out that his mother put Florida in the quarters after he heard her screams and he thought that she joined with Aling Tinding when she left the estate.

One day, a pregnant Carol returns to the estate but when she tries to go upstairs, she falls on the ground, which horrifies Octavia. At the same time, Florida quietly gives birth to her child while Hector becomes seriously injured after the vehicle he drives is destroyed by the plantation workers, which they do as revenge for not fulfilling their hopes of getting a raise and not complying with the new law. However, after learning that Carol's child is dead and Florida gave birth to hers, Octavia, along with Nelia and Ariel, decides to do one diabolical act. When Florida wakes up, she becomes devastated when she finds that her child is dead.

After the burial of her child, Octavia instructs Nelia and Ariel that she wants Hector to think that Florida is an unfaithful woman and convince him that there is something between Ariel and Florida. Nelia objected to her order, citing that Ariel was lusting over Florida and believed that it would go out of control. The following morning, while Hector is recuperating, the plan, as witnessed by a sadistic Octavia and a jealous Nelia, begins to unfold as Ariel goes to a mourning Florida for a drink and the two become drunk. Moments later, Hector caught Florida in the act with Ariel, angering her for betraying his promise to her. As a result, Hector expels Florida for what she did with Ariel. For Octavia, her plan is a success but for Florida, she becomes devastated after she tries to beg him the truth.

After she was expelled from the estate, Florida began working as a seamstress at a garment factory where she became the most hardworking employee for five years and finally earned a college degree in commerce. Her continuous achievements attracted the attention of her boss Dorina Lopez because one of her supervisors needed an assistant and Florida is qualified for the position. Just after the conversation ended, Dorina started feeling the pain and Florida acted quickly, and when her doctor informed her health, it turned out that she had cancer. Meanwhile, at the estate, Carol and Hector's marriage becomes sour and the former begins an affair with Ariel. However, the act of lust between Ariel and Carol made Nelia overly furious.

One night, Carol realizes that Bernadette is Hector and Florida's child, not hers, and decides to flee with Ariel. With jealousy and rage becoming severe, Octavia gives Nelia a gun. As Carol and Ariel going to escape, they are stopped by Nelia and then, she shoots them to their deaths, attracting the attention of Hector. After shooting them both, the rage ends with Nelia shooting herself to death. The gruesome deaths were witnessed by Hector and Octavia but the latter remained silent with an evil glare.

Eleven years later, Florida became the leading executive of the company and bought the manor. Bernadette, now a teenage girl, meets Oliver.

Cast

Production

Casting

Film producer Charo Santos-Concio offered two projects to actor Julio Diaz for Vision Films: one for Kapag Langit ang Humatol and one for the Ronnie Ricketts starrer Ganti ng Api (then unnamed and upcoming when Diaz was offered the roles). The actor turned down both offers because he was given assignments from his home studio, Viva Films. Director Laurice Guillen previously collaborated with actress Gloria Romero in her first film as director, Kasal? in 1980 and would later collaborate with Romero in the following films including the 2000 family drama film Tanging Yaman.

Digital restoration

The film was digitally restored and remastered in 2014 by ABS-CBN Film Restoration, in association with the local post-production company Central Digital Lab. According to the project head Leo Katigbak, the team encountered various defects in the film's prints including scratches, the same defects that were found during the restoration of the 1985 film Hindi Nahahati ang Langit (the film where Romero was part of the cast) and they worked for more than 1000 manual hours for restoration of the frames and 100 hours for color grading. The restored version was released on December 10, 2014, in limited number of theaters.

The restored version received a free-to-air television premiere on August 12, 2018, via Sunday's Best, ABS-CBN's Sunday late-night presentation block.

Reception

Accolades