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Basic Information: Directed: Lino Brocka; Story, screenplay: Ricardo Lee; Cast: Vilma Santos, Snooky Serna, Gabby Concepcion, Eric Quizon, Dennis Roldan, Perla Bautista, Ruben Rustia, Maritoni Fernandez, Gina Perez, Pocholo Montes, Archie Adamos; Executive producer: Lily Y. Monteverde; Original Music: Jaime Fabregas; Cinematography: Pedro Manding Jr.; Film Editing: George Jarlego; Production Design: Benjie De Guzman; Sound: Joe Climaco, Ramon Reyes

Plot Description: Lucinda (Vilma Santos), a hard-nosed scheming power hungry woman is married to a young politico, Gerard (Eric Quizon). Theyère the ideal and perfect partners in life and in crime. Their lives take a new shape with the re-entry of Renato (Gabby Concepcion), Lucindaès first love and now married to cousin Teresa (Snooky Serna). What follows is another colorful drama – swapping partners to satisfy their burning passion. But the moment of truth arrives – Lucinda and Gerard outwits each other to assure power and reach the top to the extend of plotting their lover’s murder. – Regal Films (DVD box description)

An oppressed housemaid has transformed herself into a wealthy and powerful business mogul through sheer dint of talent, ambition and driving need to avenge herself on her tormentors. She comes back to the scene of her most abject debasement with the sole intent of humiliating the family who once made her life such a living hell. Unknowingly, she gets to exact revenge on the very person who turns out to be her own daughter by the son of her former mistress. – Databases of Philippine Movies (READ MORE)

Vilma Santos plays a devious and power-mad wife of an equally contemptuous mayor (Eric Quizon). While riding high on the crest of power, Vilma tries to ruin the lives of a married couple, Snooky Serna and Gabby Concepcion. Snooky is Vilma’s distant cousin while Gabby is her former flame. While making it appear that she’s sincere in helping bail Gabby out of his financial troubles, she also tries to lure her ex-boyfriend back into her arms. At first, she is successful at snaring back Gabby— but only for one brief sexual encounter. The more serious complications set in only when Vilma’s resident lover, Dennis Roldan, attempts to blackmail her about their love affair. Trying to get herself out of that fix, she sets a ploy that would permanently eliminate Dennis. As partof her plan, she sends Dennis to molest Snooky hoping that the poor woman would defend herself by shooting Dennis with the gun Vilma gave her earlier. However, this does not work out exactly as planned since it is Gabby who gets to kill Dennis. Instead of making Gabby turn himself in, Vilma encourages him to hide from the police in the hope that he agree to run off with her to some faraway place. But eventually Vilma realizes that he cares not for her but for Snooky. To show her repentance, she arranges for his peaceful surrender to the police. An unfortunate twist takes place when Gabby is shot dead by an assassin hired by Eric. He wants to punish his wife for her indiscretions. Vilma gets even with him by having him convicted. – Lino Brocka: The Artist and His Times, Posted by Video48 (READ MORE)

Film Achievement: 1990 Star Awards for Movies Best Supporting Actress – Snooky Serna; 1990 FAMAS Nomination Best Supporting Actress – Snooky Serna; 1990 FAP Nomination Best Actress – Vilma Santos; 1990 Gawad Urian Nomination Best Best Actor – Gabby Concepcion

Film Reviews: “…Can the specificities of a film genre dictate the nature of roles available to actors according to their sexual differentiation? In the instance of a specific local genre, melodrama, it appears that not only the nature of the roles but the advantage of the performer is predetermined in a manner opposed to the original foreign norm. Two of the better releases in 1990 by the country’s top competitors for studio supremacy prove this point indirectly, by applying for us one outstanding performance each – both by female actors essaying distinctively female roles…Regal Films’ Hahamakin Lahat has the reliable Vilma Santos in a successful (in popular terms) modification of her other-woman persona, placing her work here on the order of Tagos ng Dugo and Pahiram ng Isang Umaga. Both films can be roughly classified as melodramas of the Filipino variety, specifically by their emphasis on moral issues, complicated plots, and strong female roles – characteristics that serve the thesis that local melodramas are, for want of a better term, prejudiced in favor of women, complaints from feminists notwithstanding…while that of Vilma Santos resolves not to fall emotionally for her flavor of the moment; in the end, when Mr. Seemingly Right happens along, all their notions of self-sufficiency get discarded like so much excess baggage, as off they go after the walking incarnation of the True Meaning of Life…

Compared with the director-writer team-up’s previous effort, Gumapang Ka sa Lusak, Hahamakin manages to go deeper into the psyche of the female oppressor (a secondary character in the earlier film, which concentrated on the victim instead). On the other hand, several crucial establishing details in the latter work had to be relegated to lines of exchanges, and a demonstration of how social cancer spreads through the body politic is never pulled off, precisely because the filmmakers had to confine themselves to the major characters. Nevertheless both recent films, plus Gumapang Ka, represent our state-of-the-craft when it comes to melodrama movie making, and I can think of no higher compliment than posing a challenge for the future: since every conceivable female lead role has been explored, with varying degrees of success, in local melodrama, and since action films have long allowed for strong women characters even in lead capacity, how about refashioning the former genre to suit non-female leads? The clash between gender and genre might yet result in certain long-overdue insights into love and anarchy as only a truly confused culture can make it…’ – Joel David, National Midweek, 17 October 1990 (READ MORE)

Brocka did Hahamakin Lahat for Regal Films. This would be his third team-up with Vilma Santos. The role called for Vilma to be dark, daring, and innovative—something that totally deviated from characters usually portrayed by the sweet-faced actress . It showed a heroine entering into a marriage of convenience with a ruthless, scheming mayor—a character Brocka created to expose the hypocrisy and corruption of society. – Mario Hernando

“…In his book, Don Jose & The Early Philippine Cinema, Joe Quirino credits jose Nepomuceno pioneer in producing movies that not only entertained but also informed. Wrote Quirino: “His screen adaptation of Noli Me Tangere, Jose Rizal’s novel exposing the social cancer that festered during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines, captured the sardonic and satirical contents of the imflammatory noel.” Satire was a popular device through which producer aired their views on social issues. In 1929, a satirical movie called Patria Amore caught the ire of the local Spanish community who went to court to stop its exhibition. A counterpart incident took place in 1965 when the Liberal Party tried to stop the showing of Iginuhit ng Tadhana, the propagandistic movie of the life of Ferdinand Marcos. The same motion picture propelled Marcos to the presidency. Movies of social significance often face this dillemma on their way to the big screen. Because of their strong public statement, they invite uproar from concerned sectors, an experience that became almost a daily ordeal for the late director, Lino Brocka. In recent years and until his death in 1991, Brocka had been the prime mover of Tagalog movies of social significance. Some of his works that easily fall under this category are, in no particular orderL Orapronobis (about vigilantes and rebels in the countryside), Bayan Ko (on labor unrest), Gumapang Ka sa Lusak and Hahamakin Lahat (on political corruption), Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (on moral degradation and exploitation)…” – Nestor Cuartero, Panorama, dated June 13, 1993 (READ MORE)

Snooky Also Shines – “…Do you know who has improved a lot in her acting especially in her last movie? It’s Snooky. In “Hahamakin Lahat,” she was almost at par with the star for all seasons, Vilma S. kung acting ang paguusapan, says an ardent admirer. Nag-underacting siya but there were moments na akala mo siya ang bida sa pelikula. I remember a hysterical Snooky in highlights scenes of her movies. I think it’s only Lino Brocka who directed her in her first movie, “Wanted, Perfect Mother,” when she was only four or five years old, who can control her acting as he did in “Hahamakin.” Snooky has gained more character and a certain maturity in her acting. I’m sure she’ll garner several nominations for this movie come awards time next year…” – Nena z. Villanueva, Manila Standard, 05 Sep 1990 p16 (READ MORE)