Symbolism in Philippine Religious Movies

This paper analyzes Philippine-movie Director Laurice Guillen’s movies, Tanging Yaman and Santa Santita, by using the Mythological Approach. Guided by the principles of this particular approach in literary criticism, the study identified the symbols and archetypes found in the selected movies to infer the universal ideas and human tendencies that manifest the cultural and religious realities of the Filipinos. Giving emphasis to Northrop Frye’s theory of un-displaced myth, the study found, through a literary analysis of the movies, that two opposing worlds can actually co-exist in one archetype, as seen in the repentant sinners, whose willingness to admit their sins paves the way for them to regain the graces of heaven.