Manila (1975)

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Movie
German title Manila
Original title Maynila: Sa mga kuko ng liwanag
Country of production Philippines
original language Filipino / Tagalog
Publishing year 1975
length 125 minutes
Rod
Director Lino Brocka
script Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr.
production Miguel de Leon
Severino Manotok
music Max Jocson
camera Miguel de Leon
cut Edgardo Jarlego
Ike Jarlego
occupation

Manila ( Tagalog : Maynila: Sa mga kuko ng liwanag , lit. about Manila: In the clutches of radiance ) is a Filipino film from 1975 directed by Lino Brocka . It has the reputation of being one of the best Filipino films ever. The screenplay was based on the novel Sa mga kuko ng liwanag by Edgardo M. Reyes .

action

Julio Madiaga, a young man from rural Marinduque, comes to the city of Manila in search of his great love, Ligaya Paraiso. Ligaya had gone to Manila some time before, following a Mrs. Cruz's promise to get an education and find work. A letter from Ligaya that Julio always carries is his only memory after Mrs. Cruz informed his parents that Ligaya had stolen from them and disappeared from their care.

The film does not have a linear narrative structure. The viewer learns the actual story in several flashbacks. Julio was robbed and initially worked on a construction site in Cubao, Quezon City , where he befriends Paul. He advises him to look out for Mrs. Cruz at the Doroteo Jose train station. Julio is lucky and can follow her into the Chinese quarter in Binondo, where he recognizes Ligaya's silhouette on the upper floor of a shop. The owner Ah Tek denies knowing the name Ligaya Paraiso. The corrupt police can't turn Julio on.

In order to keep watching the house, Julio is forced to endure the employers' exploitative and inhuman conditions. At another large construction site, where he met Atong, he witnessed a fatal work accident and was soon released. Completely penniless, he sleeps on the street and runs into Bobby, a prostitute who makes Julio prostitute himself. With the money earned in this way, he and Paul again observe the house where he suspects Ligaya to be. When Julio tries to confront Mrs. Cruz, who is coming out of the house, she screams for the police. Julio is arrested, but the policeman deceives him and disappears with his money.

Chance helps the hopeless Julio when he finally sees Ligaya on the street and follows her into a church. There she tells him that Mrs. Cruz is bringing the young women from the provinces to Manila for prostitution. Ah Tek bought her and locked her up as a playmate like a pet. Finally united, the two agree to escape, but Ligaya does not appear. The next day he reads in the newspaper that Ligaya is dead. From the funeral, Julio goes to Ah Tek's shop and stabs him. A mob called by the housekeeper surrounds him in an alley. The film ends with a fade from Julio's fearful face to Ligaya's profile in the sunset.

production

The film is based on the novel Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (lit. "In the clutches of radiance"), written by Edgardo Reyes. The first publication was a serial novel that appeared in Liwayway , a weekly magazine, from 1966 to 1967.

The adaptation as a script was initially just a practice exercise that Clodualdo del Mundo wrote as part of a script course at the Ateneo de Manila . Del Mundo had already completed his main task, the original script Pepot Artista , halfway through the semester. His professor, Nestor Torre, suggested that he write another script for the rest of the semester. He chose Reyes' novel to attempt an adaptation. After completing the design, he moved to the United States, where he continued his studies at the University of Kansas .

Miguel de Leon, grandson of the influential producer Narcisa de Leon of LVN Pictures , had so far led only directed a short film and now planned to establish itself as a producer. He founded the production company Cinema Artists and was looking for a suitable material. De Leon thought of his friend and ex-fellow student from Ateneo, del Mundo, whose scripts he wanted to use. Del Mundo agreed and wrote the script.

Lino Brocka, who had received initial recognition for his film Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, was hired by de Leon to direct. Brocka took the opportunity to use the film to sharply criticize the poverty in the country, which the Marcos government did not like to see. In addition, Brocka had the script revised. The episode showing Julio as a hustler was not previously part of the novel. In addition, a passage has been deleted that revolves around a murder already committed by Julio.

Filming began on location in Manila in 1974. Jay Ilagan was first hired as the actor for the main character . After several days of shooting, Brocka came to the conclusion that Ilagan's stately constitution did not match his image of Julio. The new line-up was the newcomer Bembol Roco , who played his first leading role here after a small role in Brocka's Tatlong, dalawa, isa .

background

The names of some characters suggest an interpretation as speaking names . Ligaya Paraiso literally means “joyful paradise”. Madiago can be read as a derivative of matiyaga (Tagalog for tolerant, persistent). The name of the exploiter Ah tek is reflected in the colloquial expression atik for money. Mrs. Cruz stands for the cross that women forced into prostitution have to carry.

A version restored by The Film Foundation and the Film Development Council of the Philippines was shown at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival . In 2014 this version was shown for a week in the Museum of Modern Art .

Awards

Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS) 1976:

  • Best movie
  • Best Director (Lino Brocka)
  • Best Actor (Bembol Roco)
  • Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Abuel)
  • Best Screenplay (Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr.)
  • Best Cinematography (Miguel de Leon)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CANNES CLASSICS - Senegal and the Philippines restored by the World Cinema Foundation. Retrieved August 19, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Manohla Dargis: Small Dreams Set Afire on Marcos-Era Streets . In: The New York Times , February 5, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2015.