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  4. Manila In The Claws Of Light (Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag)

Manila In The Claws Of Light (Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag)

The Philippine director Lino Brocka, who died aged 52 in a car accident, bestirred the 1978 Cannes audience with his low-budget 'dirty' film known then, confusingly, as Manila in the Claws of Darkness. Brocka, a lifelong activist against the Marcos dictatorship, adapted a story about a young farmer who comes to Manila to seek his girlfriend - abducted into prostitution - and survives as a labourer on dangerous, corrupt building sites. With energy, passion and inside knowledge, Brocka penetrated and exposed Manila's seething urban maze to celebrate the humanity of the lower depths in his beleaguered country, where he was marginalised but protected by his fame abroad. Manila is a vital, unclassifiable film whose re-emergence and restoration (from original negatives deposited by Pierre Rissient in the BFI National Archive) we can gratefully attribute to the World Cinema Foundation.

Running Time: 123 minutes
Director: Lino Brocka
Author: Clodualdo del Mondo
Cast: Rafael Roco Jr, Hilda Koronel, Bembel Roco