Rating: 4.5/5
Asian Cinema Challenge 2023 | 10/52 | Made in the Philippines
Monochrome mages of Manila’s Chinatown reveal the meager conditions of city life. Zooming in, standing below a sign that reads, “Do you have a problem?” is Julio Madiaga, a young man from Mariduque who has been in Manila for seven months. The saturation increases, and the image becomes colored. Julio stares at Chua Tek Trading Company and flashes an image of Ligaya waving at him. Ligaya, the woman he loves, left for Manila a while ago with Mrs. Cruz, a woman who came into town looking for women to work in the factory. Julio planned to stay and wait for her, but when she didn’t return, he went looking for her.
Julio arrives at a construction site looking for work. Although he earned more at his last construction job, he has no better prospects and must accept it. While working, Julio faints from hunger. Atong helps him up, and coworkers crowd around. Atong grabs Julio a little something from his lunch while another worker tells them to watch out for the foreman. On break, Julio talks about his former life as a fisherman and how life was hard at home. Atong assures him that, without money, life in the city is difficult. Once paid, a couple of workers chip in a little extra for Julio—nothing life-changing, but enough to buy a cigarette or two.
One day, on the job site, construction material falls from several floors up onto a coworker, killing him. This coworker had come to the city in hopes of becoming a singer, practicing on the job site to the annoyance of his coworkers. But no one would have wished this. The foreman chastises the other workers for stopping. Atong also hurt his foot, and Julio helps him home to the shantytown where Atong’s family squats. At night, men approach Julio, asking if he wants to pay for young sex workers. Then, Julio thinks he sees Mrs. Cruz.
The film follows Julio as he tries to get by and find Ligaya in the city that always feels like it’s on the verge of dawn.
The film was made in the streets of Manila at the height of the Marcos regime, reflecting the horrific social conditions that Lino Brocka saw in life, but which were not reflected in movies. Like many countries that have gone through such times, their films are often escapist fantasies. Marcos gained power, in part, through a major studio biopic that depicted him as a brilliant lawyer and politician. It didn’t hurt that the USA also supported Marcos. The regime heavily censored any films with overt political content. So, when Brocka returned to making films, he had to be careful about how he told his stories.
As a seasoned director of “soaps,” as he called them, he employed the language of melodrama to tell the story of working-class woes and social inequity. At the construction site, each of them receives a different pay, and some of them must “buy” their wages by taking deductions to ensure payment. On paper, they make more than they are paid so that the boss can take a little for himself, not unlike Marcos.
Lest this sound like a total downer, the film has a promising undercurrent in the relationships that Julio forges during his time in Manila. It is a hope that many still cling to as we work for the change we wish to see—the gift of solidarity. Though we are beaten and downtrodden, we are many, and those who exploit us are few. It doesn’t change the horrible conditions, and it doesn’t save us from pain and misery, but it is a small balm in a beleaguered world. Whether that is enough for Julio is up to the viewer to discover.
The sound design is fascinating in how it balances score and effects. At times, the grinding sounds of rock smashed into gravel drown out the introspective soundtrack, and the voice is barely comprehensible. Or the din of the city colliding with a racing organ. Hope is small, but it is not absent.
The flashbacks bleed into the film, overtaking Julio’s vision as though he can think of nothing else. Sometimes, the images flicker between the present and the past, as though holding onto something that is fading.
What helps this film stand out is its portrayal of sex work and how gender influences one’s experience within it. The film does not shy away from the queerness intrinsic to male-presenting sex workers despite many not being queer themselves. Movies like Midnight Cowboy could only hint at what this film is unafraid to tell.
This film is one of the most sharply realized political allegories I’ve seen, beautifully balancing its bleak tone with a humanity that many Western filmmakers would be too scared to include, lest it “soften” the tone. It doesn’t — it only reflects the complexity of the human condition.