Manila in the Claws of Light

Based on the novel In the Claws of Brightness by Edgardo M. Reyes, Manila in the Claws of Light is the story of a young fisherman who learned his girlfriend is missing in Manila as he tries to find her and uncover a world that is corrupt and troubling. Directed by Lino Brocka and screenplay by Clodauldo del Mundo Jr., the film is an exploration of a man from a small town in the Philippines as he encounters the social and political chaos of the times while trying to find his girlfriend who had been lured by false prospects of work and prosperity. Starring Hilda Koronel, Lou Salvador Jr., Tommy Abuel, and Bembel Rocco. Manila in the Claws of Light is a gripping and eerie film from Lino Brocka.

The film follows the year in the life of a fisherman who goes to Manila where he takes on many jobs while trying to find his girlfriend who had gone missing and wants to bring her home. It’s a film that has a man who comes from a rural small town in the Philippines who goes to the big city of Manila after having not received another letter from his girlfriend as he goes all over the city to find her while believing something isn’t right. Low on money following a mugging, he takes on many jobs and lives in the homes of sympathetic people as the screenplay by Clodauldo del Mundo Jr. explore the trials and tribulations that Julio Madiaga (Bembel Rocco) embarks on as he would often find himself in a street corner where he sees a short woman named Mrs. Cruz (Juling Bagadalgo) walking out of a building as he had seen previously at his hometown convincing his girlfriend Ligaya (Hilda Koronel) to go to Manila for a job.

Yet, she is missing with Julio taking on jobs and meeting other people who had endured social and political turmoil as they’re living in slums and poor places. The script also uses recurring flashbacks as it play into Julio’s sense of longing but also a look into a world that is much simpler. The script also show Julio being in a new world that is strange as it includes men becoming prostitutes as they engage in homosexuality which is something Julio knows nothing about.

Lino Brocka’s direction is riveting in the way he captures life in Manila and nearby locations at a time of civil unrest that would include a protest march against capitalism during its third act. Shot on actual locations in and around Manila as well as the island province of Marinduque where Julio and Ligaya lived in originally, Brocka shows a contrast of what life in Marinduque is as it’s simple and not filled with a lot of the turmoil that is happening in Manila where he uses wide and medium shots to get a scope into these different locations. Notably in certain aspects of the locations in Manila including a building that Julio often gazes upon to see if Ligaya is there as there’s some unique camera angles that play into his sense of longing. Even when he learns about the ways of the world including those he worked with starting to disappear as it play into the social and civil unrest that is happening in Manila. Julio would see a laborer die while working with the foreman Mr. Balajadia (Pancho Pelagio) is indifferent to the man’s death as he decreases their pay and later fire Julio feeling he has no use for him.

Brocka would use close-ups to play into the drama as well as these quick and recurring flashbacks of Julio’s life in Marinduque as it would play into the chaos he encounters in Manila. Brocka’s direction also play into the drama as it relates to the third act where Julio learns about what happened to Ligaya but also comes to term with the fact that the world he is in is extremely corrupt with its lack of morality. Overall, Brocka crafts a compelling yet haunting film about a man trying to find his beloved in the chaotic world of Manila.

Cinematographer Miguel de Leon, with additional work from screenwriter Clodauldo del Mundo Jr., does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key lights for the scenes at night along with the way some of the daytime exteriors are presented in its natural lighting. Editors Edgardo Jarlego and Ike Jarlego Jr. do excellent work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts and stylish quick cuts to play into the flashbacks. Art director Socrates Topaico, along with set decorators Alfonso Socito and Soxy Topacio, does fantastic work with the look of some of the places that Julio would stay in as well as the mysterious place where Ligaya supposedly is at.

The sound work of Luis and Ramon Reyes do superb work with the sound as it captures the natural sounds of chaos in the locations as well as the tranquility of Marinduque. The film’s music by Max Jocson is amazing for its music score that features elements of strings and keyboards to help play into the drama and suspense while its soundtrack elements of pop music including Tom Jones.

The film’s wonderful cast feature some notable small roles from Tommy Yep as a mysterious man known as Ah-Tek, Juling Bagadalgo as a mysterious woman known as Mrs. Cruz who would coerce Ligaya to go to Manila, Pancho Pelagio as a construction foreman who is indifferent to the plight of his workers, Pio de Castro as a worker named Imo who would make changes his life for his own good, Jojo Abella as the male prostitute Bobby, and Jonee Gamboa as a laborer in Omeng that Julio befriends. Tommy Abuel is fantastic as Pol as a kind man who lived in Manila for years as he knows his way around the city and the impoverished areas nearby as well as offer Julio help any way he can. Lou Salvador Jr. is superb as Atong as a construction worker who also helps Julio in trying to find Ligaya but also give him insight of the plight of the poor in Manila.

Hilda Koronel is excellent as Ligaya as she appears briefly through flashbacks and recurring quick-flashes only to emerge in the third as a woman that has become lost as well as reveal things about herself that she went through in Manila. Finally, there’s Bembol Roco in a brilliant performance as Julia Madiaga as a fisherman who travels to Manila to find his girlfriend as he deals with the wonders of Manila as well as deal with the chaos of his surroundings as he later copes with Manila itself as he goes from naïve and innocent to becoming an angry person troubled by the injustice of the world.

Manila in the Claws of Light is a sensational film from Lino Brocka. Featuring a great cast, a compelling story, eerie visuals, and a chilling music score, the film is definitely a drama that doesn’t play by the rules while showcasing a moment of civil and social unrest in mid-1970s Manila. In the end, Manila in the Claws of Light is a phenomenal film from Lino Brocka.

© thevoid99 2019