Manila in the Claws of Light (1975) — Movie Discussion

"Filipino film director Lino Brocka achieved international acclaim with this candid portrait of 1970s Manila, a breakout example of the more serious-minded filmmaking the director had turned to after building a career on mainstream movies he described as “soaps.” A young fisherman from a provincial village arrives in the capital on a quest to track down his girlfriend, who was lured there with the promise of work and hasn’t been heard from since. In the meantime, he takes a low-wage job at a construction site and witnesses life on the streets, where death strikes without warning, corruption and exploitation are commonplace, and protests hint at escalating civil unrest.

Mixing visceral, documentary-like realism with the narrative focus of Hollywood noir and melodrama, Manila in the Claws of Light is a howl of anguish from one of the most celebrated figures in Philippine cinema."
(Criterion)

"The movie's palpable, deeply lived-in realism is among its great attractions, largely because the film isn’t just a story about a young Filipino Everyman, but because it’s also a de facto record of Manila in the 1970s."
(New York Times)

Manila in the Claws of Light (Tagalog: Maynila, sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag) is a 1975 Filipino drama film directed by Lino Brocka based on the story In the Claws of Brightness by Edgardo M. Reyes. It is considered as one of the greatest films in Filipino cinema.

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Please watch the movie in advance. I will upload a copy soon.

You can watch the movie here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L7It3a8bJeuDvRfhR7LcfHNJtBFuIDCr/view?usp=share_link
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We all seek meaning in our lives and dread futility. Philosophy doesn't provide facile answers, but the philosophical quest to make sense of our fleeting lives is one that we all share.

This group explores answers by discussing not only philosophical writing, but also literature and film.

Check out other film discussions in the group on Wednesday, Friday, and sometimes the weekend.