The 'provinciano' (literally someone from the provinces, or small town folk) is one of the most portrayed characters in Philippine cinema. With its sole megalopolis, Metro Manila, dominating the rest of the country, the economy included (with the possible exception of Cebu), the mass urban migration occurs day after day, depleting the agrarian countryside of its promising sons and daughters. The resulting drama is a great source of material for cinema: the evil, exploitative, capitalistic big city sucking the life out of the fresh, naïve, virginal barrio lad or lass. Furthermore, considering the history of Filipino colonial exploitation lasting hundreds of years by the Americans, Japanese, and Spanish, the story of the rich (yet morally lacking) exploiting the poor (yet virtuous) is one of the most enduring stories in Filipino culture.
"Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag", directed by Lino Brocka, the most critically respected and well-known filmmaker the Philippines has ever produced, from the novel by another icon, writer Edgardo Reyes, is the embodiment of the great provinciano film and has been hailed as the apex of so-called 'Third World cinema'.
The 'provinciano' in our story is Julio Madiaga, portrayed by film veteran (and later in his life the most famous bald Filipino), Bembol Roco. In this very first (and highly memorable) of his many cinematic collaborations with Brocka, Roco's neophyte status works well on the Madiaga character. He possesses a doe-eyed naivete that stands in harsh contrast with the bitter reality that is Manila. He braves the big bad city in search of his small town sweetheart, the so literally named Ligaya Paraiso (meaning Happy Paradise, as played by Hilda Koronel, at her virginal best), who has mysteriously disappeared after being promised a good job and an education by a woman who looks like a 'baboy' (pig). His maddening search dominates the film. Frustrated and disenfranchised, he gradually sheds this skin of innocence while a quiet sense of anger slowly brews under the surface. The 'provinciano' barely survives. Oppressed and emasculated, our hero is barely able to save himself from the neon clutches of the city, much less save his girl. Ironically, our savior needs to be saved!
Like Mira Nair's masterpiece "Salaam Bombay!", "Maynila" is an excellent portrayal of how man struggles to find his niche in the world or, more interestingly, how he ultimately doesn't fit in, no matter how often and how hard he tries. Julio, on the surface, isn't alone, for he easily gets along with his fellow laborers but, ultimately, he's among fellow misfits, society's disenfranchised poor living on the edge. Depressing as he can be, the perennial misfit is an interesting cinematic figure. It's this feeling of helplessness and the hope that maybe it will get better which fuels the film.
"Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag", indeed, deserves its place among Filipino cinema's best of the best. Like Ishmael Bernal's "Himala" and another Brocka film, "Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang", it's a celluloid legend that not only meets but surpasses high expectations. (Unfortunately, Brocka's "Insiang" falls short of these same personal expectations.) "Maynila" and "Himala" are most often mentioned as the best Filipino film ever made. Piercing, unforgettable portrayals of the human condition, they beautifully illuminate the story of the Filipino. And like all great films, they contain memorable, iconic scenes: film legend Nora Aunor's "Walang himala!" ("There's no miracle!") scene in "Himala" and, to a lesser degree, Roco's brief but haunting final shot in "Maynila". Between the former's increasing crescendo of Third World desperation, Aunor's tightly controlled performance, and false gods/true celebrities religious fanaticism, versus the latter's dark maze of urban entrapment, Roco's gradual withering of brown 'provinciano' innocence, it's a very close, tough call to make. Still, I have to say that "Maynila" is the more relevant, therefore, more appealing for me personally. As beautifully surreal as the deserts of Paoay are in "Himala", though Bernal's intelligent religious commentary connects with me strongly, ultimately, it's the simple story of the brown 'provinciano' swallowed by his sweetheart's big city dreams which affects me more significantly.
"Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag", directed by Lino Brocka, the most critically respected and well-known filmmaker the Philippines has ever produced, from the novel by another icon, writer Edgardo Reyes, is the embodiment of the great provinciano film and has been hailed as the apex of so-called 'Third World cinema'.
The 'provinciano' in our story is Julio Madiaga, portrayed by film veteran (and later in his life the most famous bald Filipino), Bembol Roco. In this very first (and highly memorable) of his many cinematic collaborations with Brocka, Roco's neophyte status works well on the Madiaga character. He possesses a doe-eyed naivete that stands in harsh contrast with the bitter reality that is Manila. He braves the big bad city in search of his small town sweetheart, the so literally named Ligaya Paraiso (meaning Happy Paradise, as played by Hilda Koronel, at her virginal best), who has mysteriously disappeared after being promised a good job and an education by a woman who looks like a 'baboy' (pig). His maddening search dominates the film. Frustrated and disenfranchised, he gradually sheds this skin of innocence while a quiet sense of anger slowly brews under the surface. The 'provinciano' barely survives. Oppressed and emasculated, our hero is barely able to save himself from the neon clutches of the city, much less save his girl. Ironically, our savior needs to be saved!
Like Mira Nair's masterpiece "Salaam Bombay!", "Maynila" is an excellent portrayal of how man struggles to find his niche in the world or, more interestingly, how he ultimately doesn't fit in, no matter how often and how hard he tries. Julio, on the surface, isn't alone, for he easily gets along with his fellow laborers but, ultimately, he's among fellow misfits, society's disenfranchised poor living on the edge. Depressing as he can be, the perennial misfit is an interesting cinematic figure. It's this feeling of helplessness and the hope that maybe it will get better which fuels the film.
"Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag", indeed, deserves its place among Filipino cinema's best of the best. Like Ishmael Bernal's "Himala" and another Brocka film, "Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang", it's a celluloid legend that not only meets but surpasses high expectations. (Unfortunately, Brocka's "Insiang" falls short of these same personal expectations.) "Maynila" and "Himala" are most often mentioned as the best Filipino film ever made. Piercing, unforgettable portrayals of the human condition, they beautifully illuminate the story of the Filipino. And like all great films, they contain memorable, iconic scenes: film legend Nora Aunor's "Walang himala!" ("There's no miracle!") scene in "Himala" and, to a lesser degree, Roco's brief but haunting final shot in "Maynila". Between the former's increasing crescendo of Third World desperation, Aunor's tightly controlled performance, and false gods/true celebrities religious fanaticism, versus the latter's dark maze of urban entrapment, Roco's gradual withering of brown 'provinciano' innocence, it's a very close, tough call to make. Still, I have to say that "Maynila" is the more relevant, therefore, more appealing for me personally. As beautifully surreal as the deserts of Paoay are in "Himala", though Bernal's intelligent religious commentary connects with me strongly, ultimately, it's the simple story of the brown 'provinciano' swallowed by his sweetheart's big city dreams which affects me more significantly.