Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver is hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made, as the neo-noir psychological drama about a man's descent into madness within an equally maddening city continues to influence cinema decades after its release. However, Taxi Driver wasn't the only film from the 70s to explore the sinister truth about a city's corruption beneath its bright lights—and it's arguably not even the greatest. In 1975, a year before Taxi Driver was released, a film with a kindred spirit premiered thousands of miles away in the Philippines: Manila in the Claws of Light, a neo-noir mystery and drama that shares similar narrative elements with Scorsese's seminal piece. Directed by Lino Brocka, considered the most influential auteur in Philippine cinema, Manila in the Claws of Light is a heart-wrenching tragedy that explores the conflict between humanity's generosity and greed, set in the shadowed underbelly of a hustling metropolis.
'Manila in the Claws of Light' is Considered the Greatest Filipino Movie
Through its emotional exploration of the trappings of poverty and the resilience of the human spirit, Manila in the Claws of Light is considered by many to be the greatest Philippine film of all time. The film follows Julio (Bembol Roco), a young fisherman who travels from his rural village to the bustling capital city of Manila to search for his missing girlfriend, Ligaya (Hilda Koronel). Ligaya was invited to the city under false promises of work, but when her letters to Julio mysteriously cease, the young man uses his savings to leave their home island to find his lover. However, after months of searching prove fruitless, Julio takes on a grossly underpaid and physically destructive construction job, where the boss steals workers' pay while turning a blind eye to their dangerous working conditions. As he continues looking for Ligaya, Julio finds himself entrenched in the brutal realities of the urban poor in Manila, as he is forced to live in the dense slums of the city. Desperate to continue his search, the young man allows himself to be exploited in order to stay in the city, becoming involved in a prostitution ring and other criminal activity in his efforts to rescue Ligaya from her traffickers.
Manila in the Claws of Light highlights the exploitation and suffering of the people of Manila with striking effectiveness, creating a gut-wrenching melodrama that feels visceral and genuine. However, underneath the malaise of Julio's hardship is a powerful statement about human resilience. Despite suffering from their own impoverished conditions, Julio's friends, Atong (Lou Salvador Jr.) and Pol (Tommy Abuel), are loyal and generous confidants for the young man. Whether it be welcoming him into their small home, offering up their humble lunch, or sharing their meager salary, Julio's friends give him the camaraderie and support to continue his critical mission. For every instance of greed and exploitation that is committed against them, the characters respond with generosity and kindness—a beacon of genuine hope amid a city bereft of optimism. However, despite the underlying optimism shared by these characters, Manila in the Claws of Light is firmly a tragedy, one that sees Julio pushed to the very edge of his own morality during his desperate quest.
Lino Brocka Made this Movie While Under a Dictatorship
Initially written as a spec script adaptation of a novel, Manila in the Claws of Light went into production in the early 1970s. However, more than just a movie, Lino Brocka made Manila in the Claws of Light in defiance of the dictatorship that was ruling over the Philippines during that decade. In 1972, former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in order to keep an iron grip on his political power, a move that led to widespread corruption, censorship, and steep economic decline. While the film landscape of the time often centered on escapism and fantasy, Manila in the Claws of Light takes a gritty, realistic approach to storytelling, one that highlighted the difficult living conditions of most of the population during this tumultuous political period. Retrospective reflection of the film emphasizes the connections between Julio's struggles with the challenges faced by countless Filipinos during this era.
The film proved to be a tremendous success, becoming a career defining installment in Brocka's filmography as it brought home Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director at the 1976 Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards. Manila in the Claws of Light also garnered international acclaim, as the restored version of the film was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was added to The Criterion Collection in 2018, the first Filipino movie to be added to the archive. Decades after its release, Manila in the Claws of Light continues to influence Filipino artists and activists in their continued defiance of greed and corruption.
Manila in the Claws of Light is available to stream on Apple TV in the U.S.