Manila: In the Claws of Light (1975): A Look into the Tragedy of History
(WARNING: CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SOME VIEWERS)
When I first watched Manila: In the Claws of Light (‘Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag’ in Filipino) in our class, I did not completely understand the dialogues between the characters, mostly due to the music or background noises being far louder than the voices (My teacher said that it was because of the speaker, not the film itself). Regardless, I paid little attention to the film, instead writing it off as another film trying to portray something deep but ends up stumbling in its own overambition. However, when I did some research on this film as a guide for this review, I was shocked to see its incredibly high reviews and is considered as the greatest Filipino film ever made. Additionally, it has the honor of being the only Philippine film included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. As a result, I decided to watch the film again with a better and clearer viewing experience, since I might have judged the film too harshly. Now that I’ve watched and fully understood it, I agree why Manila: In the Claws of Light deserves its tremendous praise and recognition.
Manila: In the Claws of Light is a 1975 Filipino drama film directed by Lino Brocka that narrates the hardships of Julio Madiaga (played by Bembol Roco) as he scours the city of Manila in search of his girlfriend Ligaya Paraiso (played by Hilda Koronel). Ligaya was brought to Manila from the province of Marinduque by a woman named Mrs. Cruz under the promise of education. However, as Julio spends more time in Manila, he slowly learns of the true intentions of Mrs. Cruz and the fate and location of Ligaya after seeing Mrs. Cruz frequent the trading company building of Ah-Tek, a mestizo de sangley (also known as a Chinese-Filipino). Alongside his search for Ligaya, Julio also struggles to survive in the harsh conditions of Manila, initially working as a construction worker and earning extremely low income. He meets new people along his journey, all with their own ways of coping with the harsh reality of Manila: Atong, a fellow construction worker who befriends Julio and schools him about the conditions in Manila; Perla, Atong’s sister who nurses their paralyzed father; Pol, Julio’s friend from Marinduque, and now serves as his confidant and who also has a secret liking to Perla; Bobby, a call boy who teaches Julio about male prostitution and how it can support him financially; and many more who have minor roles.
A huge factor as to why the movie is so powerful is that each character’s story is so central to the theme of the film. Characters with likable personalities are shown to undergo hardships in the city, while those who have it easy are portrayed as stubborn, abusive, and greedy. The film focuses on the unfair and unjust conditions in Manila and does not shy away with the realistic portrayal of these conditions. Atong was wrongfully arrested for a petty crime and was killed in prison. The neighborhood where Perla and her paralyzed father lives mysteriously burned down, killing the father and leaving Perla with nothing, causing her to go into prostitution in order to support herself. Benny, a fellow construction worker of Julio who wishes to be a hit singer in the future, is killed in a construction accident.
The characters who suffers the most in the film are the protagonists Julio and Ligaya. Later in the movie, Julio was laid off in his construction job and is unable to support himself. He meets Bobby, a call boy, who convinces him into prostitution as a last-ditch source of income. He reluctantly agrees but discontinues this line of work after only one customer . Fortunately, Pol was kind enough to help Julio financially for some time. After Julio was finally able to find Ligaya, she discloses to him that she was actually brought into a prostitution ring under Ah-Tek, the mestizo de sangley from earlier. She added that Mrs. Cruz , which might only be an alias, only pretended to bring her to Manila for education. Julio learns that Ligaya had a baby (the father of whom was not disclosed) who is closely guarded, somewhat as a hostage, by a nanny under Ah-Tek’s pay, and this is why she cannot leave Ah-Tek’s building. Despite this, they both hatch up a plan to escape together with her baby back to Marinduque. However, Ligaya fails to arrive at the meeting place for their escape. Pol informs Julio the next day that Ligaya died due to her falling down the stairs inside Ah-Tek’s building. Pol also adds that the “accident” might have resulted from a struggle with Ah-Tek, due to the presence of marks on her neck. Enraged, Julio storms into the building, confronts Ah-Tek near the entrance, and stabs him repeatedly to death. A mob of onlookers outside notices the bloody happening, concludes that Julio is a cold-blooded murderer, then chases him. They successfully corner him, they ready themselves to beat him up, and the film ends with a close-up of Julio’s terrified face, screaming silently.
In most movies, if a protagonist encounters problems and hindrances, they find a way to overcome it and all goes resolved at the end. This film excels in doing exactly the opposite. The audiences root for Julio to be able to find Ligaya and escape together after everything they’ve went through, but that’s not how reality works. Reality is unfair, and the film portrays that in a depressing matter . Ligaya is killed by her abusive master and Julio is presumably killed for taking his revenge on Ligaya’s murderer. This depiction by the film may be influenced due to the era that this movie was produced. The film was shot in the 1970’s and was released on 1975, during the time when Martial Law was still in effect nationwide. The Philippines was in a state of chaos during this period, with countless human abuses, incidences, and injustices, which may have had an impact on Brocka’s direction of the film.
The film also has lots of symbolism littered all throughout. The characters’ names are one example. Julio’s last name, Madiaga, sounds similar to “matiyaga” which is persevering in Filipino, a trait that Julio has. Ligaya Paraiso’s name translates to “joy paradise”, and her unfortunate demise in the film may be interpreted as the state of bliss and happiness being unfairly taken away from hardworking Filipinos. Additionally, there is a reason why the city of Manila was the chosen setting of this film. Back then, numerous people from provinces migrate into Manila to partake of the numerous avenues for income. However, what is not known is that it is hard to thrive in the city if you do not have the financial stability. Because of this, many probincianos end up becoming squatters, earning enough to support themselves but not enough to improve their lifestyles.
The theme of prostitution is also very prominent in this film. This is because of the fact that a majority of women were mistreated during the 70’s-80’s in the Philippines. Numerous cases of abuse were left unheard mostly due to the effect of Martial Law and the prevailing machismo climate. Additionally, because of the widespread poverty at the time, prostitution served as a way to earn income for both male and female. However, it can also be used illegally, as shown in the film. The prostitutes under their masters earn just enough to support themselves, but cannot earn any additional money to be able to escape their masters.
In a technical aspect, the film also excels in using the cinematography to symbolize the character’s emotions and circumstances. Just by looking at the angle that a character is looking, you can already deduce the emotion they are feeling. The color and shadows are also utilized in order to show the state that these characters are in.
Another technical aspect that I loved in this film is the usage of contrasts. For the film to show how unjust the conditions in Manila are, there are usually extremely opposite objects or scenarios that are shown in scenes, such as Ligaya’s depressingly empty vigil beside someone else’s vigil brimming with visitors and Julio’s depressing sleep in a bright and bustling park.
In conclusion, I am immensely happy to be proven wrong about my initial thoughts of this movie. The movie was able to illustrate serious and deep topics without sensationalizing or being unnecessarily over-dramatic. The characters feel natural and have their own personalities that affect each other in their own ways. The portrayal of events here resemble a real and tragic depiction of history, from the sad reality of probincianos who came to the city thinking it would be an excellent place to have a job, to the dark reality of prostitution and abuse. This film paints a reminder of what history felt for some people at that time and the suffering that they had to live through. It’s a story of the injustice and cruelty of Philippine history and this is the reason why I consider Manila: In the Claws of Light to be one of the greatest Philippine films of all time.
