Manila in the Claws of Light

Júlio Madiaga, a 'provinciano', arrives in Manila to search for Ligaya, his loved one

Julio is a country mouse, a probiciano, who has lost track of his childhood sweetheart Ligaya in the wilds of Manila. In what amounts to a major quest, he enters the sprawling Philippine metropolis in order to find her. This searing melodrama shot on the streets of Manila with Bembel Roco and Hilda Koronel as doomed lovers, is one of the greatest films of Lino Brocka, the prolific Filipino filmmaker who tragically died in a car accident at the age of 52. “Lino knew all the arteries of this swarming city...