This is the longest film I've ever watched, and it felt like it. This felt longer than its 3 hour 50 runtime, yet it felt kind of meditative. It's a look into the human continuum, and how it ranges from the dark vengeance to the light kindness of our spirit. The main character, Horacia, is trapped between the opposite sides of this continuum. She begins this film incarcerated, but is soon released, yet she feels more trapped on the outside than on the inside. In prison, she was a teacher, and a storyteller. And, upon her exoneration, she was thrown into a deeply disturbing era of the Philippines ("Kidnap for Ransom"). I think that Lav Diaz uses Horacia as a sort of microcosm for this period of history. She is kidnapped by time, through the 30 years she wrongfully lost, as well as a bifurcated identity: benevolent, and vengeful.
In my opinion, the heart of the film lies in the relationship between Horacia and Hollanda, who are both victims of a "metaphorical kidnapping". Horacia is kidnapped by time, and Hollanda is "kidnapped" by her own body. The bond that they form is a brillian showing of how human spirit can outweigh vengeance; in choosing to care for Hollanda instead of killing Rodrigo Trinidad, Horacia heals herself, and she ends up not falling to the dark end of the human continuum.
The imagery in this film is also incredible. My favourite is either the scene where Horacia washes Hollanda, or the final shot where Horacia walks across the sheets of paper that hold those who have been kidnapped.
In the end, Diaz suggests that the cyclical nature of humanity- Horacia tells both the prisoners at the start, and the street-dwellers at the end the same story- is what keeps us tethered to it- that human kindness will always win against vengefulness, or violence.
Good film.
This is the longest film I've ever watched, and it felt like it. This felt longer than its 3 hour 50 runtime, yet it felt kind of meditative. It's a look into the human continuum, and how it ranges from the dark vengeance to the light kindness of our spirit. The main character, Horacia, is trapped between the opposite sides of this continuum. She begins this film incarcerated, but is soon released, yet she feels more trapped on the outside than on the inside. In prison, she was a teacher, and a storyteller. And, upon her exoneration, she was thrown into a deeply disturbing era of the Philippines ("Kidnap for Ransom"). I think that Lav Diaz uses Horacia as a sort of microcosm for this period of history. She is kidnapped by time, through the 30 years she wrongfully lost, as well as a bifurcated identity: benevolent, and vengeful.
In my opinion, the heart of the film lies in the relationship between Horacia and Hollanda, who are both victims of a "metaphorical kidnapping". Horacia is kidnapped by time, and Hollanda is "kidnapped" by her own body. The bond that they form is a brillian showing of how human spirit can outweigh vengeance; in choosing to care for Hollanda instead of killing Rodrigo Trinidad, Horacia heals herself, and she ends up not falling to the dark end of the human continuum.
The imagery in this film is also incredible. My favourite is either the scene where Horacia washes Hollanda, or the final shot where Horacia walks across the sheets of paper that hold those who have been kidnapped.
In the end, Diaz suggests that the cyclical nature of humanity- Horacia tells both the prisoners at the start, and the street-dwellers at the end the same story- is what keeps us tethered to it- that human kindness will always win against vengefulness, or violence.
Good film.
