Manila in the Claws of Light

it was the 70s so u have to give it a bit of grace when it comes to action but that’s fine

honestly it wasn’t like wow this is life changing but it was really good, i think the most interesting part for me was just seeing life in manila in the 70s yk just like a little peek somewhat of what my mums life was like back then and boy it was a hard life. 

one thing i did quite enjoy was how restrained it was cos it gave a lot more weight to the emotional scenes

ps i just spent some time thinking about it and i defoooo just missed the point that’s why i didn’t like it as much oops🤓

it was the 70s so u have to give it a bit of grace when it comes to action but that’s fine

honestly it wasn’t like wow this is life changing but it was really good, i think the most interesting part for me was just seeing life in manila in the 70s yk just like a little peek somewhat of what my mums life was like back then and boy it was a hard life. 

one thing i did quite enjoy was how restrained it was cos it gave a lot more weight to the emotional scenes

ps i just spent some time thinking about it and i defoooo just missed the point that’s why i didn’t like it as much oops🤓

A deeply devastating film. What makes this movie hit so hard is how casual all the death and destruction feels, when someone dies, it’s just another drop in the ocean that is Manila. Everyone around Julio comes to Manila to fulfill their dreams, but they’re always just out of reach. Some people get lucky and escape the claws of Manila, but almost everyone else falls to unspeakable tragedies. Julio’s story resonates because this isn’t just the story of a man trying to find his lost love in a bustling city, it is the story of every third world dreamer who tries to escape their poverty in search for something greater.


Brocka does not dwell in misery, he shows fleeting moments of human connection and the beauty of the Philippines, but even those moments feel like a denial of an inevitable fate. I’ll leave off by saying that the final frame of this film will stick with me for the rest of my life, it’s one of the only movie endings that made me have a pit in my stomach.

A deeply devastating film. What makes this movie hit so hard is how casual all the death and destruction feels, when someone dies, it’s just another drop in the ocean that is Manila. Everyone around Julio comes to Manila to fulfill their dreams, but they’re always just out of reach. Some people get lucky and escape the claws of Manila, but almost everyone else falls to unspeakable tragedies. Julio’s story resonates because this isn’t just the story of a man trying to find his lost love in a bustling city, it is the story of every third world dreamer who tries to escape their poverty in search for something greater.


Brocka does not dwell in misery, he shows fleeting moments of human connection and the beauty of the Philippines, but even those moments feel like a denial of an inevitable fate. I’ll leave off by saying that the final frame of this film will stick with me for the rest of my life, it’s one of the only movie endings that made me have a pit in my stomach.

Decades later and the social issues tackled by the movie are still relevant. Hay nako Pinas.

Decades later and the social issues tackled by the movie are still relevant. Hay nako Pinas.

very raw, emotional and real. so heavy

very raw, emotional and real. so heavy

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