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Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:45 pm
by rapta
Formally announced
today...
LINO BROCKA: TWO FILMS [MANILA IN THE CLAWS OF LIGHT + INSIANG]
Limited Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray + DVD)
Due in March 2017 (date TBC)
RRP £34.99
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 4:36 pm
by L.A.
Although I am aware of some classics from the Philippines like Genghis Khan, Himala and Oro, Plata, Mata I still haven't seen any films from the country before. These two shall be the first, looking forward to this set.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:36 pm
by zedz
L.A. wrote:Although I am aware of some classics from the Philippines like Genghis Khan, Himala and Oro, Plata, Mata I still haven't seen any films from the country before. These two shall be the first, looking forward to this set.
In the meantime, you could catch up with Lav Diaz's superb
Norte, the End of History.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:02 pm
by rapta
Yeah I was about to say the same. Norte is the only Filipino film I've seen to date, and what a film to start with. The UK disc from New Wave is a must-have, and is relatively inexpensive too.
From what I understand, Diaz is the successor to Brocka's legacy as the Philippines' most renowned filmmaker. Will be great to get hold of two of Brocka's films in one go!
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:04 pm
by L.A.
Will do. Thanks for the suggestion.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:52 pm
by knives
rapta wrote:Yeah I was about to say the same. Norte is the only Filipino film I've seen to date, and what a film to start with. The UK disc from New Wave is a must-have, and is relatively inexpensive too.
From what I understand, Diaz is the successor to Brocka's legacy as the Philippines' most renowned filmmaker. Will be great to get hold of two of Brocka's films in one go!
Though the two directors couldn't be more different. Brocka is utterly amazing telling the conflict of tradition against progress typically through sex and religion in a quietly unique fashion.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 12:47 am
by Calvin
Himala (and some other recent ABS-CBN restorations) are available on iTunes. Well worth a rental. And Mubi UK is currently hosting a Lav Diaz retrospective if you can access that. It's a great time to discover Filipino cinema.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 10:14 am
by repeat
Calvin wrote:And Mubi UK is currently hosting a Lav Diaz retrospective if you can access that
The retrospective is actually worldwide: there's been a lot of good stuff streaming on Mubi in recent years, but I don't think there's ever been a better reason to sign up than this. They'll be posting one film a month, and the previous one will leave when a new one appears. The first one (
Evolution of a Filipino Family, 2004) is available for one more week - and it's ten and a half hours, so better hurry up if you want to catch it (an opportunity that might not renew itself anytime soon!).
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:01 am
by Brevity
^Thanks, you've managed to finally convince me to subscribe to a streaming service. Somehow I didn't know how Mubi worked (or that it was available here), but it seems like a good way to watch some of these, as opposed to half-sleeping through a festival screening or getting a (hypothetical?) disc and not having anything to force you to actually watch it (my Sátántangó has been staring at me for seven years now)!
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2016 2:19 pm
by Cronenfly
I'm liking the cover art up
here, simple yet elegant.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:11 am
by GaryC
repeat wrote:Calvin wrote:And Mubi UK is currently hosting a Lav Diaz retrospective if you can access that
The retrospective is actually worldwide: there's been a lot of good stuff streaming on Mubi in recent years, but I don't think there's ever been a better reason to sign up than this. They'll be posting one film a month, and the previous one will leave when a new one appears. The first one (
Evolution of a Filipino Family, 2004) is available for one more week - and it's ten and a half hours, so better hurry up if you want to catch it (an opportunity that might not renew itself anytime soon!).
Heremias (Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess) - a mere nine hours (actually eight hours thirty-nine - PAL speed-up on Mubi's copy?) - is on Mubi now and for another twenty-two days. Next month's Diaz will be
Melancholia, seven and a half hours.
Lino Brocka actually appears as a character in
Evolution of a Filipino Family. Some of that may have been archive footage but mainly he was played by an actor. The only one of Brocka's films I've seen is
Bona, on its one and only showing on British television, in 1986. If I remember rightly from the time, the BBC cut it, despite it starting at five minutes past midnight on BBC2.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 12:07 pm
by dda1996a
I fail to find the appeal of 8 hours long movies. If he made one like Tarr then I'll tag along but the fact that every film he makes is at least 4 hours is a bit too much for me. Regarding these two films, I never heard of Brocka. Any reference points beside Diaz
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 4:19 pm
by knives
I'm not sure of these two films specifically, but Bunuel and Almodovar are about as close as I can think of. Though that dramatically fails to capture his full magic.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:40 pm
by dda1996a
Well seeing as I really like both that good news. I just never even heard of Brocka so I'm hesitant to pick this up blind, especially as I have no prior experience with Filipino cinema. Anyone can vouch for the two films?
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:50 pm
by Paul Petit
Sure I can vouch for them. Magnificient as well as truly important films they are, and as such they would deserve standalone releases in my eyes. You might also file the films under 'third cinema' though this may be a bit misleading as they're neither experimental nor low-budget nor defiantly imperfect. 'Taxi Driver' or 'Z' might be other obvious points of reference/comparison in the case of 'Maynila'. But I suggest to have a look at one of the blurry, but subtitled version of 'Maynila sa mga kuko na liwanag', which you can easily find on Youtube. That should help you to come to a decision.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 1:02 pm
by What A Disgrace
Has this been delayed? Its been up on Amazon for months, but you can't pre-order it.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 2:06 pm
by rapta
It's still listed as March 20th at the BFI Shop, and both films have been rated by the BBFC. I guess it could end up being slightly delayed due to extras production (or packaging).
We'll have to wait and see, but after the Scorsese cock-up they would then have nothing on the Blu-ray front for March.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:54 pm
by What A Disgrace
Finally available to pre-order on Amazon, though there are no further details as far as supplements go.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:23 pm
by MichaelB
Full specs announced:
Two Films by Lino Brocka
Insiang (1975)
Manila in the Claws of Light (1976)
Filipino director Lino Brocka (1939-1991) was a force of nature in world cinema, his powerful work illuminating the harsh social realities of life in his home country. His films have been largely unavailable on DVD & Blu-ray but now, thanks to Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, his two finest works have been rescued from obscurity and restored in 4K. They will be released together on DVD and Blu-ray in a 4-disc Dual Format Edition by the BFI on 20 March 2017.
A fascinating portrait of life in Manila’s corrupt, teeming urban jungle, Manila in the Claws of Light finds Julio, a 21-year-old rural fisherman, arriving in the Filipino capital to look for his girlfriend. Robbed of his cash, he struggles to survive, drifting through the city in search of his beloved.
Isiang is the story of a girl who, having been raped by her mother’s boyfriend, seeks comfort in the arms of her would-be suitor Bebot. Finding him little better than her attacker, she is forced to return home where she sets about exacting her revenge.
Special features
• New 4K restorations of both films
• Manila... A Filipino Film (Mike de Leon, 1975, 23 mins): fascinating making-of documentary featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
• Manila stills and collections gallery
• Visions Cinema: Film in the Philippines (Ron Orders, 1983, 40 mins): Tony Rayns interviews Lino Brocka and other prominent Filipino directors
• Signed: Lino Brocka (Christian Blackwood, 1987, 84 mins): award-winning, feature-length documentary exploring the director’s life and work
• The Guardian Lecture: Lino Brocka in conversation with Tony Rayns (1982, 62 mins, audio only)
• Illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Cathy Landicho Clark, an interview with Lino Brocka from 1980, and full film credits
Product details
RRP: £34.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1278 / Cert 15
Philippines / 1975 + 1976 / colour / Filipino language, with optional English subtitles / 126 + 94 mins / original aspect ratios 1.85:1 and 1.37:1 / BD50 x 2: 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9 x 2: PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (192kbps)
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:08 pm
by swo17
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 8:12 pm
by jlnight
Intriguing release. Signed: Lino Brocka was shown on Channel 4 in 1989 as part of a short season along with Manila In the Claws of Darkness, Jaguar and My Own Country. Those days are long gone now!
What was the last Tagalog language film on TV? Metro Manila?
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:13 pm
by rapta
Probably, yes. I don't think they've showed any Lav Diaz or Raya Martin on telly yet (at least, not here in the UK).
Those extras sound great, I'll definitely be picking this set up as soon as I can! Was worried it was going to be a bit light extras-wise but happy to see they haven't disappointed.
Question now is, what will the packaging be like? 4 discs and a booklet may mean two cases in a slipbox...or will it be the dreaded digipack?
There's a
trailer for Manila in the Claws of Light up, if anyone was wondering what the WCP restoration looked like (and Carlotta uploaded
one for Insiang last year as well).
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:41 pm
by colinr0380
jlnight wrote:Intriguing release. Signed: Lino Brocka was shown on Channel 4 in 1989 as part of a short season along with Manila In the Claws of Darkness, Jaguar and My Own Country. Those days are long gone now!
What was the last Tagalog language film on TV? Metro Manila?
Yes, aside from Metro Manila getting a couple of screenings on Film4 in recent years, I think the last film on UK TV from this part of the world was when
The Killing of Satan (NSFW) got shown on Channel 4 in 2002 as part of the Mondo Macabro season, along with the episode on Filipino exploitation cinema.
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 3:30 pm
by Cronenfly
This looks like a superb set, no need to wait for Criterion.
Can't wait to see what Tony Rayns looked like circa 1983...
Re: Manila in the Claws of Light / Insiang
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 12:35 am
by peerpee