NSTP SOCIAL RELEVANCE FILM CRITIQUE (100 POINTS)

Name: Julienne Untalasco Date: 12/28/22

Year / course: BSA 2-01

A film critique is an extended opinion about a movie. It is typically made in the form of a paper,
article, or essay. Such papers are usually highly rated when written by respected professionals in the
field.

If you are writing any paper, it is always a good idea to begin with an outline. If you are writing
an essay for college, make sure that you have a clear structure. A typical structure includes an
introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

When criticizing any visual artwork, follow these 4 steps:

● Description,
● Analysis,
● Interpretation,
● Judgment.

Identify a few aspects you want to focus on. It could be actors, music and sound, visual effects,
plot peculiarities, etc.). Then, describe each point according to the four steps.

If you are focusing on an actor’s performance in a particular film, make sure that your judgments
are based not on the appearance or personal prejudice. Try to make a relatively objective
assessment.

Watch this movie and answer the guide questions

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xIlyovTo4-uOg8bsJdMg2iRJEv-8qRZ-/vie
w?usp=sharing

Title of the Filipino film: Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975)

Director: Lino Brocka
Your chosen scene (use the time in between the scene e.i., 1:30-7:12)
2:05-38:18
Conflict Plot (What are the main social issues being portrayed in the movie?)
Toxic standards and norms
Prostitutes were mentioned in the movie's narrative in passing. It illustrated the hardships a prostitute must
endure before making money. Additionally, it effectively illustrated how women's rights are violated.
Ligaya's performance is really the movie's shadow. She only serves as an example of how courageous a
woman can be, with or without the support of society. The world has been harsh to prostitutes by lowering
the bar for what society considers to be acceptable behavior. The construction of norms has made it seem
natural to denigrate someone's occupation. The purpose of the film is to demonstrate that both the men and
women who work as prostitutes are capable of performing things that other people can do. They are more
than just what we can infer from their income source. They are worthy of more than what the rest of the
world thinks of them.

Characters (Which character in the film left a mark in you? Did he/she able to play the character
convincingly? Why?)

Hilda Koronel as Ligaya Paraiso - The betrothed of Julio. She was brought away to Manila with the thought
of getting proper education, only to wind up getting entrapped in sexual slavery. Her name literally translates
to "joyful paradise". She played her character convincingly because she showed what it was like before as a
prostitute, how it reflects as a woman to have that kind of personality that the society imbedded in her. But
she still fights her way through everything.

Social Relevance (Did the screen writer able to depict the real social issues at that time period? Did the
situations still resonate in the present social issues in our country?)
Yes. Maynila is the story of Julio Madiaga’s (Bembol Roco) journeys while wandering and living in the
streets of Manila. He came from the province to look for her girlfriend in the person of Ligaya Paraiso (Hilda
Koronel) , who was lured by a certain Mrs. Cruz to work in Manila in exchange for money and education.
During his search for Ligaya, Julio stumbled upon various experiences that perfectly describe the rottenness
and wretchedness of our society. The film has that certain episodic feel since it tackled many different social
issues prevalent in our country. During the first part of the film, we see Julio working in a construction site
where he only earns P2.50 per eight hours of work. He is not compensated enough for a strenuous and risky
job. Adding insult to the injury, he later learned that he should get four pesos for his troubles but the foreman
already sequestered the difference. He cannot complain because his job will be in jeopardy the moment he
does so.

Take the case of Ligaya which was duped and became a libido-releasing creature of a monstrous Chinese
businessman in Binondo. She can’t escape because the bastard impregnated her and threatened that he would
kill her the moment she tried to. This is similar to those young women being promised a comfortable life by
recruiters and then will be “sold” like a commodity — heinous, soulless people that deserve the fire and
brimstone of hell. Poverty, corporate greed and slavery, prostitution (both male and female), human
exploitation, injustices are some of the problems shown in Maynila.

These gloomy stories are set against a backdrop of barren soils, contaminated drainages, garbage-filled lands
and slums — perfect to describe the filthy and ugly side of our country. These shots are breathtaking —
breathtakingly painful, suffocating and depressing. Brocka painted the picture of our society with power,
emphasis and dismal energy that is crying for help and attention.

Redemptive values (Did the ending justifiable? What important lesson can we drawn from the movie?)

Maynila: sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag was produced during Martial Law, when the Marcos regime was
promoting Manila as a dream city. Their brand of improvement, though, was to ignore the rampant poverty in
the city. Brocka’s vision, therefore, is a brave one. The film shows what the Marcos regime wanted to hide:
Manila’s poor living in decrepit conditions, forced to work in exploitative jobs that fail to pay a living wage,
and at times even resorting to prostitution to survive. This vision is what makes Maynila: sa mga Kuko ng
Liwanag relevant decades later. The issues it raised in 1975 are still present even up to now—Manila’s poor
still live in makeshift houses beside creeks, good jobs are still scarce, and many still work as prostitutes in
order to eat. The important lesson that we can draw is having makabayan and pagkakaisa in our nation.
Because without having this, It will lead to a country that isn't united and the mainland will not just fall. But
also the people.