Manila in the Claws of Light (1975) by Lino Brocka

By: Eaindray Mo, Myanmar

Director Lino Brocka’s Manila in the Claws of Light is an unrelenting portrayal of a city and its people ruined by dictatorship, corruption, and greed. Recently restored by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, the 1975 film is a classic in Filipino cinema. The film follows Julio, a young rural fisherman who moves to the capital city in search of his girlfriend, who then comes face to face with the reality of life in Manila where “... It’s nice to live [here] if you have money. If not, you will die.” The film’s theme of young rural workers migrating to urban cities in search of better opportunities still runs true in many Southeast Asian countries today. Equally true is the human trafficking, workplace abuse and exploitation, police brutality, and bureaucratic capitalism that these young hopefuls faced and continue to still face.

Manila in the Claws of Light takes a cynical view of life, showing 1970s Manila under a post-colonial dictatorship rule in all its ugliness and depicting the people consumed by it. Even though it is a deeply personal Filipino film, I find many aspects of the story relevant to the history of life under decades of political struggle in my own country of Myanmar. Even though I watched the film more than a few months ago, I’m still struck by the conversation that two characters in the film have as they sit watching a group of children play with each other:

“I envy the children. At least they have no problems.”
“When they grow up, they will have the same problem as ours.”

At its core, the film is about how personal stories are shaped by a country’s tumultuous history at large, and the lives of people living in a world that has never known peace.

Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), directed by Lino Brocka.