Júlio Madiaga (Bembol Roco) has just arrived in the Filipino metropolis of Manila after living most of his life in a rural area. His appearance is presumably that of finding a job, just like the countless other young men driven to the big city, looking to make a living and provide for their families, most of which have been left behind in various seaside villages and rural towns. However, his real reason for finding his way to the hustle and bustle of Manila is because his childhood love, Ligaya (Hilda Koronel) was forced to move to the city, and has suddenly gone missing. Júlio takes it upon himself to investigate, and thus finds his way into the dark and deceptive urban corridors of the capital, where he encounters a range of different, eccentric characters, some of which are invaluable in helping him find Ligaya, others more sinister, who seem to exist purely to stand in the young man’s way and prevent him from reaching the conclusions he is so desperate for. Led through a densely-populated labyrinth of a myriad of stories, Júlio begins to realize that the big city, while being a beacon of hope and salvation for many people around the Philippines, harbours some daunting secrets.

Lino Brocka is often considered the greatest filmmaker to ever come from the Philippines. His work was amongst the most influential in Asian cinema, and Manila in the Claws of Light (Filipino: Maynila, sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag) is undeniably his masterpiece, a film that serves numerous purposes – a scathing commentary on poverty under a cruel political regime, a urban film noir, an exploration of queer themes, and more than anything else, a moving love story. Perhaps one could even accuse this film of being too overstuffed with ideas, but the results are far from convoluted – Brocka has made a gorgeous, meaningful meditation on the life of the working class, and the desperate measures some will go to in order to survive and ensure that they have something to eat and somewhere to call home. Brock’s film is a powerful explorations of shockingly human themes that never falters from its steadfast intention to get to the core of the human condition and demonstrate the often harrowing nature of existence for an entire class of people who have no choice but to venture to the darkest recesses of existence in order to just get the bills paid. Not an easy film, but a powerful one in every sense of the word.

This is a film brimming with allegory. Just consider the name of the film – the “claws of light” serve to evoke a sense of animalistic intensity, and refers to a young man’s loss of innocence through becoming ensnared in a world he neither understands nor particularly wants to be a part of – he found himself in Manila trying to solve a mystery, but unintentionally finds himself becoming a part of the seedy underworld that rules the city. The “light” is the shimmering neon that lines the streets, appearing on every billboard and building, which hide the secrets as Júlio is continually drawn into the harmful culture that entraps so many young people just like him. His investigation starts to appear less like a noble rescue mission, eventually becoming more of a way of surviving, because as we see in the harrowing final moments of the film, once the city’s claws have you firmly within their grasp, there is absolutely no way to escape. Through Brocka’s vision, losing one’s innocence is not seen as a tragic event, or something that should be avoided, but rather as the only way to make it out of somewhere as unforgiving as a city like Manila. Should you choose to hold onto your morals, you’ll be utterly eviscerated by the city’s vicious, chaotic disregard for weakness, where those who are seen as easy-pickings being openly preyed on. Manila begins to resemble a character in itself through the director’s bleak outlook, with the city becoming a looming, sinister monstrosity that sits omnipotent, preying on the weak and relishing in capturing as many innocent victims as it possibly can.

Manila in the Claws of Light is a harrowing journey into the other side of urbanity, one where poverty is impossible to eradicate, and the only way people have any hope of survival is through selling themselves – whether it be their souls or their bodies, the poor of Manila become less human and start to resemble objects of the desires of those in higher social status, who manipulate and distort the population to do their bidding, against their wishes but also out of their control. The poverty in Manila is depicted as being horrifying, and it is not helped in the least by the cruelty of the Marcos administration, one defined by its excess and disregard for the needs of the people it serves to protect (the impact of their actions still lingers on throughout the nation). The working class seems to be moving along gradually solely on the unsettling inertia of paltry wages and the broken promises that someday things will get better, and they very well might: they just won’t likely be around to see it. Once again, we can’t disregard the animalistic imagery presented by this film’s title – Manila is represented as possessing the same perilous qualities of an enormous jungle, whereby the deeper someone ventures, the more dangerous becomes, and very often the most frequent victims are those who don’t understand the risks that come with trying to find a place in a landscape that just doesn’t care too much about innocence, turning even the purest of individuals into shadows of their future selves. Caution to anyone who tries to undertake such a herculean task of exploring a cruel cityscape such as this, you might find yourself in a lot more trouble than originally intended.

Ultimately, Manila in the Claws of Light is a very odd film. Despite the brilliance of the story, the filmmaking is not particularly impressive – the acting is mediocre at best, the budget is extremely low and the film is hastily put together. Yet, this is not a criticism at all, but rather praise to the resilience of this film, because even without the limitless resources given to other filmmakers, Brocka manages to craft something truly memorable, and a film more impactful than even the most polished and cohesive of dramas that look at similar stories. This is precisely because of the immense heart underpinning this film, which focuses squarely on the story of third world poverty and desperation in a way that is entirely unforgettable. The writing in Manila in the Claws of Light is kept straightforward and cohesive, moving at a breakneck pace, not wasting a single moment on unnecessary exposition and choosing to rather meditate on the numerous meaningful themes it presents through its flirtation with several genres, in particular that of film noir, which is a genre that is similarly bleak and focused on investigating the disappearance of a particular femme fatale (1975 is a great year for this kind of neo-noir, with Night Moves and Farewell, My Lovely being other great films that deconstruct the noir genre in an effective but affectionate way). Manila in the Claws of Light climaxes in a truly harrowing turn of events, where the anger pulsating throughout the film reaches a grotesque peak, and the use of violence being both horrifying and cathartic, because we have been presented with one of the most tormenting two hours of poverty, sadness and desperation, and like in real life, sometimes these unfortunate experiences manifest in violence, because, in all honesty, desperate times call for desperate measures, and while it becomes undeniably disconcerting, the message underlying the film is far more poignant than one would naturally expect from such an intense but poetic film.

Lino Brocka left an indelible impression on cinema, both domestically and overseas, with Manila in the Claws of Light, a film that may be gritty and difficult to watch at several points, but possesses a beautiful soulfulness in how it explores a broad set of themes far bigger than anything that can be distilled into a single work of art. It is not an easy film to watch – it only increases in intensity, and what little levity there was at the beginning is entirely lost by the end, much like the innocence of the protagonist, who sacrifices everything he holds dear, including his dignity, in order to rescue someone who has become a victim to the vicious nature of the big city. What he did not account for was his journey resulting in him becoming a part of the terrifying social machinery that drives Manila and makes it both a place where dreams are made and a cesspool of dishonesty, deception and violence. It is a profoundly powerful film, one that makes a significant impact on the audience, who just can’t help being blown away by the stark but horrifying content of this extraordinary, but truly disconcerting, piece of social commentary.