Lino Brocka and Auteur Theory

            Before I start this essay of Lino Brocka and the auteur theory as of his films Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag and Insiang, I will start by introducing who is this artist behind of all the masterpieces that has been made and has a big impact in the field of filming here in the Philippines. Catalino Ortiz Brocka was a Filipino film director, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant Filipino filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema.

He was also gained attention in the international film community for his films about the Marcos dictatorship. He directed landmark films such as Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Insiang, Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, and Orapronobis. After his death in a car accident in 1991, he was posthumously given the National Artist of the Philippines for Film award for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts.        

Now we will be discussing about Lino Brocka’s works as comparing of his two films Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag and Insiang by discussing the auteur theory. Lino brocka’s works are secretly focused on exposing the dictatorship of the tenth president in the Philippines named Ferdinand Marcos in his times of the martial law.

The first movie is about a probinsyano helplessly lost in the city of Manila looking for his love named ligaya, through the course of hardship of finding Ligaya he ended up in the claws of Maynila and ended up in revengeful ending as he killed the man that is responsible of Ligaya’s death and who made Ligaya as his trophy wife.

The film made by Lino Brocka “Maynila, Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag” has garnered several awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor at the 1976 FAMAS awards; one of the few Filipino films that has been consistently placed among the world's top 100 films of all time; the only film from the Philippines that entered in the list of the book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die; shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival to name a few.

The film of Lino brocka has a lot of things to say that he did the film based on his signature as a film director. The movie started as you will hear the noise of the environment and it will give you the glimpse of what or something that may be ahead in the movie. He wants to experience his audience of what’s the course of the settings that the film will be presented, it’s like an adlib which an analogy I can give, let’s say a band performing their solo which gives them the time to feel the music as the harmony comes in to their feelings as an artist, same as the movies of Lino Brocka which everything starts with a harmony or an experience for the audience to feel or express the movie before it begins.

As the movie started, we will see the settings of the movie where the protagonist takes its place. The protagonist is named Julio as Lino Brocka always come up with his characters he likes them to be the ones that are powerless in nature, let’s say they are the ones who are unfortunate with the paper, but they are the ones who have a story to tell which are interesting as how Lino Brocka wants it to be prepared for the film.

Lino Brocka wants his characters to be named first foe the audience as it tells who is the character by nature, he wants to introduce his character before adding the spices in the film, as the first scenes of Julio, he is surviving for himself to have the money to buy food by woking in a construction site just for him to stay longer to find his love, Ligaya. Lino Brocka welcomed his character to us by the progression of the film will be slow at first as the character in the movie is still adapting to its new whole in the ground. By the introduction of the character we know that Julio has his intentions to the house that he is focused on, by which where it started it will also end there in that same house. He is also the character as how Lino Brocka made Insiang, they are both naïve and it’s like that they have something coming up in their sleeves.

Lino Brocka also has his own presentation of his cinematics of his every movie. He wanted to mix the sounds of the working cities or the sound of that settings where the characters are in by the sound of people in the streets or let’s say most likely poverty, as it symbolizes to the spot where are people in the Marcus era are experiencing. The noise of the cars, people, the pollution as if it is really stressing me as it feels like you are in the same place as the characters are in.

He also made his character Julio be in a bad situation which Julio has been fired from his job due to complications and ending up Julio in a place where he has no idea what will happen to him, which a man named Bobby introduces him to the obscure world of male prostitution. As for Lino Brocka wanted his film to showcase everything of what is happening in the outside world of reality. Every bits and pieces Lino Brocka wanted to expose everything that is confidential and sensitive which is an astonishing work from a director to be able to fit some of the things out of the blue.

Lino Brocka’s film also is focused on the build up of his characters as shown in the movie we see some instances that Julio is not a vengeful person but later on as seen in the film he shows a proceeding violence towards different scenario. At first it started he felt all his temper like as if he is tired of what obstacles he has been facing throughout the movie.

We also noticed by Lino’s excellence in his works that his touches in the films filter, it has its own palette of warm and cool effect based on the time of the film. When a scene is made in the day light it has this touch of warm heat like polluted settings which really is impressive as it shows the best picture of a movie when in a busy area, especially how he made it like everyone is in a position of plight of the characters in the film. As of night time he wanted it like it is cold and moody as the most of the scenes in the night time of the movie it has this drama effects on it which is clearly to say to the audience.

As of Lino Brocka’s pattern in the movie we know how it will end based on the director’s signature touch which is the revenge at the end of the film. As the movie progress we did not expect that our main protagonist in the film Julio will ended up being a vengeful person and will be out of his position as a person who just not have it in him. As he just discovered that Ligaya died he suddenly ended up like a different person, He then feels like Ligaya is the only person for him to be happy and ended up killing the main antagonist of the movie which is the Chinese man that made Ligaya his trophy wife and abusing Ligaya as what Ligaya explained to Julio who is the man that she is living with. The movie ended up in a tragic ending with blood shed made by Julio by killing the man using an ice pick.

Lino Brocka’s film are based on his stand about in what is happening in the Philippines during the 80s as it shows the hardships of the Filipinos in a world of a should be so called liberty but it is ruined by a dictator named Marcos at that time of the martial law. The film of Lino Brocka,  Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag shows an analogy of a representations of different characters that is applicable in the reality of the Filipinos, if one dig deeper as thinking of outside the box the film really will surprise you what it really meant. The story is not about what is happening in the story, but it really shows on what is really happening in reality as it is a way of a message from Lino Brocka an outstanding artist, an artist that has shown a different way of creating a movie by making symbols and characters using his talent.

As for the movie Insiang it is a 1976 Philippine drama film that was directed by Lino Brocka. Written by Mario O’Hara and Lambert E. Antonio, the movie was based on teleplay of the same name by Mario O’Hara. The movie was the first Philippine film that was shown in Cannes Film Festival. Although the film was a box-office failure it has received good reviews from critics, and some said it was Lino Brocka’s best film. The restored version of the film was selected for screening in the Cannes Classics Selection of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and was played at a number of other film festivals.

Set in the slums of Tondo, Manila, the film stars Hilda Koronel as the eponymous character: the young daughter of a resentful mother (Mona Lisa), whose much-younger lover (Ruel Vernal) rapes her. After her assault and the betrayal of her own lover (Rez Cortez), Insiang seeks revenge. A representation of urban poverty, the film explores themes of betrayal, revenge, and despair.

Throughout the movie I was really expecting an applause after finishing it, as what we know Lino Brocka’s films are intelligent as if it was really an expectation of poverty and the ascending the protagonist from naïve/innocent into a revengeful person. At first, I thought the movie was about just Insiang’s family and making her way to her lover. But as not expected it was about the harsh place that she is in, A place that no one is supposed to be trusted as she ended up revenging and seeking her own justice.

Speaking for the introduction of the movie it has the same way of a Lino Brocka film by starting with a concept of adlib by letting the people know what they are should be expecting. It started in a slaughter house of pigs, as it already tells what the story will have to go through and will end the same to the ending of the film. With the harsh sounds of the squeaking pigs facing their death and harsh environment like a lot is going on in the first scene as it gives you uncomfortable to watch.

A film made by Lino Brocka it captures the lives of a poor environment and a ton of families living in the area. Here we have the family of Insiang as the director always gives the introduction of how is the life of our main protagonist in the movie, it shows the poverty and the dull life of Insiang by supporting her mother with the lack education for her to support herself especially for her future.

The film depicts the reality of harassment to women, seen in the film as Insiang passes through a crowd of men they are all looking at her like they are showing their perverted side as a sign of disrespect to women. There’s also a scene where Insiang’s cousin harasses the girl from their small store by grabbing her chest which is so uncomfortable to watch as it is really what is happening at the times in the 80s as we people have no boundaries of respect and that film totally shows how Filipinos at the time had respect issues especially for the females.

The film also showcases the selection of the settings as for a Lino Brocka film he wanted the position of the people who are facing poverty as maybe for him it has more value because of a life maybe difficult but with it, has more complexity going on.

The film has its shades of tint of bluish yellow also the same as every Lino Brocka film and to be compared to his film Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, that you can sniff the air of the settings and the noises in it, as if you were at the same location where they are at.

Here comes the mixing of the characters of Lino Brocka, as seen in the film he made his antagonist the ones that are close to the protagonist which signifies the parent of Inisang her mother. As what Lino Brocka wants to portray Insiang’s mother, she is like a tired woman who feels like that her daughter is a burden to her as shown through out the film which what Lino Brocka always depicts his characters from the reality of the Filipino parents, the toxicity of like they know everything and that they are the ones that are always right because they are the parents of their children who sometimes in a position of pettiness because of their scumbag parents. Shows that mostly Filipinos are like that especially If there are complications that happened in the past and the one thing that of a parent may do is to point it out to her/his child which can lead to the corruption of the child’s mind and ending up to be having a psychological disorders.

There’s also involvement with rape in the film and this shows injustice it really gives a clear statement from the movie. The scene of Insiang being raped by her step father and in the end as he took advantage of an alibi Insiang mother does not believe in Insiang which really runs down to my nerve that it really gave me irritation to the film. Well as they say that if you feel over emotion to the film it means it is a good one. And as Insiang was raped and her mother just still let the step father welcomed in their house, we see Insiang is damaged as if her dignity is lost. It really does depict the situation of those who are the victims in a rape case, some may pass their way out to the scandal and there injustice begins as for the ones who are victims which made a faith in humanity lowered in our spirits. A sign of a film of Lino Brocka as he wanted to show every bits and details of the film and what is so happening in reality. Properly executed by the director, as what he wanted to feel for the audience in his every film, he wanted to show the intensity of the main protagonist’s position. Like the world is throwing rocks to the main protagonist where it shreds our hearts and pity will abide from the audience.

As the film progresses it shows us that Insiang was naïve as what Lino Brocka wanted his characters are, but something happened as I really thought she is dumb or something and it made me irritated. She was actually having feelings with her step dad and I was like cringed and why or how does that happened. But as it shows a sign of something fishy is happening, it was actually Insiang’s plan. Her plan was to let her step dad be comfortable to her as her mother will notice that they have an affair, “her daughter and her husband” she will of course burst into flames as she confronted her husband. Ending the story by Insiang’s mother killing her husband which made Insiang’s plan successful. Same goes to the film Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag that Lino Brocka’s signature as a director, he does really like those revenge in the end that brings injustice justice to our main protagonist. He wanted to start of that his main protagonist are simple people, weak, naïve, and the type of person who doesn’t have it in him/her, but as he developed his character through out the film then realization comes to us that his characters are of what not different persons in the end. That they are more courageous and like as if they are tired to be the ones who are thrown by rocks at and as they receive all of those rocks, they will make a meteor out of it and slams it to the rock throwers. That’s how Lino Brocka wanted his characters are, from nothing to the masterminds slash vengeful people ending up everything in a wicked gruesome type of violence.

Lino Brocka’s film are rhighly respected as it shows the deeper side of the film, as from the top of the ice burg we only see the story of the movie but as wee go pass trough the deep shallow water we will see that it is actually a message from the director. A message of justice and injustice of what so is going on through out the era of martial law held by Marcos and is forever in the history of the Philippines that there is a president, a president who is a dictator. A dictator that forced artist like Lino Brocka to make a film about what is happening in our country by showcasing it in his art of film making.

Lino Brocka’s films are more on the tragic side of the Philippines, it depicts that of the harsh lives of the state and is somewhat irritating to watch but as an audience it is a masterpiece. Every symbol in the movie represents something outside the film, which made Lino Brocka an amazing artist and will be through out the film industry here in the Philippines.