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| photo clip from the movie Insiang |
Set in the slum area of the
country, Insiang was opened with the montage of a depressed location in its different
shots and angles. Lino Brocka had shamelessly shown here the Philippines in its
worse poverty-stricken state. It was released in the year of 1976 during the Martial
Law period (under Marcos regime). Just when the first lady Imelda Marcos stood
firmly to her beliefs of “the truth, the good, and the beautiful” and thereby
claiming the duty to act as the star to light the poor men’s way, Lino
Brocka and Mario O’ Hara boldly made a film that demonstrated the Philippines
in its ugliest and worst condition. Insiang not just challenged Imelda’s principle
but slapped hardly the administration as the film frankly stated
the real circumstances in the country.
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| photo clips from the movie Insiang |
Insiang told the story of a
pretty young woman who strove hard to get the affection of her mother. Her
father left them for another woman and her mother so bitter and infuriated had
diverted her grudges onto Insiang. The film was made richly with interesting
conflicts and it was bombarded with poverty issues,which included the effects it had on
each member of the society. The story of Insiang was made with attention-grabbing
plot that would hold you still on your seat up to the last minute of the movie.
This dramatic film strongly stirred sympathy for Insiang who was harshly
challenged by fate, which left her seeking for revenge.
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| Hilda Koronel as Insiang |
Actress Hilda Koronel had given
us here a knockout performance, as she not only excellently portrayed the
character but proven as well that no other actresses in her generation would be more
fitted for the role but she alone. Kudos to the whole casts and to the production team,
whom with all their joint efforts had made the film a big hit that Insiang became
the first ever Filipino film to go into the Cannes Film Festival. Its entry to
Cannes did not win the favor of the Marcos but the administration barred instead the showing of
film in France. Small wonder why the Marcoses wouldn’t want to show off
the film in the festival where other foreign countries would be present –
Insiang described Philippines in ways that didn’t complement to Imelda’s own version of “the
truth, the good and the beautiful”. However, just as the movie was brazenly produced
and shown in the Philippines, there was nothing indeed to stop the production
team especially by that time that they had already gotten the attention of one of the
most prestigious films festival in the world. In spite of the prohibition of Marcos
to bring the movie to France, the producer had bravely sneaked the disc by carefully
hiding it in her baggage and flying Insiang to the Cannes Festival.
It has been three decades now
since Insiang was first released, but until today, you can still see those same
sceneries that you have seen demonstrated in the 1976 movie. It seemed
like Philippines has still a long way to go before it could finally lessen if
not eradicate the issues of poverty.
For this classic Filipino film that blatantly
discussed the society’s issues even if it could mean threat and danger to the
lives of the whole production team, let’s drink to it with the perfect rate of
10 shots of espresso!
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