Manila in the Claws of Light(Filipino: Maynila, sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag) is a 1975 Filipino drama film directed by Lino

Brocka based on the novel In the Claws of Brightness by Edgardo M. Reyes. It is considered by many as one of the
greatest films of Filipino cinema.It stars Hilda Koronel, Lou Salvador, Jr., Tommy Abuel, and in his film debut, Bembol
Roco (credited as Rafael Roco, Jr.). The cinematography is by Miguel de Leon.
Plot
Júlio Madiaga is a probinciano, a young rustic from the island of Marinduque, who arrives in Manila. From time to time,
Júlio would pass by the corner of Ongpin and Misericordia, as he stares at a peculiar building from a distance. While
pursuing his quest, he has to work in order to survive the conditions of the urban jungle.At first, Júlio lands a job as a
construction worker. Not used to such labour, he falls unconscious due to fatigue and hunger. In the site, he befriends
Atong, a fellow construction worker who was hired some five weeks before. Another co-worker advises Júlio that city
life is quite difficult unless one has the income to enjoy urban comforts. Júlio begins to slowly observe the harsh reality
of society, even witnessing the accidental death of one of the workers.One day, while Júlio and Atong are shopping for
clothes in the marketplace, a woman dressed in black and wearing sunglasses catches Júlio's attention. The woman
reminds him of Mrs Cruz—the woman who brought his childhood sweetheart, Ligaya, to Manila for schooling. Júlio
immediately runs through the crowd to follow the woman, and locates her. He tries to approach her, but before he
could even say anything, the lady shrieks in distress. Júlio flees in order to prevent making a scene, running back to
Atong and leaving the marketplace with him.This was followed by other chance encounters with Mrs Cruz, leading him
to discover that Ligaya was, in fact, brought to the capital for prostitution. Ligaya explains everything to Julio upon their
reunion. Julio plots with Ligaya of their return to Marinduque. Both agree to meet at Arranque. However, Ligaya fails to
appear at the appointed time.Júlio returns to the house of a friend, Pol, who informs him the next day that Ligaya had
died in the night; having fallen down a flight of stairs during a struggle with Ah-Tek, the brothel owner. Enraged, Júlio
stalks Ah-Tek, who he saw at Ligaya's funeral, and successfully dispatches his target. Seeing Julio's crime, a mob pursues
and eventually corners him; the film ends with a slow motion close-up of Júlio's terrified mouth, just as his assailants are
about to strike.
Characters
*Bembol Roco as Julio Madiaga - The 21-year-old protagonist who hails from Marinduque, wandering Manila in search
of his lover, Ligaya. He starts the narrative as a patient, if naive, character; only to gradually transform into a weary and
vengeful person.
*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".
*Lou Salvador, Jr. as Atong - A construction worker Julio befriends. Atong serves as Julio's guide to the plight of the
working class; and in effect Manila, helping him cope with the unpleasantness of the city . He later gets wrongfully
arrested and meets his demise at the hands of fellow inmates.
*Tommy Abuel as Pol - A friend of Julio who also acts as his confidant. He serves as Julio's guide to the impoverished
districts of Manila. Steadfast and loyal, Pol also offers his help and gives advice to Julio whenever needed.
*Jojo Abella as Bobby - A call boy Julio befriends. He serves as Julio's guide to the world of male prostitution. An
attraction towards Julio is implied.
*Pio de Castro as Imo - A colleague of Julio from the construction site. He was initially poor at the start of the narrative,
but has later improved his lifestyle.
*Joonee Gamboa as Omeng - Another colleague of Julio from the construction site.
*Pancho Pelagio as Mr. Balajadia - One of the antagonists of the story. He is the foreman of the construction site Julio
worked in. Arrogant and selfish, he often treated his subordinates unfairly.
*Juling Bagabaldo as Mrs. Cruz - One of the antagonists of the story. An unsavory character who recruits unsuspecting,
young provincial women to her prostitution ring. It was speculated by Julio that "Mrs. Cruz" may not even be her real
name, but rather an alias.
*Tommy Yap as Ah-Tek - One of the antagonists of the story. He is an unscrupulous mestizo de sangley who bought
Ligaya from Mrs. Cruz's prostitution ring and made her his kept woman.
Production
The film is based on a story, Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (lit. "In the Claws of Brightness'"), written by Edgardo Reyes. It was
originally serialized in Liwayway magazine from 1966 to 1967, and was later published into a novel.
The adaptation in to film originally started out life as a writing exercise. In 1970, Ateneo de Manila graduate Clodualdo
del Mundo, Jr. re-enrolled in his alma mater to take a short course in film writing. There, he wrote Pepot Artista (a
screenplay he would later revisit in the 2000s). Del Mundo finished his script for Pepot Artista, which was supposed to
be a major assignment, by the middle of the semester; earlier than what was expected. His professor, Nestor Torre,
requested him to make another screenplay as way of filling in the extra time. Because he had just written an original
screenplay, Del Mundo tried his hand at adapting a literary source for a change. He chose Reyes' story, already a novel
by then, as the subject for his next assignment. After turning in the spec script, Del Mundo completed his course and
relocated to the United States to continue his studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Mike de Leon, grandson to Narcisa de Leon of LVN Pictures, has directed one short film and intended to expand his role
in the film industry, namely as a producer. De Leon had just put up a new production company, Cinema Artists, and was
in the process of seeking out projects. Eventually, De Leon remembered of Del Mundo's trial adaptation. Having been
friends since their days at Ateneo de Manila, De Leon contacted Del Mundo with the idea of producing the latter's spec
script. Del Mundo, who just returned from his four-year course in Kansas, gave De Leon his blessing and agreed to
further polish the screenplay. "It was the right time," Del Mundo recalls.
Lino Brocka, who had just received acclaim for his previous work, The Human Imperfections, was approached by De
Leon to direct the adaptation. Brocka took this as an opportunity to create a scathing commentary about the urban
poverty amidst the Marcos administration, and never hesitated to include his trademark homosexual theme in to the
story. Brocka (a homosexual man himself) requested Del Mundo to rework on a few scenes to accommodate such
approaches, which were never present in the original source. Other significant revisions were made, such as condensing
the structure and adding more dramatic weight to the narrative. “Brocka understood the popular audience well," Del
Mundo says. "He suggested additions to the screenplay [of The Claws of Light] to make it more commercial. It was fun
working with him, although he was quite emotional.”
The production title was eventually changed from Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag to Maynila, sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (lit.
translation: Manila in the Claws of Light) to emphasize on the setting of the story.
An independent production, The Claws of Light was produced with a modest budget. Principal photography occurred in
1974. The film was shot on actual locations around the vicinity of Manila, to better capture the authenticity of the city.
Jay Ilagan, who had previously acted in Brocka's films, initially played the lead role of Julio Madiaga. Having already
participated in several days of shooting, Ilagan was asked to drop out of the production when Brocka became
dissatisfied with the performance. Upon viewing the dailies, Brocka was convinced that Ilagan, who had a very healthy
appearance, did not meet his vision of Julio—a pitiful vagrant that wades in and around the urban gutters. The role was
re-cast with newcomer Bembol Roco in the part. Prior to this film, Roco's only foray in to acting was a relatively small
role in Brocka's previous film, Three, Two, One. For this film, he was credited under his real name of Rafael Roco, Jr. The
Claws of Light marked what would become the first lead role for Roco.
To play the love of Julio's life, Brocka did not have to look too far. The role of Ligaya Paraiso was a natural choice for his
protégé, Hilda Koronel. Lou Salvador, Jr., a former matinee idol famous for playing angst-ridden romantic leads in LVN's
teen rebel pictures, was cast against type as the wise and sympathetic Atong. Character actor Tommy Yap nabbed the
role of the rarely-seen antagonist, Ah-Tek. Yap would later appear—albeit less significantly—in Brocka's Insiang,
alongside Koronel. Majority of the actors that round out the film, such as Tommy Abuel and Joonee Gamboa, were
veterans of both the stage and radio.
Symbolism
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Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this
template message)Many who have seen The Claws of Light have speculated on the symbolism of the characters, which is
hinted at in their names. For example, some comment that Ligaya Paraiso represents Inang Bayan, the Filipino concept
of the motherland. Her name, which literally reads "joy[ful] paradise", is a reference to how Julio viewed his lover as an
ideal paradise, and her given name is a nod to her newfound yet unwelcome occupation as a "lady of pleasure".
Julio Madiaga himself is regarded as a symbol of the provincial Filipino everyman, eking out a living in the hard
conditions of the city. His surname is an archaic variant of matiyagâ ("patience”), a trait obvious in his hope-filled and
persistent search for Ligaya.Mrs. Cruz's surname simply means "cross", pointing to the heavy burden she places on the
shoulders of the young girls she lures into prostitution. Since the character's name is later revealed to be an alias, it
could also mean that the name was chosen, as Cruz is a common surname in the Philippines, representing how easily
she could walk around the streets of Manila without detection. The name of the antagonist Ah Tek, meanwhile, is a play
on the colloquial term atík, ("cash"; a transposition of kità, or income) representing the greed and selfishness of the
character.
The city itself is sometimes considered to be the main character instead of Julio and the others, while the film is also
construed as a portrait of one man's corruption and eventual downfall.
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 100% of five surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the
average rating is 8.4/10.[2] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times made it a "NYT Critics' Pick" and wrote, "The movie's
palpable, deeply lived-in realism is among its great attractions, largely because the film isn’t just a story about a young
Filipino Everyman, but because it’s also a de facto record of Manila in the 1970s."[3] Inkoo Kang of The Village Voice
wrote, "The intimate proletarian melodrama The Claws of Light succeeds where so many political allegories fail: With
ethical and emotional sophistication, it dramatizes the suffering of the disadvantaged with characters that feel individual
yet archetypal."[4] Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York rated it 4/5 stars and wrote that it is "widely (and understandably)
considered one of the pinnacles of Filipino cinema".[5] Alan Jones of Slant Magazine rated it 4.5/5 stars and called the
film a precursor to A Touch of Sin.[6]
Awards and recognition
The film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor
at the 1976 FAMAS awards.
The Claws of Light is one of the few Filipino films that has been consistently placed among the world's top 100 films of all
time. It is the only film from the Philippines that entered in the list of the book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You
Die.It was shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[7]
Restoration
In 2013, The Claws of Light was restored in 4K resolution. The restoration is done by World Cinema Foundation and the
Film Development Council of the Philippines at Cineteca di Bologna/ L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with
LVN, Cinema Artists Philippines and Mike de Leon. The restored film first premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival as
part of the Cinema Classics section and was released in the Philippines on August 7, 2013. The restored film was released
on DVD and Blu-Ray as part of The Criterion Collection on June 12, 2018.
MAYNILA SA KUKO NG LIWANAG (MOVIE CRITIQUE)
The following questions should help you in writing your critique. Keep them in mind when watching a film, and use them
when choosing what to write about.
Paragraph I. BACKGROUND
A.Who is the writer of the film? Has the screenplay been adapted from another work?
b.Who is the director?
c.When was the film made?
Paragraph 2: Briefly summarize the plot of the film
Paragraph 3: Positive things you thought about the film, what did you like? Why? Use descriptive words to discuss the
plot, setting, techniques and effects used, music, etc.
Paragraph 4: Negative things you thought about the film, what didn’t you like? Why? Comment on the same type of
things that you mentioned in paragraph 4.
Paragraph 5: Ending paragraph--your last opportunity to guide the reader. Summarize and strongly restate your
opinions