Insiang

The opening was a bit jarring. Once the film settles into its main story things go exactly as you would think. There are no surprises or creativity, its a straight forward melodrama without any really likable characters, not even Insiang is truly likable as she at first depends on others for everything but when that fails she lashes out and manipulates others to do her dirty work and then wonders why she isn't forgiven. Just to be clear I sympathized with Insiang's plight but I didn't like her.

Nice little tale here. Hilda Koronel's performance is wonderful.

A very compelling and effective piece of melodrama. All sweaty and sexual, with a striking colour palette and a feeling at times that things could explode at any moment. Hilda Koronel is excellent as the titular Insiang which is needed to make the final act so convincing.

toda vez que eu vejo um filme filipino agradeço por ser brasileiro

Harsh, neorealist, and unflinching. With the slums of Tondo as a backdrop, there's a barren-ness that permeates the feel of the movie. Its pace rarely propels the viewer, until it has to. Mostly, it's a slow descent into desperation. Brocka paints a portrait of a complex individual placed against a landscape of desolation. Looking for love (or for help), and instead being abandoned can only drive one's misery to a breaking point. Be that a person, a community, or a country.

"Just as its intro's slaughterhouse apparatus violently destroys pigs, so too does the crushing poverty of the Philippines crush the titular heroine of Insiang." - Nick Schager

It blends fiery melodrama with an intensely realistic depiction of poverty, depicting Koronel as trapped within a larger system of victimization that prevents her from leaving her personal domestic hell.