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| Mona Lisa and Hilda Koronel in Insiang |
Cast: Hilda Koronel, Mona Lisa, Ruel Vernal, Rez Cortez, Nina Lorenzo, Marlon Ramirez, Mely Mallari, Carpi Asturias. Screenplay: Mario O'Hara, Lamberto E. Antonio. Cinematography: Conrado Baltazar. Art direction: Fiel Zabat. Film editing: Augusto Salvador. Music: Minda D. Azarcon.
Lino Brocka's Insiang begins with a scene of pigs in an abattoir that's likely to put most carnivores off their feed for a while. It sets the tone for a story whose neo-realist approach is tinged with overtones of Greek myth: a tale of revenge that centers on a young woman betrayed by her lover as well as by her mother and her mother's lover. Think of Medea or Elektra brought up in the slums of Manila. The title character, played beautifully by Hilda Koronel, lives with her tense, quarrelsome mother, Tonya (Mona Lisa), who takes out her fury on Insiang at having been left by her husband. Then Tonya takes a much younger lover, Dado (Ruel Vernal), who furtively lusts after the pretty daughter. Insiang has a suitor her own age, Bebot (Rez Cortez), who wants her to sleep with him, but she insists on waiting until they have good jobs -- unemployment is rife in the slums -- and get married. But when Dado, who has moved in with the two women, rapes Insiang and then lies to Tonya that the young woman provoked him by bathing and sleeping naked, Insiang agrees to spend the night with Bebot and to begin a life with him. She wakes up in the sleazy hotel to find that Bebot has already gone, and when she finally finds him he gives her a cold shoulder. At this point, Insiang, once mild-mannered and long-suffering, turns into a woman bent on revenge, and finds ways to inflict it on Bebot, Dado, and her mother. Lino Brocka's direction and the performances by actors drawn from his theatrical company elevate the film into something of a small tour de force: It was shot in only seven days in places where it must have been difficult to film. There are no overt political messages being delivered by the film, but it's hard to avoid the consciousness that people have been forced into lives like these and shouldn't be. Is it enough to note that Imelda Marcos hated the film?
Lino Brocka's Insiang begins with a scene of pigs in an abattoir that's likely to put most carnivores off their feed for a while. It sets the tone for a story whose neo-realist approach is tinged with overtones of Greek myth: a tale of revenge that centers on a young woman betrayed by her lover as well as by her mother and her mother's lover. Think of Medea or Elektra brought up in the slums of Manila. The title character, played beautifully by Hilda Koronel, lives with her tense, quarrelsome mother, Tonya (Mona Lisa), who takes out her fury on Insiang at having been left by her husband. Then Tonya takes a much younger lover, Dado (Ruel Vernal), who furtively lusts after the pretty daughter. Insiang has a suitor her own age, Bebot (Rez Cortez), who wants her to sleep with him, but she insists on waiting until they have good jobs -- unemployment is rife in the slums -- and get married. But when Dado, who has moved in with the two women, rapes Insiang and then lies to Tonya that the young woman provoked him by bathing and sleeping naked, Insiang agrees to spend the night with Bebot and to begin a life with him. She wakes up in the sleazy hotel to find that Bebot has already gone, and when she finally finds him he gives her a cold shoulder. At this point, Insiang, once mild-mannered and long-suffering, turns into a woman bent on revenge, and finds ways to inflict it on Bebot, Dado, and her mother. Lino Brocka's direction and the performances by actors drawn from his theatrical company elevate the film into something of a small tour de force: It was shot in only seven days in places where it must have been difficult to film. There are no overt political messages being delivered by the film, but it's hard to avoid the consciousness that people have been forced into lives like these and shouldn't be. Is it enough to note that Imelda Marcos hated the film?
