Directed by Lino Brocka
A story about the life of a young girl living with her mother in the slums of Manila, which becomes unbearable when her mother's young boyfriend moves in with them.
Insiang - O Lírio de Manila, Insiang, o Lírio de Manila, Инсианг, O Lírio de Manila, Das Mädchen Insiang, Инсиянг, 인시앙, 英湘
Philippines Metro Manila Film Festival 
France Cannes Film Festival 
Canada Toronto International Film Festival Philippines Cínemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival France Cannes Film Festival (4K Restoration) Philippines World Premieres Film Festival (4K Restoration) Philippines QCinema International Film Festival Canada France Philippines 
Ruby Tiong Tan, the film's producer, had to smuggle the film rolls out of the country just so this could be screened at Cannes. Eat shit, Imelda!
relief, maybe, but no happiness
The plot synopsis sells revenge; what it doesn't sell, however, are the devastating effects that it can inflict in oneself as a double-edged sword. Of course that we can trace revenge back to classic literature in the B.C. era, and it is an element that modern films, especially Asia, have restored with a focus of escapism and style, sometimes portraying violence as an art. Insiang doesn't. Insiang punches you in the face with descriptive neorealism and emotional violence, rather than with graphic violence, which is kept in a second layer.
97/100
gone girl? nah babe more like nawalang babae
As I’ve said in my Manila in the Claws of Light review, Director Lino Brocka is one valiant Alagad ng Sining (disciple of art). Shot during the Martial Law era, Insiang displays the normal setting of the Filipino urban poor that dictator Ferdinand Marcos tried to hide while discreetly narrating a story that reflects the state of the country— raped, abused, stolen from, ignored, and deprived of a voice.
Insiang is not just a person. Insiang is the people crying for help whose only way out is a person who was full of unfulfilled promises. Insiang is the people wanting to get justice and revenge from the retributions they faced. However unlike the titular character Insiang, did we ever get…
Since I finished watching Insiang a couple of days ago, I couldn't stop thinking about it, struggling to find the words to talk about it.
Insiang is a difficult movie, to watch, to think or talk about, the violence, poverty and cruelty portayed seems so real that it feels even wrong to call it a movie. It's more like spying on someone else's life by a window, unable to look away and unable to intervene, empathizing with Insiang, hating on the cruel, mean people that surround her, longing to help her without having the power to.
I will admit, I had troubles watching this, more than once I felt the need to pause it and go watch something else, not…
(baka kulang sa laman ‘tong ebas ko dahil ngayon ko lang nalaman na ginawa pala ‘tong pelikula sa panahon ni Marcos, at isa itong uri ng protesta. kaya medyo mababaw lang siguro ang pagsusuring ito hehe)
ang hirap panoorin ng pelikulang ito bilang isang babae. masakit makita ang iba’t ibang mukha ng kababaihan sa ilalim ng isang patriyarkal na lipunan na kinukundisyon tayong dumepende sa mga lalaki para mabuhay; maging ligtas; at makakuha ng balidasyon, na umaabot sa puntong pinagtutunggali na ang babae sa kapwa nya babae.
‘Di ko makakalimutan yung babaeng naka-uniform na umiiyak na lumabas ng kwarto sa motel, kasama ang isang lalaki na di hamak na mas matanda sa kanya. Ang samu’t saring malalagkit na tingin at…
revenge is not always sweet. it is a cleansing, a relief, an empty room, devoid of expectation or purpose.
Brusque, brutal masterpiece equally informed by empathy and disgust. Kills me every time. Also: a master class in the use of real-world locations, direct sound, and zoom lenses.
Slow-paced revenge film set in the slums of ‘70s Manila; we see a dismissive mother who mentally abuses her daughter, a younger new husband who works at a local butcher-house with a sinister agenda, and an innocent teenaged girl who hustles for daily survival—faintly hopeful for a better future with her boyfriend despite life.
This is all happening against the backdrop of the Martial Law (#NeverAgain! #NeverForget!), and Lino Brocka had used the power of cinema to capture a fragment of myriad realities happening in this section of Philippine society.
Deeply evocative, almost contrite in and of itself.
Insiang’s mother is a resentful person, making the difficult slum life harder still; especially after the mother’s much younger lover Dado moves in with them. Insiang is a tale of sorrow, betrayal, and ultimately revenge. What the synopses don’t tell you (spoilers ahead) is that the film doesn’t pivot around one act of sexual violence; there are three critical cruelties happening in quick succession that manage to push the titular Insiang to a drastic change of persona.
There is the rape. Dado rapes Insiang. It’s the act that triggers the theme of sorrow and despair. Importantly, the first half of the film (all happening before the rape) sets up Insiang as a woman who knows how to take care of…
It's one thing that poverty makes your life miserable, but also because of your toxic mother who thinks parenthood is something to be paid of not a responsibility, also because of men who only want you sexually, and of course because you're a woman. You have to be insane to stay sane. You have to do things you don't want. You have to disrespect yourself just to get out of misery and have a taste of revenge.
