Prolific Filipino auteur Lav Diaz adapts Richard Lee’s short story and screenplay into an epic “film-novel” about the legacy of Spanish colonialism and power struggles of the past echoing in the present. Set in 1970’s Philippines, just after dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law, the film stars John Lloyd Cruz as Servando Monzon III, the heir of a feudal family who is caught between his family’s violent past and the violent future that will come with the Marcos regime. Completed just as Marcos’ son was inaugurated as the Philippines’ new president, Diaz’s film is also a haunting cautionary tale of what may come.
413 minutes
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