The plots were quite impressive, if only the music could be less harsh. I don’t know whether it was due to the old equipment, or the director meant to make it like this, but the plain and strident background music was too annoying to me. However, it seemed to fit the tone of the film because the story was set in the slums where everything was in a terrible mess.
Similarly, the beginning of the film was “disgusting” too. It was kind of like the beginning of Családi tüzfészek (《居巢》) directed by Bela Tarr which I saw in October. It showed the foul environment of the slaughterhouse, implying that the following scenes would not be better. Although the following plots had nothing to do with slaughterhouse, it had provided a key: violent, bloody and bare.
One interesting thing was that all the male actors were muscular. Maybe that fitted the taste of the director who was homosexual? Interestingly, not all the muscular men were strong enough. Insiang’s lover (can’t remember his name) was particularly useless, and so was the man whose family owned a store. Both men loved Insiang but they could do nothing to save Insiang. Dado was strong but was eventually killed by Tonia. All men in the film appeared “negative” which also made the story a tragedy.
Insiang was absolutely a tragic girl. Watching her leaving the prison after visiting her prisoner mother, we don’t know what her life would be. What made her life so dramatic? Her mother? Dado? Or her lover? Actually this is a normal case in Philippines at that time. The director was intent to choose every normal aspect to represent a normal girl and her life. Since it was normal, the tragedy was obviously due to the society.
