Das Mädchen Insiang

Insiang is a must watch for any movie enthusiast. Hilda Koronel plays a young lass in the slums of Metro Manila and when her mother decided to live with Dado, she was devastated.

What follows is masterful movie making, revenge at its finest. Go watch this !

Forget the rest! Hilda Koronel's magnificent performance as the title character is enough to recommend this tale of rape and revenge, seduction and squalor, power and poverty. Hilda lives in a slum in Manila, maltreated by her domineering mother (Mona Lisa). Her mother has a lover (Ruel Vernal) old enough to be her son. Vernal, doing the lover bit because Lisa holds the household money, has his eyes set on Insiang. He rapes her but Insiang turns things around, getting Vernal to be her parasitic paramour. Great film noir, great performances.

Squalor, grime, and poverty are all palpable in this gritty film from Lino Brocka, which centers around a young woman (Hilda Koronel) who is mentally abused by her mother (Mona Lisa), and physically abused by her mother's lover (Ruel Vernal). It feels as though we're immersed in a slum the entire movie, and none of its scenes ever feel like they're on a set (they may not have been). We feel the utter lack of privacy in the home in this little shanty town, with its squat toilet in the living space, and the daughter forced to see and hear her mother with her lover. In the town we see men behaving badly by getting drunk, groping women, and frittering their time away in the pool hall or gambling. There is a sense of these characters having few options, with high unemployment in the town, and for those who do have menial jobs, having to get by on meager wages. This was contrary to the image the Marcos regime was trying to push of the Philippines, and it's not surprising the film was banned.

Aside from the realistic window the film gives into the poverty of the masses while Imelda Marcos was out buying all those shoes, it's also the queen mother of stories where the rape victim isn't believed - in this case by her own mother. In another sad moment her boyfriend (Rez Cortez) takes advantage of her in a cheap hotel room, all while the audience is thinking, good lord, she needs love and kindness, not sex. Where the film goes from there I won't spoil, except to say it's as satisfying as it is depressing.

Oh, last note. I don't really care if the extended slaughterhouse scene before the credits rolled was meant to set the tone for the cruel world we're about to see, or if it was a metaphor for the Philippines under Marcos - it was brutal and unnecessary to see. As a vegetarian a small part of me likes people confronted with the facts of these cruel places, but to see it in this context and for so long was a very unpleasant surprise, and really turned my stomach. You can certainly skip over all of this if you need to.

(1976) Insiang (In Filipino with English subtitles) DRAMA/ SOCIAL COMMENTARY

Hilda Koronel plays the title character Insiang as we see how she is being exploited while living in the impoverished part of the Philippines. Who lives with her self-centered single mother, Tonya who slaves after her without giving her a proper paycheck. The mom, Tonya (Mona Lisa) then kicks her father's side of the family so that she can allow her lover, Dado (Ruel Vernal) closer to her (who is young enough to be her son). Except that Dado obviously has ulterior motives which is to make out with her daughter Insiang. And besides that, her love life is kind of complicated in which she hopes her current boyfriend, Bebot (Rez Cortez) cares enough to want to elope with her, but as it turns out the only thing he wanted to do was to get into her pants.

I kind of liked it more after my second viewing, as I tried to look for a plot, except that living in the slums itself is also part of the plot. I did not care for how Insiang forgave her mother after not believing her when she told her about Dado's advances. I don't quite understand how a mother who does not believe her own child that she forgave her for not believing her.

Positives:

• Good picture of reality: The best asset of the film for me is its accurate painting of reality, specifically, the life from the slums. They shot it in a literal slum area so it convincingly conveys the vibe and atmosphere of these marginalized places. From the people's clothing, housing, way of life and attitude; they are captured by the film perfectly. Even the minor details shown in the film can accentuate the situation in the slum life such as when Insiang's mother urinates in front of her without any privacy.

• Perfect characterization: The characters from the film are fundamentally sound. They all have unique traits that depict their individuality and complexity, not just a typical character that can be sacrificed in the name of the plot. Every character, including the supporting casts, also has concrete motives that dictates their individual actions, allowing them to enrich the storyline.

• Simple but succinct storyline: The plot is simple, whereas every viewer can relate to it. But its simplicity is not a negative because of its compactness as it was told in a concise and inventive manner. For example, I like that the story starts in the thick of things, during the time where Toyang is about to shoo her relatives from her home. Most average writers will just start the story when Dado is already living in Toyang's home, just using petty flashbacks to paint the background of the characters. Not Mario O'Hara though. He is a magnificent writer.

• Good acting of Mona Lisa: Among all the artists, Mona Lisa is the one for me who got a timeless performance. Her acting during this film can still be considered very realistic even in today's standards.

Negatives:

• Insiang losing her character: I think the film did Insiang dirty. She suddenly lost her values during the last parts of the film, resulting in her character's inconsistency. How can a lass who refused to be touched by Bebot in the theatre suddenly allowed Dado to abuse her sexuality in the name of revenge? There is no turning point in the film that could be used as justification where Insiang decided that "enough is enough," going the dirty way to avenge herself. The motel scene is the closest justification but for me, the motel scene alone is not convincing enough.

• Rushed pacing during Dado and Insiang's affair: Another dud, albeit minor, is the rushed pacing of the film during Dado and Insiang's affair. It only consumes approximately 15 minutes of runtime. Viewers are only given a small window to heat up and realize that Dado has an ulterior motive of mingling with Insiang instead of Toyang. In my opinion, the climax could become even more satisfying if the film further extends the cut, capitalizing in the slow but emotionally powerful idea of Toyang losing her grip to Dado while the latter is pursuing Insiang.

To sum up:

Just like Dado, the film hits two stones in one bird. It perfectly depicts the slum situation during that time while telling an excellent realistic revenge story that leaves the viewers satisfied. Insiang (1976) really shines in its relatable story and good characterization, successfully imbuing the protagonist's hardships in the hearts of the viewers. Yet, the film could still soar onto higher echelons if only the creators decided to polish minor inconsistencies as well as some unrealized storyline potential.