Watched Journal: June 2024

Last fall I finally made it to the Philippines, arriving in Cebu on a humid November night after a 15 hour flight. The next morning we boarded another plane for the island of Boracay. After landing, we took a van to a port where a boat would whisk us to a lavish resort. During that van ride, I gazed out the window at sheet metal shacks, rickety shops and clothes drying on tree lines. Though the country has grown massively since the 1970's of President Marcos' martial law and films like Lino Brocka's 'Manila in the Claws of Night,' - many times from car windows, I caught glimpses of the past.

While Brocka's 'Manila in the Claws of Night' and 'Insiang' were filmed amongst the backdrop of a tumultuous time in Philippines history, they were insular soaps about the struggles of those living in the shadows. Recently released on blu-ray by Kani after a fascinating journey of restoring the film,  Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara's 1976 masterpiece 'Once a Moth' is a passionate political drama and as subversive a film as American civil rights era classics such as 'The Spook Who Sat by The Door', 'Up Tight' and 'Medium Cool'. 

'Once a Moth' tells the story of Corazon de la Cruz (Nora Aunor), a nurse attempting to secure a work visa in the land of opportunity, the United States. Corazon and her family live near Clark Air Base in the province of Papanga. Corazon's boyfriend Bonifacio dreams of joining the US Navy, hoping they both can immigrate to America. Skeptical of the American military occupation and dismissive of their plans, Corazon's grandfather Inkong mutters "Is the moon also theirs?" as he watches Neil Armstrong plant the US flag on the moon.

Inkong suspicions are valid as the family is terrorized by the corruption infecting the American base. Bonifacio's mother Yolanda is falsely accused of stealing from the commissary by a wicked Filipina guard and when Yolanda files a civil complaint, the guard retaliates by having Yolanda's dry goods store raided. But events take a severely tragic turn in the film's third act when Corazon's brother Carlito is accidentally shot by an American rifleman. During the funeral, American officers arrive to give their condolences, lamenting that Carlito was mistaken for a wild boar. To which an enraged Corazon fumes, spewing the film's famous line, "My brother is not a pig!"

But I'm more shaken by an ice cold exchange that appears just after, as the disgraced servicemen pass by Inkong, he harshly checks them: "You're fond of shooting your fellow man. You even shot your own president!" An obvious reference to the JFK assassination, still a fresh wound at the time, it's a damning rebuke of American violence. Sadly it still rings true, especially today.

What I watched in June:

6-1: Face/Off [Kino 4K UHD]

6-3: Stalker [Criterion]

6-4: The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone [TCM]

6-5: The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes [AMC Madison Yards]

6-6: One Way Street [Criterion], The Canyons [Criterion]

6-7: The American Society of Magical Negroes [Peacock], Split Image [Kino Blu-ray], Death Wish V: The Face of Death [Kino Blu-ray]

6-9: Under Fire [Twilight Time Blu-ray]

6-11: The List (Guy, 2000) [Tubi]

6-13: 2 Days in the Valley [Kino Blu-ray]

6-14: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga [AMC Madison Yards]

6-15: Godzilla Minus One [Netflix]

6-16: Forced Vengeance [Shout Blu-ray]

6-18: What’s Up, Doc? [Warner Archive Blu-ray]

6-19: Brats [Hulu]

6-20: The Greatest Night in Pop [Netflix]

6-21: Hit Man (Linklater, 2023) [Netflix]

6-22: The Bikeriders [Tara Theater], Once a Moth [Kani Blu-ray]

6-23: The Star Chamber [Videodrome DVD], The Killer (Woo, 1989) [Fortune Star Blu-ray]

6-25: Hard Boiled [CN Blu-ray]