Bona

Lino Brocka's 1984 Filipino film follows Bona, who hangs around film sets. She idolises Gardo, an actor who gets small parts; she leaves school, moves into his shack and begins caring for him without return. The subject is what that devotion is. Bona cooks, cleans and endures his affairs with other women; the narrative names it neither love nor servitude and holds the viewer in an uncomfortable place. Nora Aunor leads, in a performance counted among the most cited in Filipino cinema; she also produced the film. The slum districts of Manila are shown in detail. The film was restored years later and returned to circulation. Who it's for: those who follow Filipino cinema and hard social drama. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a consoling close; the final scene ends abruptly and harshly.