Gold, Silver, Death

Peque Gallaga's 1982 Filipino film follows two landowning families on the island of Negros. The Japanese occupation begins during the Second World War and, across three years, their lives come apart step by step. The film is divided into three parts and takes its title from them: first the comfortable life in the city, then the retreat to the countryside, and finally survival. In each part the rules of conduct stretch a little further and class privilege stops working. Gallaga ties the narrative to no moral lesson. The violence the families do to one another stands out as much as the occupier's; the closing section is hard and long. The film is counted among the important works of Filipino cinema. Who it's for: those who follow Filipino cinema and wartime drama. Who it's not for: viewers for whom sexual violence and executions would sit heavily; the film shows them directly in its final part.