Manila by Night

Ishmael Bernal's 1980 Filipino film follows several people living at night in Manila. A blind masseuse, a drug dealer, a taxi driver and students touch one another in the same city. The film builds no central character. The lines cross and separate; the narrative brings none of them forward and judges no one. The city is the single ground on which all these lives stand together. On release the censors would not allow Manila in the title and it was changed, and many scenes were cut. It was restored years later, returned to circulation and is counted among the important works of Filipino cinema. Who it's for: those who follow Filipino cinema and multi-character city narratives. Who it's not for: viewers for whom drugs, prostitution and violence would sit heavily.