Director: Sean Ellis
By Alex Watson
When pushed into a desperate situation, any number of outcomes are likely to happen. Every person has their breaking point and in an instant our personalities can flip over to something far more sinister. This week British director Sean Ellis bring us a heart stopping tale set in the Philippines of a man giving his all to provide for his family, but learning some hard truths along the way in his film, Metro Manila.
Oscar (Jake Macapagal) who after suffering from the low and impoverished life of rice farming, moves his wife Mai (Althea Vega) and their children to Manila in the hope of making better money. Soon after they arrive, the family falls prey to the cities tricksters but Oscar manages to get a job working for an armored courier company. His assigned to partner veteran officer Ong (John Arcilla) who becomes his mentor and friend. But soon, Oscar find himself caught up in a problematic situation where he will be force to choose between his morals and his instinct to survive!
Metro Manila is a thriller to savor from Sean Ellis and he bring us a wonderfully intense but also a beautifully conveyed tale of morality. Oscar is a man who is continually being pushed into a difficult corner and his problems mount throughout Ellis' picture to almost unbearable levels. We all know he is an honest man who wants nothing more than to provide a living for his suffering family. However, before long he is forced to shed his inner set of values and makes the choices that everyone is afraid to make. Oscar's beginning monologue sets the tone for things to come as he recants an old saying “No matter how long the procession, it always ends at the church door.”
The families move from the poor yet stable life of the countryside to the bustling hub of Manila is a real eye opener from the moment the film starts. Upon arrival, Oscar and Mai at first are enamored by the bright lights of the city. Soon they find themselves in squalid living conditions and the sparkle begins to fade away, underneath Manila reveals its shady colours to devastating effect. One moving sequence shows Mai forced to degrade herself by dancing in a strip bar while Oscar drinks shots with his new colleagues and gradually starts to cry! Both have been stripped of the dignity they once held and under the buzzing neon city lights, their lives are beginning to become strained.
A big shake up arrives when our hero is paired with jolly yet profound Ong who immediately jokes about the cities high crime rate and low life expectancy "This is the Wild West!" he laughs at one stage. But underneath the facade, Ong is a man with a great conflict on his hands due to the death of a partner (the flashback sequence brutally shows how deep his mental scars lie) and it becomes apparent that Oscar is a man he has been longing for on the job. This marks Metro Manila's transition to being a moving drama to becoming a blood pumping thrill ride.
Beginning slowly, the movies final act goes into overdrive, the real beauty about the pay off is that Ellis has involved his audience so personally that it is impossible for us to turn away! Oscar despite his intentions is soon involved is one hell of storm and although every inch of us wants him to give in and save himself, we secretly know that this is the point of no return and from here nothing will be the same again! The result is heart breaking but at the same point almost poetic in its resolution, particularly as Oscar recounts the fate of a man he once knew that was brought to boiling point!
Jake Macapagal emerges a real star in a brilliant central turn that hits all the correct notes. This man perfectly demonstrates Oscar's strife and this adds to his underdog appeal. Noted Filipino actor John Arcilla (who appeared last in The Bourne Legacy) is similarly impressive as the haunted Ong and he brings a slippery sense of trickery to the role which make it impossible for us to decipher exactly which side his friend/potential foe will fall down on?
Winner of three British Independent Film awards in 2013 (Including Best Film) Metro Manila is a thriller that we seldom see because it expertly portrayals the greed, corruption and exploitation that can occur within big city living and how sometimes, even the most innocent can be sunk by it!
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