Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made, tatami-level, crab-like tripod, Kani is a new home video label dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America. Focused on genre-defying films, Kani aims to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics in context. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line!
One of Lino Brocka’s lasting successes, 1988’s Macho Dancer admirably blends the maestro’s flair for socially conscious melodrama and pulp provocation — setting the template for what would become Viva Films’ erotic niche to this day.
Upon losing a reliable American client, 18-year-old gigolo Pol (Allan Paule) leaves his native province to try his luck in the soapy gay clubs of Manila. As Pol learns the ropes alongside fellow stripper Noel (Daniel Fernando) and savvy prostitute Bambi (Jaclyn Jose), he discovers more than his young mind bargained for: an underbelly of protection rackets, human trafficking and political corruption.
Underlying the film’s astutely cynical outlook on systemic, class-based exploitation in the Filipino context is a neon-lit tale of sexual self-discovery gyrating between queer desire and heteronormative strictures, sensuality and grit, tenderness and violence. Heavily censored upon release and hugely successful overseas, Macho Dancer follows the recent re-discovery of Lino Brocka’s Bona and is presented here in a new 4K restoration from Viva Film’s original film elements.
directed by: Lino Brocka
starring: Allan Paule, Daniel Fernando, Jaclyn Jose, William Lorenzo, Princess Punzalan, Timothy Diwa, Johnny Vicar, Lucita Soriano, Joel Lamangan
1988 / 133 min / 1.37:1 / Tagalog DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.0 / 5 from 1 reviews.
Review topics: [].
"Brocka shoots the world with incredible sensuality and intensity, finding beauty in the sleaze without losing sight of the desperation underneath. The pacing is old-fashioned and it probably runs a little too long, with a few too many endings, but I was completely hooked by its soapy rhythms, tangled relationships and terrific sense of place."
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