DUNG-AW... Grief, Sorrow And Lamentation

Apt and proper is the use of music. The songs expresses grief, sorrow and lamentation charged with deep emotion stamped with feeling of sympathy and love. The cinematography creates vivid images which sear the memory, awaken the unconscious and remind one of the times when Filipinos were subjects of betrayal. The powerful theme of betrayal is once again revived in the film and the subject of Filipinos betraying fellow Filipinos wounds the heart as it insults the mind trying to fathom the deep wounds of the Filipino psyche. With these stunning and symbolic images, Dung-Aw is a very important film in terms of form and execution, in spite of the lapses, Dung-Aw is a highly intelligent film which manages to sustain an unflagging interest in its narrative development. In the initial sequences, Brocka uses the film to explore the social context of the story. It is from this point that his merit as director is validated. His interest is in revealing the substance of history. As he develops the historical episodes of the revolt, we see him restoring the heroine to the center of the developing crisis in order to make her function as a counterpoint to the young man's desire. It is from this angle of vision that we perceive, in the film to be the vortex of the action and the internal contradictions that finally dooms Gabriela Silang to failure. This is a very sophisticated and intelligent touch. Brocka also succeeded in assembling an excellent cast. Here, Mario Montenegro makes an excellent performance that supersedes his achievement in Eddie Romero's The Passionate Strangers (1966). Some sort of redemption too is provided here for Armida Siguion-Reyna from the image of a contravida into which she has been trapped. In Dung-Aw, she does a sensitive portrayal of a woman capable of strong impulses and decisive action.

Direction: Lino Brocka
Screenplay: Mario O'Hara
Director Of Photography: Romeo V. Vitug
Music: Lutgardo Labad
Lyrics: Nicanor Cleto, Jr., Domingo Landicho And Federico Cleto
Film Editor: Augusto Salvador
Production Design: Fiel Zabat
Produced By: Aawitan Kita In Cooperation With Philippine National Bank
Release Date: March 21, 1975