Bembol Roco in a scene from Lino Brocka’s ‘Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag.’ Photo from Video 48 blog

MANILA -- “Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila in the Claws of Light)” by National Artist for Cinema Lino Brocka was recently chosen as among the greatest films from around the world by The Criterion Collection.

The 1975 film tells the story of Julio Madiaga, a young fisherman from the province who goes to the big city to look for his long-lost beloved, Ligaya Paraiso. While searching for her, Julio is exposed to the ills and violence in the city. Filmed during the middle part of Martial Law period, it has become Brocka’s searing, indirect exposition of a society in the claws of the Marcos dictatorship.

“Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag” is the only film directed by a Filipino in Criterion's masters collection, sharing the shelves with the works of Akira Kurosawa, Bob Fosse, Michaelangelo Antonioni, Martin Scorsese, Federico Fellini, Andrei Tarkovsky, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Luis Buñuel, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Roberto Rossellini, among other giants and legends in the industry. As of last count, Criterion has more than 1,000 titles.

The New York-based home-video distribution company, founded in 1984, is known for “gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film.”

Through its website, Criterion said the Filipino film's digitally restored format will have an introduction by Scorsese and will be made available on June 12, in time for the celebration of Philippine Independence.

Scorsese has always been an outspoken admirer of Brocka and through his Film Foundation-World Cinema Project and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the restoration was carried out in 2013 before it was shown in the Cannes Film Festival the same year under its Classics Section.

The Criterion disc will include two documentaries: one about the late director titled “Signed: Lino Brocka” by Christian Blackwood; and another on the making of the film titled “‘Maynila’…A Filipino Film,” which has Brocka, and lead actors Hilda Koronel and Bembol Roco. There’s also an interview with critic-filmmaker Tony Rayns and an essay by film scholar José B. Capino.

The film's inclusion in the list of the world's greatest films shouldn't come as a surprise given that the people involved behind the camera are among the most influential Filipino filmmakers in the industry.

Mike de Leon produced the film through his Cinema Artists Philippines outfit and was also the cinematographer. The script was written by professor Clodualdo “Doy” Del Mundo Jr., who adapted the story from the novel in Tagalog by Edgardo M. Reyes. Before it was published in book form, Reyes wrote it as a series from 1966 to 1967 for Liwayway, a weekly magazine in Filipino.

In 1976, the FAMAS Awards gave it the Best Picture trophy, Best Director for Brocka, Best Screenplay for Del Mundo, Best Cinematography for de Leon, Best Actor for Roco and Best Supporting Actor for Tommy Abuel. It also bagged the Best Sound award for Ramon Reyes and Best Editing for Ike Jarlego, Jr.

For the longest time, younger filmmakers like Raymond Red and Erik Matti said they were able to watch it in their younger years only on Betamax format. There was no clear copy available anywhere for the big screen or home viewing.

Prior to this honor, “Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag” is also the only Philippine film that is listed in the best-selling book “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.”

Meanwhile, Cinema Centenario will have a screening of the digitally restored and remastered “Maynila Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag” and another Brocka classic, “Insiang,” on Wednesday, April 18.

This month, the alternative movie theater in Quezon City's hip Maginhawa area is showing films by Brocka and De Leon, together with other recently released films like “Meet Me In Saint Gallen,” “Mr. and Mrs. Cruz,” “Siargao” and others. The screenings are made possible in cooperation with FDCP, Spring Films, Cinema One Originals and ABS-CBN Restoration Project, among other stakeholders.