Macho Dancer. 1988. Philippines. Directed by Lino Brocka. Screenplay by Amado Lacuesta, Ricardo Lee. With Allan Paule, Daniel Fernando, William Lorenzo, Jaclyn Jose. North American restoration premiere. DCP courtesy Kani Releasing. In Tagalog; English subtitles. 133 min.
With Manila in the Claws of Light and Insiang, his landmark social realist melodramas of the 1970s, Lino Brocka became the Philippines’ most internationally celebrated filmmaker working within, and against, the Marcos dictatorship. To Save and Project once more spotlights this remarkably fearless artist with the North American digital restoration premiere of Macho Dancer, his scandalous and influential gay drama centering on one of the countless poverty-stricken village boys forced into a life of stripping and sex work in Manila’s violently seedy, neon-drenched underworld. Playing on our own complicity with seductive beefcake erotics, Brocka nonetheless spares no contempt for the corrupt Filipino politicians, cops, and drug dealers, and the foreign tourists, who routinely exploit these “rent boys.” The film was subjected to heavy censorship at home, but Brocka managed to smuggle an uncut 35mm print out of the country and into the archives at MoMA.
This new 4K restoration was commissioned by Kani Releasing and Carlotta Films from a scan of a 35mm print from producers Viva Films, Inc.