Insiang

Insiang (1976)

A story about the life of a young girl living with her mother in the slums of Manila, which becomes unbearable when her mother's young boyfriend moves in with them.

Date of release
1976-12-25
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (69)
Runtime
1h 35m
Genres
Drama
Director
Lino Brocka

Casting

Interesting facts

Insiang is a 1976 Philippine drama film directed by Lino Brocka. Its screenplay, written by Mario O'Hara and Lamberto E. Antonio, is based on O'Hara's teleplay of the same name. Set in the slums of Tondo, Manila, the film stars Hilda Koronel as the eponymous character: the young daughter of a resentful mother, whose much-younger lover rapes her. After her assault and the betrayal of her own lover, Insiang seeks revenge. A representation of urban poverty, the film explores themes of betrayal, revenge and despair.

Production

The film was originally an episode of the Philippine television dramatic series Hilda, which aired in 1974 with 17-year-old Hilda Koronel in the lead role. The screenplay, by Mario O'Hara, was inspired by a family he once knew.

According to journalist Jo-Ann Maglipon, Brocka briefly considered casting Imee Marcos, his friend and daughter of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, for the title role of Insiang, but Koronel was chosen for the role instead.

Producer Ruby Tiong Tan (a stockbroker at the time) was approached by Brocka to pitch the film with O'Hara's script: "That was the first time I met him. I found him to be sincere, professional, convincing; he had a fire in his eyes as he spoke. That impressed me. I couldn't turn him down. At the end of that meeting, I told him 'yes, let's do the film'". Two days later, filming began for 21 days, on location in Tondo.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended