Introduction

Films in the Philippine culture, by its nature of involving the audience in an emotional and
intellectual journey, have become one of the most prevalent of the mass media and arts. It has been
widely used as means of entertainment in the country. The formative years of the Philippine cinema
during the 1930s were the time dedicated in discovering film genre as a medium of art. During the 1940s,
movies themes primarily showcase war and heroism. Then came the 1950s when people saw the first
golden age of Philippine cinema along with the emergence of new filmmakers, techniques, and first
award-giving bodies first established this time. The 1970s and 1980s have changed following the Martial
Law Era when mass media was under control of the president and when nationalistic and political films
are considered subversive. This era has also strengthened the development of erotic and independent
films. These years have also produced a spotlight to one of the greatest Filipino directors, Lino Brocka.
Catalino Lino Brocka was born on April 3, 1939 in Pilar, Sorsogon. As a child in his puberty age,
he was impressed by the happy-endings of usual American films during the turbulent years following
World War II and Philippine Independence. His father Regino Brocka, who has taught him in the several
subjects, was executed in a political murder when he was still young. After that tragic happening, he grew
up under his aunties household together with his mother and brother, where their family suffered from
physical and verbal abuse from their relatives. As a child, Brocka has already experienced different
obstacles in life as they were also forced to do hard labor.
Brocka entered the University of the Philippines as a scholar and a working student. He first took
up a pre-law course before shifting to studying Literature. Seeking to be involved in drama and theatre,
Brocka joined the Dramatic Club but he was criticized for his poor English skills and provincial accent and
people treated him poorly and assigned him to clearing the stage and moving sets.
Catalino Lino Brocka is one of the greatest directors known in the history of Philippine cinema.
His films revolve around the subject of social justice and it explored the lives of those who were
marginalized and ignored as it aims to bring consciousness to the reality that has been happening in the
country during his time. Before teaching in Hawaii, Brocka studied to be a Mormon missionary and
worked with homeless in San Francisco. After returning to the Philippines in his late-Twenties, he started
embarking on writing and directing for Philippine Education Theater Association. Because of censorship
that emerged during the Martial Law period, some of his films were smuggled out of the Philippines. The
vigilance in censorship continued on the post-Marcos period and Brocka, still disappointed with the
present government, continued to produce films critical to the government. His films were renowned
internationally and locally as it bagged several awards.
Hypothesis
According to Francois Truffaut, the creative vision or perspective of a director is best expressed in
making films. Thus, he claimed that the director should therefore be considered as the author of the film.
Auteur is a French word which means author and Truffaut added that a director uses a camera to
produce films as a writer uses a pen to create a novel. Although in filmmaking, it is known that there is a
collaboration between the director, actors, writer, producers and the crew, according to Truffaut the
director is most suitable as the author as he is the one who guides the flow of making the film, from the
script until the completion. However, not all directors are considered as an auteur. As Andrew Sarris
developed the auteur theory by pointing out three major premises which will determine whether director is
considered as an auteur. To be regarded as an auteur, the director should have enough knowledge, skills
and practice in filmmaking, he/she must have a signature which is observed through the eminent
personality and recurring visual or artistic styles are shown in their films and lastly, the interior meaning of

why his/her personal experiences affects his creativity in making films. This leaves us to question whether
or not Lino Brocka can be considered as an auteur.
Given that Lino Brocka is considered as the greatest director the Philippines has produced, it
clearly implies that he imbibes technical competency and his passion for filmmaking is notable in his
journey as a director as he has developed a strong interest in films since his youth and he has struggled a
lot reaching the success he had achieved as a director. Brockas life was full of tragedies and challenges
as he has gone through a lot from his childhood to his adult life, as he lived during the Marcos and postMarcos period. Thus, this led the researchers to think that his films are inspired from his experiences as
his chosen theme of his films were the reality of social injustices and the marginalized. Thus, his signature
would be seen through how he would visualize these themes which would mark his identity as a director.
With that, it is our hypothesis that Lino Brocka is considered as an auteur.
Analysis
Lino Brocka has been one of the greatest directors in the history of Philippines Cinema. In the first
premise of the Auteur theory, technical competence is the criterion of value of a director. Today, anyone
can be the director but the actual challenge is to be a good director and master technicalities in the
production of films. Brocka is said to be a great director because of his great ability to create films in such
a way that they are distinct and made professionally. In watching the three films Manila in the Claws of
Light (1975), Insiang (1976), and Orapronobis Fight for Us (1989), it showed how Brocka exhibited
technical competence in making his films in such a way that there is mastery in technicalities and
production of the totality of the film such as cinematography which makes him rightful to be called the
author or director of his films.
His camera shots are done neatly not just for the sake of filming and making a scene, but he also
makes sure that it is artistically done and would match the mood of the scene. One of his favorite
techniques in cinematography is his dolly zoom and close-up shots in with his characters. The zoom-ins
scenes are precisely done without awkward stops and glitches in zooming in and out of the screen.
Brocka knows really well on when he should use dolly zooms to emphasize a certain emotion or critical
point in the story and not to just merely perform a different camera technique. He skillfully does
establishing shots which matches the setting that would really make the audience determine the place or
situation of the story. We consider Brocka as a great director that exhibits technical competence because
he has the skillful ability that makes a great director and he has the ability to put a certain film together
with clarity and coherence with the story taking in consideration technicalities in production.
The second premise of the Auteur theory involves the signature or style of the
director that is uniquely his. There are certain techniques the Lino Brocka uses in such a way
that gives no room for doubt that the film was made by him. For instance, he is fond of
using long establishing shots in his films opening credits, as shown in Maynila sa Kuko ng
Liwanag, Insiang, and Orapronobis. The shots he uses in his opening films always relates to
the movie in one way or another. The black-and-white shots used in Maynila sa Kuko ng
Liwanag showed an early morning in Manila, with people and shops opening up as the day
begins to get busy and it is implied that the place shown in the shots is where Julio, the main
character, goes to look for a job. Insiangs opening credits showed the slum area where
Insiang and her mother lived and although the opening credits for OraProNobis was shown
later than the other films, Lino Brocka used various shots showing crowded places and shots
depicting various situations after the Marcos regime. His usage of establishing shots as part
of the opening credits gives his viewers an idea as to where and when the story is set.

In his works, tracking shots are most often used to depict a change in his characters
mindset or attitude towards something or someone. In Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag, the
shot was used near the end of the film, after Julio visited Ligayas wake. Here, one can see
the change come over Julio from being a simple probinsyano hoping to find and save the girl
he loved to someone who is filled with so much grief and anger that he decides to kill Ah Tek
- the source of Ligayas suffering. In Insiang, one can see the tracking shot was used to
show Insiang on her way home after spending the night with Bebot and hinted at how she
became determined to use Dado as an instrument of revenge against Bebot, who left her
after he got what he wanted from her. Her character walked with sure steps and with an air
of determination. Also, The background music in Lino Brockas films are used mostly in
scenes where there is no dialogue - be it an establishing shot, a highly dramatic or
suspense-filled moment and in scenes filled with dialogue, any form of background music is
absent.
Extreme zoom ins on a characters face is another characteristic that is common in
Lino Brockas films; he mostly uses these shots to focus on a characters emotion and facial
expression, especially the expression in their eyes. In Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag the
most memorable ones happened during the scene where Ligaya tells the Julio the story of
what happened to her after she came to Manila; the camera zoomed in on her face twice,
the first zoom in was when she got up from the bed to take a drag, the side view profile of
her face is presented, showing a troubled expression on Ligayas face as she recounts the
events that inspired after being presented to Ah Tek. The next one shows the reflection of
Ligayas face, wiping tears from her face as she told Julio about how Ah Tek gave her an
ultimatum: to be his whore or to be a whore in the brothel. At the ending of the movie was
also another extreme close-up shot of the lower half of Julios face while he screams in terror
and the mob is about to descend on him. His films also mostly end with open-ended
situations and a cliffhanger like in Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag, wherein Julio is being chased
by a mob and ends up being cornered, the film just ends in Julios scream of terror. In
Insiang, the story ended after Insiang admitted to her mother that she wanted her mom to
kill Dado and that she never loved him; the screen cuts to black after showing Insiangs
mother silently crying while watching her daughter walk away. In OraProNobis, the story
ends after Salvador calls Diego, meaning to join the resistance again. With all these
elements present in Lino Brockas movies, it can then be said the does indeed have his own
style and signature in directing.It is evident in Lino Brockas films how his personal matters affect his
creativity in making his works. After watching three of his films which are Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag
(Manila: In the Claws of Light) 1976, Insiang, also produced in the same year, and Orapronobis (Fight
for Us), it reminded us how his life had been back in those years as a Director. As stated above, back
when he was young, his father was executed in a political murder when he was young, and when they
lived with their relatives, they were maltreated and suffered verbal and physical abuse from them. That is
why, analyzing these 3 films, the interior meaning of the director is evident through his films.
First, for the film Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag the main characters, Julio and Ligaya, went to
Manila in hopes of giving their self and family a wealthy life, but what they believed to be luck, is just
merely an illusion. This reflected on Lino Brockas life when he went to Hawaii to try his luck and studied
abroad, with hopes that he can save his family from the hell brought by their own relatives. Also, another
scene here is when Julio went to work for a construction site, and you can see how the financer corrupts
their earning, but they cannot do anything because it will cause them to lose the job. This scene, in the
part of Lino Brockas life, is by the time when he is making films in the Philippines but fails to make a
market because some of his films are banned by he cannot do anything but to abide by the law given,
also, when they are being maltreated by their relatives, they cannot do anything because they will lose
their home. This film also discussed themes involving sexuality - when Julio had no choice but to work as
a call-boy serving men for pleasure. Which back in that time, to be one of the concepts directors tended
to avoid. Lino Brocka was openly gay that is why these themes were often big part in his films. Another

part of the film which we think is one of the highlights, is how strong-spirited and courageous Ligaya is,
that despite being deceived by a Mrs. Cruz, she still managed to live and be brave of the life she had in
Manila in hopes of escaping the hell from the life with a chinese. These observations reflects on Lino
Brockas life, in the part when he strived to be a director despite all the struggles he had to overcome.
The second film is OraProNobis (Fight for Us) was set in the time of the oppression of human
rights were rampant despite the impression that the time of the dictatorship had ended. This film depicted
liberalism of the administration in support for vigilantes in belief that they could fight communism. But
believing that the dictatorship ended after the new president took her oath, the judgment was wrong; there
had been many cases of disappearances and such. This film reflected in Brocka's life from the time when
his father died from political murder and the time of dictatorship, he was part of the transition period from
the dictatorship to Corys time and he was aware of all the anomalies therein. This film was also banned
from screening in local film thats why he smuggled his film abroad which won awards.
The last film that weve seen is Insiang, which is about a poverty-ridden woman who lived her life being
maltreated by her own mother, and was raped by her mothers live in partner, and taken for granted by her
boyfriend, leading her to seek revenge in men. This also changed her personality - she became tough and
she tolerated all the pain caused by these circumstances; and relating it to Lino Brocka, he was able to
show how women had been a material for sexual pleasure, he was maltreated by his own relatives which
he treated as family and in this film, his personal attachment was obvious.
Conclusion
After a careful analyzation of Lino Brockas films, we were able to conclude that his personal
character was incorporated to his films in the sense that his experience of oppression and injustice
became the main themes of his films. He projected a well-thought and beautifully executed films through
his skills in the technical aspect of creating a film such as lighting, camera style, production design, and
through directing itself; films which became an eye-opener to the Filipino people. The researchers have
witnessed in the films the reality during the Marcos and post-Marcos era through the reflections of the
different lives of people in the said periods. As the researchers looked into Lino Brockas life, we learned
about his background as a director and the struggle he experienced back when his father died to the time
they were oppressed by their relatives, it proved that his personal attachment is evident in his films having
themes centered in oppression of human rights, poor people abused by the system, and also, topics were
centered on the ignored sectors of the society such as prostitutes, slum dwellers, discriminated people,
and such. Also, in three (3) of his films, he became consistent by using close up shots most of the time as
well as having locations that are set on slum areas. Being a director who possessed these qualities, we
have proven that Lino Brocka is considered to be an auteur.