Neomanila Analysis - Grade 10

The reality Manila experienced with the killings, crimes, addicts and the uncovered murders of people
within power, was depicted and shown in the movie “Neomanila”. As the war on drugs gears up in
modern day Manila, young orphan Toto raises funds in order to bail out his imprisoned brother Kiko,
who is afraid that the gang and corrupt polices involved in an illegal drug trade he is running might be
plotting to kill him. When Toto discovers this, he sets out to rescue his brother. A hitman/hitwoman,
Irma, then trained Toto to be a great assassin whom she saved from the gang and corrupt polices from
being assassinated as he (Toto) was a target of those people, he saw Irma as a surrogate mother or even
lover whom he trusted. Amids the war on drugs back then in Manila was dark ages, the environment of
uneasiness, dangerousness and fear overtook the minds and the everyday life of everyone. With the
crimes, drug dealings, murders and accusation of the innocents, as said in the movie victims and
suspects were no difference. They executed how corrupt, untrusted and scary our people in power back
then, how it was all hushed up and just thrown like trash with no guilt and trace. Mikhail Red's third
feature film Neomanila was his third film as a writer-director, there are very likeable criminals in it, but
they're going up against corrupt cops. It's ambiguous. You don't know: Who's good? Who’s bad? It's
about those caught in the middle of the war on drug, they don’t even talk about the politics (the
characters in the film) they just do it for the money. In a way, it is like a lens focusing on the entire
situation and leaving questions for the audience to decide: Is this moral? You decide the meaning for
yourself. Throughout Red's plot and his general setting, he makes a hasty comment on the dog-eat-dog
situation Duterte created, and the footage in the film's finale emphasizes that approach even more. In
the film, different levels of power are present, ranging from gang members to corrupt policemen, from
the feared to the respected people and to those who bear grudges to others. We’ve seen how these
different types of powers affected the characters their jobs and daily activities some were overtaken and
some stayed at the top good or bad. We also saw how women are treated and written here in this
movie, Irma as the badass partner, mother, possibly lover and friend who is a very outstanding
hitwoman is present. Next was the girlfriend/ex of Toto, here we saw how women (some) are used as
faculties for men, we also didn’t know if she was bribed or threatened of murder for her to get with
Dugo the one who’s the reason of the death of Kiko. We also have another woman who Irma, Raul and
Toto traced down and killed as she was hiding drugs inside the diaper of her (or not) baby. She was also
killed by Raul (Irma’s partner in missions) and placed a carton box on her with a sign saying “Pusher ako,
wag tularan” to hide and dismiss the murder as an excuse of just killing a drug addict. The reality of the
film was disturbing and unsettling as it is how it was in those times in Manila, the start of Duterte’s
shoot to kill started all the crimes and unnecessary murders, dismissed killings of the innocents that are
mixed with the real suspects, some even get to live their lives freely as the others were suspected and
killed. Despite the high level of political polarization in this country, Red does not shy away from making
a statement about very real issues, “You have to be fearless. As a filmmaker, that’s the end goal. You
need to have something to say. Even though in the surface, there’s that layer to entertain. With the
Neomanila, it’s the type of film – if you really want to effect change or swing a vote, you don’t want to
preach to the choir. You wanna reach the people on the fence, the wide audience.” he said. The process
of watching Neomanila requires having a hyperawareness of the worlds in which it was created and the
world in which we live today, seeing the perspective of everyone gives you the knowledge to understand
them and to know who really is the victim, who is the good ones and the people who are the real evil.
Being good might be different for all of us, some might be being moral at all times and others judge by
your actions. But sometimes in order for you to do good you have to do bad actions.

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The reality Manila experienced with the killings, crimes, addicts and the uncovered murders of people

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