Season of the Devil

Season of the Devil (Filipino: Ang Panahon ng Halimaw)[1] is a 2018 Filipino musical film directed by Lav Diaz. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.[2][1] It won the Grand Jury Prize for Film in the 2019 Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards.[3] The film has a running time of 234 minutes.[4] It won Best Picture at the 58th International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias, Gems Section.

Season of the Devil
Film poster
TagalogAng Panahon ng Halimaw
Directed byLav Diaz
Written byLav Diaz
Produced by
  • Bianca Balbuena
  • Lav Diaz
  • Quark Henares
  • Bradley Liew
StarringPiolo Pascual
CinematographyLarry Manda
Edited byLav Diaz
Music byLav Diaz
Production
companies
Release dates
  • February 20, 2018 (2018-02-20) (Berlinale)
  • May 28, 2018 (2018-05-28) (Philippines)
Running time
234 minutes
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino

Plot

Lorena (Shaina Magdayao) is a young doctor who opens a clinic for the poor in a remote Philippine village in the late 1970s. The village is controlled and terrorized by uniformed armed men, which the prologue of the film identifies as members of the Martial Law era Civilian Home Defense Forces.[5]

Lorena disappears without a trace, prompting her husband Hugo (Piolo Pascual), an activist, poet, and teacher, to come looking for her. Hugo comes to the village and comes face to face with a community "shattered by despotism and violence."

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on nine reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10.[6] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

Variety praised the director for remaining "emphatically his own artist, whether to exhilarating or punishing effect," saying the movie has some "raw, stirring interludes." It however thought that Diaz's editing weakened the film's impact, saying "it’s hard not to wonder what finer rhythmic and tonal variations another editor… might have brought to the table this time."[4]

The Hollywood Reporter called the film a "seething critique about the Philippines’ current trigger-happy president in the form of a 'rock opera.'"[8]

Accolades

Season of the Devil won best film in the Gems section of 58th Festival Internacional de Cine Cartagena de Indias held in Colombia in March 2018.[5]

The film led the 2019 FAMAS Awards with the most number of nominations, including nods for best picture and best director, and four for best supporting actress for Shaina Magdayao, Bituin Escalante, Pinky Amador, and Hazel Orencio.[9] It won the award for best sound for sound designer Corinne de San Jose and was given the Grand Jury Prize for Film, an honor it shared with Whammy Alazaren's Never Tear Us Apart.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Press Releases: 68th Berlinale". January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  2. "Berlin Film Festival Fleshes Out Competition Lineup". Variety. January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  3. Chua, Zsarlene B. (April 29, 2019). "Rom-com Hypothalamus is big winner at FAMAS awards". Business World. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  4. Lodge, Guy (February 21, 2018). "Berlin Film Review: 'Season of the Devil'". Variety. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  5. Guerrero, Kaye (April 11, 2018). "Lav Diaz rants against "Duterte, Trump...motherf****rs"". PEP. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  6. "Season of the Devil (Ang Panahon ng Halimaw) (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  7. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/season-of-the-devil?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c
  8. Tsui, Clarence (February 20, 2018). "'Season of the Devil' ('Ang Panahon ng Halimaw'): Film Review | Berlin 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  9. "Lav Diaz' Halimaw leads FAMAS race with 9 nods". Business World. March 22, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  10. "FULL LIST: Winners of the 2019 FAMAS Awards". Rappler. April 29, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
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