Verdict: Essential Viewing
Pinoy Rebyu Score: 5.00 (2 ratings)
Genre: Drama
Director: Lav Diaz
Writer: Rody Vera
Cast: Sid Lucero, Archie Alemania, Angeli Bayani, Angelina Kanapi, Soliman Cruz, Mae Paner, Hazel Orencio
Synopsis: A man is wrongly jailed for murder while the real killer roams free. The murderer is an intellectual frustrated with his country’s never-ending cycle of betrayal and apathy. The convict is a simple man who finds life in prison more tolerable when something mysterious and strange starts happening to him.
MTRCB rating: R-13
Running time: 250 mins.
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Reviews:
5.0 Noel Vera (Business World)
“Diaz doesn’t mean to present an ethics lesson; you realize this sitting through the film’s entire 240-minute length, and in fact I’d even insist it’s necessary to sit through the film’s comparatively long running time… to realize the full extent of its complexities and ambiguities, a realization which gradually seeps in, as opposed to being baldly presented on a silver platter — or not present at all.” (Read full review)
5.0 Noli Manaig (Closely Watched Frames)
“What remains most striking about Norte, however, is its embodiment of a Filipino protagonist in a seemingly foreign, postmodern characterization — distinct from the voiceless subalterns and the oppressed that dominate our present cinematic lore.” (Read full review)
