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Rating: 
Summary: Please don't believe everything you read
Review: I'm going to drop my feelings right down front:
This is not an enjoyable film. This is not even a good film.
I am amazed at what people consider good cinema nowadays.
Granted, everyone is entitled to their own opinions,
but if this is a good, or even decent movie, then I'm proud to say that I think and see things differently than the masses.
It's hard to grasp exactly what artisic message Lino Brocka was trying to convey with this movie. Whatever it was, I am not at odds with myself for completely missing it. On one level, he's trying to push a sentimental story about a young boy from the mountains wishing to earn more money for his struggling family. Okay, that is indeed an honorable notion. However, once the kid reaches Manila, I think family welfare somehow fades off the priority list. The movie starts limping right at this point, later reduces to a struggling crawl in the middle, and by the end of the film, if you're able to sit through this mess without going Unibomber on the DVD player, the whole thing unfolds into yet another casualty in your movie collection. What a waste.
I don't recommend this film, even if you're interested in looking at nude male bodies. If so, grab an issue of Playgirl and call it a day, because I guarantee you that the magazine will get a hell of a lot more play than this horrible DVD.
And one more thing:
I thought it was quite ridiculous how the incidental music during those tortously extensive "shower scenes (on stage)"
tried to evoke a sense of grandeur. Are you kidding?
People don't get played.
It's great to support foreign cinema and amplify your cultural horizons, but this is not even arthouse quality, although the literature in the DVD asserts this.
Whatever.
This is garbage.
On to the next film.......................................
Rating: 
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: I've been wanting to get this movie since reading a rather breathless review on Planet Out a couple of years ago. It's a better movie than I expected, but you should know it's not a gay love story. Our hero, Pol, played by Alan Paule, is determinedly hetero but turns to hustling to raise money for his impoverished family. To this end, he goes to Manila and becomes a male (macho) dancer in a sex club. You may make of that what you will, the film, is non-judgmental. Pol maintains a certain detachment from his chosen craft; the cover art for the CD is taken from the one scene in which he genuinely seems to enjoy being erotic with another guy and Pol's lovemaking scene with Bambi, a cute, sassy young female Philippino in the same situation, is the hottest scene in the movie. There's only one character in the film who appears to have homo-erotic tendencies, Noel, played by Daniel Fernando, and he ends up tragically. His was the more interesting and attractive character to me. There's only one gay kiss that isn't just for the sake of the show at the sex club and Pol is genuinely surprised that Noel would kiss him on the lips other than when they're on stage. There is a lot of simulated eroticism and near total male nudity, even a little total male nudity (one brief scene in which a bunch of the dancers are on stage masturbating - shot from across the room, not close up) and a lot of simulated sex acts. Pol is pretty good at undulating and gyrating in a g-string; Noel is even better. Maybe as much as a third of the movie consists of these scenes of male dancers, serving as backdrop for a morality tale involving Pol and Noel and Noel's sister in which the heavy is the police official who "protects" this aspect of Philippino society. To the extent the film is a commentary on social conditions which give rise to all of this prostitution, it paints a much direr picture of the young Philippino girls who are drawn into this trade than of the young men. I've read the film is a searing indictment of the corruption that existed under the Marcos and Aquino regimes. I lack the knowledge of Philippino society to judge this statement, but "The Comedians" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor was a searing indictment of life in Haiti under Papa Doc and this film has nowhere near the power of that one. So much of the film is devoted to the scenes at the sex clubs it's difficult to believe the filmmaker was simply producing an indictment of political corruption but I'm not sure what else to make of it. The acting is better than I expected, as is the filmmaking, but this DVD was produced from a very old and scratchy copy of the film and is the worst visually I've ever seen. Planet Out is incapable of giving anything less than a breathless review to any film in which at least one male
character takes his shirt off but I give this film only 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: I've been wanting to get this movie since reading a rather breathless review on Planet Out a couple of years ago. It's a better movie than I expected, but you should know it's not a gay love story. Our hero, Pol, played by Alan Paule, is determinedly hetero but turns to hustling to raise money for his impoverished family. To this end, he goes to Manila and becomes a male (macho) dancer in a sex club. You may make of that what you will, the film, is non-judgmental. Pol maintains a certain detachment from his chosen craft; the cover art for the CD is taken from the one scene in which he genuinely seems to enjoy being erotic with another guy and Pol's lovemaking scene with Bambi, a cute, sassy young female Philippino in the same situation, is the hottest scene in the movie. There's only one character in the film who appears to have homo-erotic tendencies, Noel, played by Daniel Fernando, and he ends up tragically. His was the more interesting and attractive character to me. There's only one gay kiss that isn't just for the sake of the show at the sex club and Pol is genuinely surprised that Noel would kiss him on the lips other than when they're on stage. There is a lot of simulated eroticism and near total male nudity, even a little total male nudity (one brief scene in which a bunch of the dancers are on stage masturbating - shot from across the room, not close up) and a lot of simulated sex acts. Pol is pretty good at undulating and gyrating in a g-string; Noel is even better. Maybe as much as a third of the movie consists of these scenes of male dancers, serving as backdrop for a morality tale involving Pol and Noel and Noel's sister in which the heavy is the police official who "protects" this aspect of Philippino society. To the extent the film is a commentary on social conditions which give rise to all of this prostitution, it paints a much direr picture of the young Philippino girls who are drawn into this trade than of the young men. I've read the film is a searing indictment of the corruption that existed under the Marcos and Aquino regimes. I lack the knowledge of Philippino society to judge this statement, but "The Comedians" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor was a searing indictment of life in Haiti under Papa Doc and this film has nowhere near the power of that one. So much of the film is devoted to the scenes at the sex clubs it's difficult to believe the filmmaker was simply producing an indictment of political corruption but I'm not sure what else to make of it. The acting is better than I expected, as is the filmmaking, but this DVD was produced from a very old and scratchy copy of the film and is the worst visually I've ever seen. Planet Out is incapable of giving anything less than a breathless review to any film in which at least one male
character takes his shirt off but I give this film only 3 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: The Skull Beneath The Erotic Skin
Review: Like the later and much glossier MIDNIGHT DANCERS, MACHO DANCER depicts the lives of male prostitutes in Manilla; unlike MIDNIGHT DANCERS, however, it is considerably more gritty and disquieting. The story concerns Pol (Alan Paule), a young man in the Manillian provinces who has drifted into prostitution with an American G.I. in order to help support his impoverished family. When his patron finishes his tour of duty, Pol's friend Greg (Bobby Sano) urges him to try his luck in Manilla. Once in Manilla, Pol becomes a "Macho Dancer," working as a preformer and prostitute at a police protected club in the tourist belt--and becomes friends with fellow club worker Noel (Daniel Fernando) and upscale call-girl Bambi (Jacklyn Jose.) Although we realize they are motivated by poverty and lack of other skills (time and again the characters simply state "I was hungry"), the film paints itself in extremely tantalizing, erotic colors--and much more explicitly so than MIDNIGHT DANCERS--but as the story progresses the eroticism of the film seques into an extremely dark story of the foundations of the sex-trade: youth, poverty, hunger, and a corrupt police and economic system that preys on all three. By the film's conclusion one feels extremely guilty for having, perhaps, salivated a bit over the boys and girls--for it is precisely that reaction that creates the marketplace which so brutally preys upon them. The youthful cast members are extraordinarly beautiful, casual with their nudity and behavior before the cameras, and surprisingly talented in their ability to convey both the beauty that makes them so sensual and the dark, dangerous world through which they scramble. The entire cast is remarkable, and Jacklyn Jose is a standout--an extraordinary beauty and remarkably gifted actress. Although MACHO DANCER hooks its audience with titilating eroticism, it has a sharp jab that prevents that same audience from romanticizing prostitution in any way. All the more disquieting for it display of beautiful youth, after seeing MACHO DANCER it becomes impossible for one to think of prostitution as a "victimless crime." Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Skull Beneath The Erotic Skin
Review: Like the later and much glossier MIDNIGHT DANCERS, MACHO DANCER depicts the lives of male prostitutes in Manilla; unlike MIDNIGHT DANCERS, however, it is considerably more gritty and disquieting. The story concerns Pol (Alan Paule), a young man in the Manillian provinces who has drifted into prostitution with an American G.I. in order to help support his impoverished family. When his patron finishes his tour of duty, Pol's friend Greg (Bobby Sano) urges him to try his luck in Manilla. Once in Manilla, Pol becomes a "Macho Dancer," working as a preformer and prostitute at a police protected club in the tourist belt--and becomes friends with fellow club worker Noel (Daniel Fernando) and upscale call-girl Bambi (Jacklyn Jose.) Although we realize they are motivated by poverty and lack of other skills (time and again the characters simply state "I was hungry"), the film paints itself in extremely tantalizing, erotic colors--and much more explicitly so than MIDNIGHT DANCERS--but as the story progresses the eroticism of the film seques into an extremely dark story of the foundations of the sex-trade: youth, poverty, hunger, and a corrupt police and economic system that preys on all three. By the film's conclusion one feels extremely guilty for having, perhaps, salivated a bit over the boys and girls--for it is precisely that reaction that creates the marketplace which so brutally preys upon them. The youthful cast members are extraordinarly beautiful, casual with their nudity and behavior before the cameras, and surprisingly talented in their ability to convey both the beauty that makes them so sensual and the dark, dangerous world through which they scramble. The entire cast is remarkable, and Jacklyn Jose is a standout--an extraordinary beauty and remarkably gifted actress. Although MACHO DANCER hooks its audience with titilating eroticism, it has a sharp jab that prevents that same audience from romanticizing prostitution in any way. All the more disquieting for it display of beautiful youth, after seeing MACHO DANCER it becomes impossible for one to think of prostitution as a "victimless crime." Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Potent combination of sex and melodrama
Review: MACHO DANCER (Philippines 1988): Deserted by his American lover, a naive country boy (Alan Paule) seeks his fortune in Manila, where he's drawn into a world of erotic dancing, prostitution and drug running, leading to betrayal and murder. Combining elements of melodrama and social commentary, MACHO DANCER marks a return to the subject of male prostitution which highlighted director Lino Brocka's most famous - and controversial - film, MANILA IN THE CLAWS OF NEON (1975). Ever the political activist, Brocka paints a picture of the Filippino sex industry as a dangerous arena, fuelled by drugs and police corruption, where innocents must compromise their virtue in an effort to stay alive. The densely plotted screenplay (co-written by Ricardo Lee and Amato Lacuesta) is filmed with genuine gusto, though the plot is a little too familiar for comfort (see also MIDNIGHT DANCERS and BURLESK KING, both directed by Mel Chionglo). As the gullible waif who struggles to keep his head while all around him are succumbing to the worst excesses of their unhappy lifestyle, Paule - a non-actor whose lack of charisma is painfully obvious throughout - makes no impression at all. More successful is ultra-sexy Daniel Fernando (star of Peque Gallaga's influentual erotic drama SCORPIO NIGHTS [1985]) as a veteran 'macho dancer' whose association with a crooked police officer (Johnny Vicar) results in tragedy and horror, and Jacklyn Jose (YOUR WIFE, MY WIFE) as the sterotypical 'tart with a heart' who succumbs to Paule's dubious charms (yes, another 'gay' film in which the leading man falls for his leading lady!). The running time is padded with lengthy excerpts from the various stage performances, in which naked young guys oil each other up and gyrate to synth music, and while the film's sexual content is prolonged and generous (Fernando's dance sequence with co-star William Lorenzo is worth the price of admission alone!), it's also fairly coy by western standards. Some of the dramatic sequences are allowed to overrun, and the climax is predictably ironic, but the narrative still packs something of an emotional wallop, and while production values are modest, the film is lively and competent, and the potent mixture of beefcake, sentimentality and violence is frankly irresistible. Strand Releasing's DVD is taken from what the package describes as 'the sole surviving 35mm print of Lino Brocka's original version, uncut and uncensored'. Despite its rough edges, especially around reel changes, the presentation is acceptable. There are no extras, except trailers for other Strand releases. NB. Anyone tempted to sample First Run Features' DVD version of MIDNIGHT DANCERS (1994) should be warned that their 'full, uncut' disc is incomplete, running 10 minutes shorter than the UK video print. 134m 53s
1.33:1 [slightly cropped from 1.37:1 theatrical ratio]
Mono 2.0
Optical mono [theatrical]
Tagalog soundtrack
Permanent English subtitles
All regions
Rating:
Summary: Potent combination of sex and melodrama
Review: MACHO DANCER (Philippines 1988): Deserted by his American lover, a naive country boy (Alan Paule) seeks his fortune in Manila, where he's drawn into a world of erotic dancing, prostitution and drug running, leading to betrayal and murder. Combining elements of melodrama and social commentary, MACHO DANCER marks a return to the subject of male prostitution which highlighted director Lino Brocka's most famous - and controversial - film, MANILA IN THE CLAWS OF NEON (1975). Ever the political activist, Brocka paints a picture of the Filippino sex industry as a dangerous arena, fuelled by drugs and police corruption, where innocents must compromise their virtue in an effort to stay alive. The densely plotted screenplay (co-written by Ricardo Lee and Amato Lacuesta) is filmed with genuine gusto, though the plot is a little too familiar for comfort (see also MIDNIGHT DANCERS and BURLESK KING, both directed by Mel Chionglo). As the gullible waif who struggles to keep his head while all around him are succumbing to the worst excesses of their unhappy lifestyle, Paule - a non-actor whose lack of charisma is painfully obvious throughout - makes no impression at all. More successful is ultra-sexy Daniel Fernando (star of Peque Gallaga's influentual erotic drama SCORPIO NIGHTS [1985]) as a veteran 'macho dancer' whose association with a crooked police officer (Johnny Vicar) results in tragedy and horror, and Jacklyn Jose (YOUR WIFE, MY WIFE) as the sterotypical 'tart with a heart' who succumbs to Paule's dubious charms (yes, another 'gay' film in which the leading man falls for his leading lady!). The running time is padded with lengthy excerpts from the various stage performances, in which naked young guys oil each other up and gyrate to synth music, and while the film's sexual content is prolonged and generous (Fernando's dance sequence with co-star William Lorenzo is worth the price of admission alone!), it's also fairly coy by western standards. Some of the dramatic sequences are allowed to overrun, and the climax is predictably ironic, but the narrative still packs something of an emotional wallop, and while production values are modest, the film is lively and competent, and the potent mixture of beefcake, sentimentality and violence is frankly irresistible. Strand Releasing's DVD is taken from what the package describes as 'the sole surviving 35mm print of Lino Brocka's original version, uncut and uncensored'. Despite its rough edges, especially around reel changes, the presentation is acceptable. There are no extras, except trailers for other Strand releases. NB. Anyone tempted to sample First Run Features' DVD version of MIDNIGHT DANCERS (1994) should be warned that their 'full, uncut' disc is incomplete, running 10 minutes shorter than the UK video print. 134m 53s
1.33:1 [slightly cropped from 1.37:1 theatrical ratio]
Mono 2.0
Optical mono [theatrical]
Tagalog soundtrack
Permanent English subtitles
All regions
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