Batang West Side

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James Bradford A I love this 5 hours and 15 minute movie! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/04/20 Full Review Audience Member A Filipino teenager is shot in the head in a sidewalk in New Jersey. A Filipino police detective is given the task to uncover the truth about the murder. The film is comprised mostly of flashbacks of family members, friends, witnesses and suspects. First released in 2001, this is one of the more recent Filipino masterpieces. Despite its infamous 5-hour running time and relatively slow pace, it never feels dragging or boring. It's a compelling, dense thought-provoking drama. It's GORGEOUSLY shot, a real work from a master filmmaker and with a fine ensemble of actors too. Word is that producers begged director Diaz to cut it down to three hours to make it more commercially viable but he refuses and frankly, it was a good call. I can't imagine cutting out a single hour from this magnificent piece of work. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Lav Diaz's masterpiece is an epic, five-hour look at the Filipino-American community and its various social classes, its several generations, its cliques, friendships, families, and dirty secrets. Along with Mario O'Hara's Pangarap ng Puso (Demons, 2000), it's a new direction for Philippine cinema. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Batang West Side

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