Diaz’ ‘Ang Babaeng Humayo’ is one of 2016’s best movies – British Film Institute
Lav Diaz’ Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left) ranked 31st in the British Film Institute’s Sights and Sounds Magazine’s best movies for 2016. This was based on the surveys and rankings of about 163 film critics and curators from all over the world.
Image grabbed from ABS-CBN.
Aside from ranking 31st, the Golden Lion awardee was also hailed as one of the top Asian films for 2016, together with Cemetery of Splendour and Under the Shadow.
Derek Malcolm, a critic from the United Kingdom, noted, “The Woman Who Left is a film that lives in the memory as a moral, political, and cultural statement as well as a fine piece of filmmaking.”
Thai Critic Kong Rithdee talked about how this particular film is a mirror of the Southeast Asian’s situation. “The theme is big: humanity, guilt, crime, punishment, injustice, despair – the Filipino despair, or maybe the Southeast Asian despair, drenched in [the] sweat and blood of the common man. In this film, what moves us even more is the possibility of mercy, compassion, even grace, struggling to blossom like a flower in hell.”
Image grabbed from Hollywood Reporter.
Two other Lav Diaz films made it to the list, namely Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis and Ang Araw Bago ang Wakas which were also recognized in various international film festivals.
Brillante Mendoza’s award-winning film Ma’ Rosa were also listed in French critic Jean-Michel Frodonand Canadian critic/curator James Quandt list of best films.
Topping the list of best films are Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey.
Sources: British Film Institute, Inquirer.net
