Joaquin, an unassuming fisherman, is forced to confront his homosexuality when his sex-starved wife returns from her overseas job eager to get pregnant. His young and impulsive lover, Waldo flees to Manila in disgust.
After a month of hesitation, Joaquin leaves his wife to follow Waldo. His search takes him on a seamy yet colorful trip through Manila’s gay underbelly. He discovers Waldo’s dangerous flirtation with Rufo, a bisexual rogue cop who holds the clue to Waldo’s disappearance. Rufo lures Joaquin into his home and introduces him to his submissive wife, Beng.
A sadist who beats up Beng regularly, Rufo turns Joaquin into a prisoner and sex slave — like he did to Waldo. When Joaquin is finally reunited with Waldo, he discovers that Rufo is about to sell them like fish to an international sex trafficking ring, along with his personal harem of male and female captives. With Beng’s help, the two lovers plot their escape.
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March 19, 2010
#1
“No Way Out” (“Walang Kawala”)
A Powerful Film
Amos Lassen
The Philippines makes powerful films but this is one of the most powerful I have ever seen. It deals with the human sex trade in Manila, a town known for prostitution. A young man, Waldo, leaves his village because he has been rejected by the man that he loves and moves to Manila. Another character, Joaquin, is a man trapped in an unhappy marriage and could not show Waldo the love he deserved and it was not until he was gone that Joaquin realized how much he loved him. He too goes to Manila searching for Waldo and he ends up at a male strip club and then at the house of one of the most evil and cruelest characters that we see on film, Rufo, a crooked cop who beats his wife and rapes men while holding a gun on them. Joaquin begins to wonder if Waldo had to endure Rufo and it is here that the film becomes savagely brutal.
The original story by Joel Lamangan and Manny Valera was adapted for the screen by Enrique Ramos. Lamangan also directed this film and although it is a love story between two men but it is actually more about human dignity and respect for love. Nothing is sugarcoated here and the film is filled with food for thought. The film is exciting but it is not easy to watch. Coming soon on DVD by WaterBearer.