If you’re looking for a dark portrayal of life in Manila, you’ve come to the right place. In Manila there’s social problems, political corruption, and injustice hidden behind the tropes of the Hollywood noir genre. You’ll meet a few characters of the city, but the focus is always on the city of Manila and its sounds, sights, and life.
Hulhudhaan is a family drama that focuses on the perils of drug addiction. It features a recently retired father and his drug-addicted daughter that comes to him for money.
Social issue cinema can be problematic. Focusing on trauma and suffering to generate a base emotional response is exploitative, especially without character development or context in the plot. When this happens in film, it resembles charity commercials, which show malnourished kids to emotionally exploit viewers into donating. It also simplifies complex issues into a quick fix problem + solution equations.
In the case of Hulhudhaan the social problem is Sama’s drug addiction, and the solution is her father’s love and forgiveness. Sama took up drugs because she didn’t get enough of her father’s attention in childhood, and she’s addicted because she doesn’t realize her father still loves her. This presents a happy and dangerously easy solution: love can overcome addiction. The problem with this is the simplification of the issue and solution. Not all addiction is due to a lack of love, and love isn’t the silver bullet for drug addiction.
The depiction of the two main characters is also a little problematic. Manik, the father, is portrayed humbly whilst his daughter, Sama, is shown to be fragile and in need of help. Manik’s respectability is shown through his work ethic (he remains at work throughout the day as other employees come in and out), his tidy apartment, and his religious devotion (he faithfully wakes up through the night for prayer). He appears to be trustworthy and honorable. As Sama doesn’t receive a similar level of character development, the audience naturally sympathizes with Manik, the more complete character. This makes it easy for the film to deliver the love as cure for addiction solution – particularly led by the trustworthy Manik in saving his fallen daughter. It feels like it’s directed at men to take care of their women (especially considering the happy ending).
What to Watch Next
If you liked Hulhudhaan and want to watch more films which deal with social problems, try Hand of Fate (arranged marriage), Cargo (immigration), Where I Come From (poverty).
Or for other films that depict drug addiction, try the entertaining world of Trainspotting or the brutally real world of In Vanda’s Room.
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