The years 1896-97 were a difficult time for the Philippines. The cruel Spanish colonialists were engaged in a struggle with the local inhabitants that had plunged the land into civil war. Against this historical backdrop, director Lav Diaz explores the lives of several individuals, like the idealistic intellectual Simoun for whom the end justifies the means, and the wife of Andrés Bonifacio, who is looking in vain for her missing husband, an icon of the local resistance and a thorn in the side of the colonial power. Although the film avoids any explicit depiction of the era’s greatest horrors, this makes it no less moving. This fascinating sketch of the past compares favorably with the best works of literature in its universal look at issues of morality and of taking individual responsibility for the social consequences of our actions. Shot in an aesthetically refined black-and-white, the film presents a fascinating mosaic that merges mythology, folklore, historical fact, and fiction. The result is a highly personal depiction of the director’s native country, its inhabitants and its history.