Artwork by Ariel Esteban Cayer
One of Lino Brocka’s lasting successes, 1988’s Macho Dancer admirably blends the maestro’s flair for socially conscious melodrama with pulp provocation — as well as setting the template for what would become Viva Films’ erotic niche to this day. Upon losing a reliable American client, 18-year-old gigolo Pol (Allan Paule) leaves his native province to try his luck in the soapy gay clubs of Manila. As Pol learns the ropes alongside fellow stripper Noel (Daniel Fernando) and savvy prostitute Bambi (Jaclyn Jose), he discovers more than his young mind bargained for: an underbelly of protection rackets, human trafficking and political corruption. Underlying the film’s astutely cynical outlook on systemic, class-based exploitation in the Filipino context is a neon-lit tale of sexual self-discovery gyrating between queer desire and heteronormative strictures, sensuality and grit, tenderness and violence. Heavily censored upon release and hugely successful overseas, Macho Dancer follows the recent re-discovery of Lino Brocka’s Bona and is presented here in a new 4K restoration from Viva Film’s original film elements.