Ishmael Bernal's final film is a punk rock middle finger to the church disguised as an action romance.
The first team-up of Richard Gomez and Carmina Villaruel, playing Ardo and Rosel in this action flick, which is at the same time Ishmael Bernal's last film that is an attack on the religious establishment. Together, they become a part of Manila's petty underworld. After all the ordeals they encounter, they realize that they lost their innocence as they brush with evil and corruption. But they still survive the ordeal and make a new life somewhere else.
Direction
Bernal's final statement, angry and unsparing.
Acting
Gomez and Villarroel's chemistry crackles through the grime.
Writing
Sharp social commentary that bites harder with age.
Director
Ishmael Bernal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during a turbulent period in Philippine cinema, Wating represents the mainstreaming of socially critical 'bomba' and action films that Bernal helped legitimize.
Bernal died just months after completing this film, making his final shot — two lovers walking into an uncertain future — unintentionally prophetic.
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