"Palaban" is one hell of a violent flick. The story of one man's pursuit of bank robbers and the bloody consequences that follow is so nihilistic and shocking that it puts all other violent movies in my mind to shame.Hollywood movies are to "clean" to do this kind of movie.The whole theme for this insane movie is... hell there is no theme and that makes this movie rank with the most nihilistic movies that I have ever seen.I was thinking of the Hong Kong action movies while I was watching this. True, those movies were well-polished and violent at the same time but "palaban" is just a down and dirty action film that pulls no punches with the graphic violence,graphic rape and nudity, foul language and the overall "theme" which cannot be described but rather felt.All the elements of a standard Pinoy flick are here: main hero,leading lady,bad guy,love triangle and even the traditional pinoy sexual jokes. If you have seen that in a pinoy flick and decided to avoid this one, then please don't. his movie spares no one for women and children are periodically shot and killed,blood sprays graphically when the good guys are shot, the rape of a character you would never expect to be raped and of course the infamously brutal and sadistic murder which left my mouth open for a month. It's no John Woo but its worth watching.the film's violence seems to be perfectly suited to the place,portraying manila as a place of suffering and perversity: a place where whores run around for cheap sex and the streets as the home of dumb, uneducated, criminals who have an insatiable appetite for rape and murder.
Recommended for those who love Sam Peckinpah's films and for those who loved "Running Scared"
