Evolution of a Filipino Family

Slappy McGee

Epic storytelling. Diaz builds his story piece by delicate piece. Sure, there are moments that could have been edited down quite a bit, but there's something about letting those silent moments slowly unwind that pulls you into the frame and thus into the world. Also, in these static shots, Diaz has a unique talent for putting his camera in great spots. Pretty strong compositions throughout. It's very captivating.

John Woodall

Where to even begin with this. Watching this was absolutely exhausting for me in both a physical and emotional way. Despite that I can easily say it's one of the best films I have ever seen. The incredible length of this film is never used as a gimmick, instead it's used to tell a story that really couldn't be effectively told any other way. Tragic yet beautiful in a way that is brutally human in nature.

El Biffo

The 617 minute runtime isn't nearly as grueling as the subject matter, and the real-time style of showing the anguish, desperation and struggle: struggle to resist, struggle to survive.

FilmEdie

Immersive; felt like watching a novel (in which context, the 10+ hours seems a perfectly reasonable length of time). A poor family's (people's) impotence in the face of wider social forces. Form, style, tone, embodying their understated determination. Persistence, futility, pathos, endurance, built up over the course of hours, to something inescapable, relatable, brutal. A remarkable work. Worth giving in to.

Jason

Well, everything is different now. Everything. I took three breaks (totaling about an hour) but I watched it basically in one sitting. I am walking on clouds. I feel like my cells have been altered. The evolution of a family, sure, but such a staggering encapsulation of national identity. My God! I've never experienced anything comparable (and this is my third Lav Diaz). I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST EXPERIENCED!

Eric Rucker

I didn't think I was gonna like it much, even at three hours in. And at seven hours when I was definitely into it, I did not anticipate I would like it anywhere near as much as I did at the end. Operated in ways no other movie I've seen has. Each shot worked like space in a drawing, where time was flattened out and still and endless—and endlessly present. Somebody somewhere called it an "intimate epic"—so right!

Stefan Drees

The work of Lav Diaz is exceptionial. In the beginning the slowness of his narration may be unusual, but if you get accustomed with this tempo the act of watching becomes a kind of addiction and you don't realize how the time passes by.

Nadin

What a stunning piece! It truly foreshadows Diaz's remarkable vision of cinema. You can find more thoughts on the film on my website. http://tinyurl.com/kke7evo