The Madonna and the Dragon (1990)
AKA Tinikling
Starring Jennifer Beals, Luc Merenda, Patrick Bauchau, Behn Cervantes, Pilar Pilapil, Christa Lang, Reginald Singh, Alfredo De la Fuente, Antony Tan, Dodie Lacuna, Chabeng Contreras, Nanding Josef, Ray Ventura, Ernie Zarate, Samuel Fuller
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Expectations: Low.
The Madonna and the Dragon is the final feature-length film to come from director Sam Fuller, and it’s also the first of his films since White Dog to feel like a Fuller film throughout. Produced for French TV, it’s not generally included in his filmography for some reason — even the list of his works in his own autobiography leaves it off — but it’s definitely a worthwhile film that should be seen by Fuller fans. It combines many of Fuller’s noted trademarks into one movie: the streetwise kid, social commentary, stock footage used to lend credibility and realism to the film, journalism, etc.
The Madonna and the Dragon is set around the People Power Revolution that happened in the mid-’80s in the Philippines. During this time in their history, the Filipino people rose up in revolution against the authoritarian government that had been oppressing them for the last 20 or so years. Fuller’s film focuses on a pair of photo journalists hoping to capture some great images of the revolution. They find themselves in a world of poverty, where kids ride garbage trucks to scavenge whatever they can find, and everyone is potentially double-crossing you behind your back.