Ulf Kjell Gür Niemand bleibt hier. Who said that? A narrator in images widening the knowledge of the other side of the world. Incredible suction and depth in some pictures. Deeply related with Andrei Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr. And Jacques Tati? But most of the time the images co-exist with a story. Sometimes even words. And expressions. Lav Diaz fumbles in terms of dialogue and instruction of actors. Sometimes it slips into the conventional.

willwoodmill There was a lot of hype for Norte: The End of History before it was released, it went from film festival to film festival winning tons of awards and be praised as one of the greatest films of the past few years. And when it was finally released to more "general audiences," they were split on it. And in Norte's defense, there are few films that could live up to that much hype. Norte: The End of History follows two different protagonists one of them being Fabian (played by Sid Lucerio) a brilliant Pilipino law student who is disgusted by the world, and believes himself to be sort of an übermensch. And the other being Joaquin (played by Archie Alemania) a poor lower class worker, who is just trying to provide for his family. The only thing that links these two characters together is that they both use the same money-lender. One day Fabian decides that he is done with his petty life of having pretentious arguments with his snobbish friends and decides to cut of all relationships with them, and he also decides to kill his money-lender, as both an act to show his dominance and to clear his debt. The money-lender's death is then pinned on Joaquin, who is sentenced to prison with no hope of ever leaving.Lav Diaz, the director of Norte, was very clearly inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment when he made Norte. Except Lav Diaz takes a much darker and more nihilistic approach to the story. Lav Diaz's films are infamous for their massive length and slow pace. Norte tells a story, that would be told in 2 hours if handled by a more "normal" director, in over 4 hours. So if you're someone who has trouble sitting through long films, Norte might not be for you. And I won't lie even as someone who is familiar with longer films and slower films, there were still parts in Norte that felt like they were going on for too long, and I think it would be better if Lav Diaz did cut back on the films length or quicken its pace. There are some scenes that I think are paced perfectly, like the murder scene and the climax, but there's a lot of stuff in the middle that just feels very unimportant and is really just bloating the run-time.Even though there is very little in terms of graphic content shown on screen in Norte, it still manages to be one of the most shocking and dark films to come out of the past few years, all on the merit of the film's characters and their twisted view on morality. As you're watching the film you can't help but wonder, what was going Diaz's mind when he made it. All of the actors do excellent jobs in there roles especially Sid Lucerio, who unfortunately hasn't been in anything else of note, yet. The cinematography is also really good. Larry Manda, the cinematographer does a great job of portraying the slums of the Philippines as a desolate hellish landscape of sin and torment. And the last 45 minutes of Norte are executed perfectly. If you're someone who doesn't mind long run-times and slow pacing, then I would highly recommend Norte: The End of History to you.7.6/10

dipesh parmar Lav Diaz's 'Norte, The End of History' is set in the northwest region of the Philippines. This drama is split between the lives of two men, Fabian (Sid Lucerio) and Joaquin (Archie Alemania), whose lives intertwine unexpectedly.Fabian is a smug, self-absorbed man of privilege in his early thirties, a once gifted law student who dropped out for reasons unknown. He spends his time annoying his friends with his ill-conceived lectures on the defining theories of humanity. Joaquin is a poor man, who has a wife Eliza (Angeli Bayani) and two children. A serious leg injury wipes out their hard-earned savings.Loosely based on Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment', these two men have one thing in common, both are in serious arrears to local money lender Magda (Mae Paner). Both men take matters into their own hands, with differing consequences. Fabian flees, Joaquin is sent to prison. Over the next four years, Joaquin tries to make the best of a horrible situation, whilst Eliza struggles to provide for her children. Fabian is consumed by guilt, driven to the point of madness.Diaz looks at how the people of the Philippines have coped with their changing economical circumstances, people who have grown up in a dysfunctional country where they are encouraged to work outside of the country to make more money. Fabian rages against the memory of his parents being absent, and of being brought up by his maid. Joaquin and Eliza wanted to avoid this, they didn't want their children to be without their parents, however poor this would make them. Its a balancing act we all face, we gain one at the expense of another. Which is more important?Diaz is renowned for extremely long films, some for over 6 hours, 'Norte, The End of History' is only 250 minutes long! He favours long takes and slow tracking shots, illustrating the slow and monotonous rhythms of life. Its beautifully filmed, interspersed with some superb drama from an excellent cast are huge swathes of emptiness, especially in the second and third hour. The final hour is cruel and deeply disturbing, but the overall impact of these tragic moments of devastation are weakened by the preceding stretches of nothing.'Norte, The End of History' is an ambitious film, by a fascinating director. Its a shame your patience wasn't tested to such extremes, as such this film is only for the most dedicated viewer. Sometimes, a film is just too long for its own good.

3xHCCH Finally! Today, I can now say that I have seen a Lav Diaz film. Since his multi-awarded "Batang West Side" in 2001, Mr. Diaz has built a name directing artistic opuses that run much much longer than usual feature films, usually more than five hours. His longest was "Evolution of a Filipino Family" in 2004, which clocked at a whopping 11 and a half hours! Running for about 4 hours, "Norte" is fondly referred to as Mr. Diaz's "short" film, and therefore the most accessible of all his films."Norte" is set in the northern province of Ilocos Norte. Fabian Viduya (Sid Lucero) was a topnotch law student who quit law school because of his highfalutin philosophical ideas of a society beyond existentialism and anarchy. Joaquin (Archie Alemania) and Eliza (Agnes Bayani) were a poor couple whose dreams of building their own eatery business are dashed when Joaquin suffers a leg injury and they fell deep into debt. The fates of these three people intersected when a heinous crime was committed in their small town. Since then, these three lives were thrown into a major maelstrom. These events happened in just in the first hour, the rest of the next three hours follows what happens to each of these three characters following that cruelly fateful day.I will not pretend and say that I did not feel the four hours. I did feel the length of the film with those static shots that seemed to be showing nothing in particular or the very slow telling of events with several details that seemed like they would have been edited out in usual film. However, each of these scenes would usually precede a scene of big importance, building up the suspense very effectively.If we complain that there is no character development in mainstream film, in this film, there is not shortage of that. We will get to see how the events shaped Fabian, Joaquin and Eliza as they were caught in their consequences. However, for a super-complex character like Fabian, the four hours was not even enough to get to know his innermost core that drove him to do the things he did. Fabian is a big question mark up to his very last scene.Sid Lucero got wrung through the wringer for his role as Fabian. You'll admire him. You'll pity him. You'll hate him. This is such a complex role and Lucero was more than up to the task. "Norte" is his film. It was his actions that throw the other characters' lives around. Angeli Bayani has taken over roles that would probably been given to younger Ms. Nora Aunor. Even if her character barely talked, it was her eyes, her face that talked to us. Her scenes with Archie Alemania are tearjerkers without words nor music to build up the moment. Her back was even turned to us. Yet the emotion was so deeply felt. There was also that scene where she was walking with her kids at the crossroads, and following that, a scene with her kids over a ledge -- she can really convey tension that her director requires.Archie Alemania's character development was rather straight-forward and he played the character very sympathetically. Mae Paner was the usurer Magda, such a hateful character you will feel her effect even if she was only seen in the first hour. Soliman Cruz was another hateful character Wakwak seen in the third hour. That scene where he was singing "O Holy Night" was so insidiously sinister.This film is not for everyone. Not everyone will have the patience for it. Not everyone will have the time for it. However, for those who do invest their time with this, you will see that this was a film of artistic excellence. The innovative camera angles make mundane household items and rustic scenes look and feel different. This could be your best chance to watch a Lav Diaz film and immerse yourself in the work of a director whose name is already lined up with National Artists for film Brocka and Bernal.