Close Up

17 - 31 December 2023: Norte, the End of History

norte-the-end-of-history-lav-diaz-2.jpg

Norte, the End of History
Lav Diaz, 2013, 250 min

“The vicious murder of a pawnbroker lies at the heart of Diaz’s film. An overt reference to Crime and Punishment, the murder also proves the link between Norte’s two protagonists: a cynical university student and an impoverished street peddler. In colour and running only four hours, Norte is somewhat of a departure from Diaz’s other recent work; nevertheless, the filmmaker remains as bristling with outrage as ever at the moral bankruptcy that sprouts from the political disarray of the Philippines, past and present. Even at a shorter length, Diaz’s mix of everyday episodes, moments of tenderness, off-screen events and sudden cataclysm startles and arrests.” – Harvard Film Archive


Part of our Histoire(s) du cinéma series