Twilight Dancers offers a disturbing yet humorous look at the country's (Philippines) social realities through the eyes of three macho dancers or male strippers. One of them is Dwight, young and at the peak of his trade who loses the girl he loves to a politician's son. Then there's Alfred, who at age 28, is past his prime and is kicked out of the club. Finally there's Bert, 30, who has long since given up dancing and is now the bodyguard-driver of a corrupt businesswoman. But Bert's boss, Madame Loca, manipulates the events that push the three dancers to fight for survival, and to finally confront issues of love, friendship and betrayal. Adding to these conflicts are a deaf-mute wife who refuses to go back to her macho dancer husband; a director who keeps promising stardom to a male dancer; a transvestite performer who fakes being a virgin; a tyrannical mayor who cross-dresses at his birthday party; and a union leader who gets shot by an assassin in broad daylight. But as their club's manager Taurus always says, they are only here to serve the carnal desires of men. The show has to go on. Twilight Dancers stars Cherry Pie Picache, Allen Dizon, Lauren Novero, William Martinez, Ana Capri, Joel Lamangan, Glaiza De Castro, J.E. Sison, IC Mendoza and Tyron Perez. It is the last installment in the trilogy of "Macho Dancers" films from award-winning writer Ricky Lee and renowned director Mel Chionglo. The first two films, "Sibak: Midnight Dancers" (1994) were premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and sold internationally.
A**D
A Good Movie With a Sad Ending
This is a good movie Again, as I have found in so many of the gay Philippine movies, it is a dark movie about the lives of "Macho Dancers" The nasty in this film is Madame Loca (Cherry Pie Picache) who is a conniving, deceitful person who will use anyone or anything to get what she wants. She also has a quirk in that she like to shoot off firearms when she is having an orgasm. The story line is about a young man named Dwight (Tyron Perez) who after he leaves the orphanage goes to Manila where he is befriended by Alfred (Allen Dixon) who gets him a job as a "Macho Dancer" in a gay bar which offers "extras: for a price. I need not have to explain what the extras consist of, do I? . Alfred has also in the past beaten his wife who has left him and taken their child and he wants them back. Because of this he wants to leave the bar scene and get a job that pays without the sex. He finds that hard to do. Dwight is innocent to the ways of the world and wants to earn enough money to go to Japan to get a good paying job.so he can return and open a small business. Madame Loca seizes on him and seduces him into her fold. He asks her for the money to go to Japan which she offers if only he will so a "small job" for her. The job is supposed to be smuggling. Remember I said supposed to be smuggling. Meanwhile Alfred is out of work and also need cash. Derek gets Alfred in with Madame Lora on this job. I will only say that there are no heroes in this film and the ending is a sad one and you can really feel for Dwight who because of his innocence loses. The photography is good. The actors are good. The storyline is good. The idea of every other scene being the dancers oh dark stage is great. There is some frontal nudity I would recommend this film and give it 5 stars
A**R
Asian preferred movie
An Asian type of movie - actually for someone who likes Asian movies it would be great maybe but the perception of nudity and social scenes and body types are SO DIFFERENT that you need to label these ASIAN and keep them in another area for those of us who prefer Asian type of movies
S**N
This film is for mature adults with opened mind and good attitudes
This movie is excellent in showing the hardship that many Filipinos endure for the sake of survival. Excellent actors and actress for given roles along with very good script that is well worth your time. Of course, this is made for mature adults with opened mind. The actors are so handsome that both men and women will wish to scream in excitement in seeing Filipino dancers' awesome ability to dance so well to seduce lovers.I like the background music for different scenes. Empathy and understandings with opened mind are essential to have so to fully enjoy this outstanding film! This is the film that I would watch again.
B**N
Lacks Virtue
If one is watching this because it's a gay movie, you may want to reconsider. Their is gay sex but it's between someone that wants it and someone that wants money. Their is a little bit of nudity too. It's clear that the main characters in this film are straight men, even if they're not. Their are not subtle hints or revelation in regards to homosexuality, except with a few minor characters. The lighting was dark and I almost fell asleep, even though I had slept a lot and was wide awake when it started. It moved at a slow place and seemed to end prematurely, even though it felt like a 3 hour movie.I'm not a film critic nor do I use reviews to determine whether I should watch a movie or not. I have seen many, many gay movies; this can hardly be classified as one. This is not the reason I give it two stars. I'm not sure whether the film was intended to make the audience uncomfortable or not but my impression is that this movie was made to serve as a warning to people that have a "questionable" livelihood. If you want to feel their is little hope of getting out of a bad situation, this movie is for you.I can't say if the acting was good or bad. What I can say is that nearly every character was clearly suffering and their solution was to get more money. Money, depending on how you get it, doesn't always get you out of a bad situation. Dancing, acting or politics seem to goal for these guys; for the main character Japan was the solution. None of them really seemed to want to change themselves from the inside and became a sponge for the seedy environment they wanted to escape. The ending was left open, unfortunately, showing the audience that this cycle will continue until someone else dies or goes to jail.These dancers reflect the state of their community. At a higher level their is corruption and everything under them suffers as well. Perhaps it's a political message, having homoerotic dance numbers blurs the message if it is. I am just under the impression, after watching this movie, that the Philippines is a very corrupt, dangerous place to live where (even with the presence of very devout Christians) everyone essentially fights to survive or maintain power. Still, they're fighting leaving little pieces uncontaminated but wounded from neglect. What the customers are looking for at this bar is an escape from such but the dancers a covered in it.It's a sad, dark movie that presents a world with hopes to change but caught in an endless cycle of suffering. I prefer to watch movies that have a holistic approach, offering a variety of traits we have as individuals and as societies. This movie lacks a protagonist or even any signs of reprieve from the suffering it portrays.
S**D
dark twilight
Another movie about the male strippers in the Philippines, Twilight Dancers is even more homoerotic than the others (Midnight and Macho). It is also a darker film, offering no hope for goodness, kindness, or right to succeed. There is an "evil woman" here who will make your blood run cold; and she gets all she wants. By the end she has even corrupted the young (cute) dancer who would have been the hero. The only counterbalance to the pessimism is the eroticism of the dancers, which is even "hotter" than in the other two "Dancer" films. If you can handle the extreme melodrama of Philippine movies in general, and you liked the other two, you should enjoy this one. Gay viewers should not fail to watch the extras.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
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