Norte, the End of History

Norte, the End of History (Tagalog: Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan) is a 2013 Philippine psychological drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Lav Diaz. Lasting for more than four hours, the film explores themes of crime, class, and family.

Screened at the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, the main slate of 2013 New York Film Festival, and the Masters section of the 2013 San Diego Asian Film Festival, the film has received wide acclaim for its riveting storytelling and unique cinematography. The film also won four awards including Best Picture and Best Actress at the 2014 Gawad Urian Awards.

The film had a limited release in the Philippines on March 11, 2014, and its wide theatrical release on September 10, 2014. It was selected as the Filipino entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

Plot

The lives of three people take a turn when one of them commits a crime.

Joaquin (Archie Alemania) is failing miserably at providing for his family. When Joaquin's money lender gets murdered by a disillusioned law student, Fabian (Sid Lucero), the crime is pinned on him. In prison, he is transformed by misery and solitude.

Left to fend for the family, his wife Eliza (Angeli Bayani) pours all of her strength into battling with despair as she ekes out a living for their children.

The real perpetrator, Fabian, roams free. His disillusionment with his country—its history of revolutions marred by betrayal and crimes unpunished—drives him to the edge of insanity.

Cast

Sid Lucero as Fabian
Angeli Bayani as Eliza
Archie Alemania as Joaquin
Angelina Kanapi as Hoda
Soliman Cruz as Wakwak
Hazel Orencio as Ading
Mae Paner as Magda

Reception

Critical reception

Norte, the End of History received critical acclaim upon its release. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 41 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Its four-hour length is undeniably imposing, but Norte, the End of History rewards patient viewers with an absorbing, visually expansive viewing experience." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

A.O. Scott of New York Times writes, "More than four hours long, filmed in expansive takes with almost no close-ups and very few camera movements, Lav Diaz's "Norte, the End of History" is a tour de force of slow cinema. It is the work of a director as fascinated by decency as by ugliness, and able to present the chaos of life in a series of pictures that are at once luminously clear and endlessly mysterious."

Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter gave an underwhelming review by saying, "There's little in the way of genuine depth, complexity or nuance here, Diaz instead seeks to convey the illusion of profundity by having various characters throw around weighty social and philosophical verbiage in thuddingly sophomoric fashion."

At the end of 2013, British magazine Sight & Sound listed Norte as one of the Top 10 films of 2013, tying for the ninth spot with the French film Stranger by the Lake. The film also was chosen by the International Cinephile Society Awards 2014 as one of the Best Films not released in 2013. Norte was also ranked at #15 at Film Comment's Top 20 Best Films of 2014.