When Lino Brocka died in a car accident last spring, thousands of people filled the streets of Manila to mourn the death of the Philippines' most beloved and internationally respected director. Brocka possessed a brilliant and singular talent which managed to find a balance between "commercial" and "serious" filmmaking, churning out the former to finance the latter. Though he never considered himself a political figure, Brocka was an ardent and outspoken defender of human rights. Dirty Affair is a romantic melodrama that harshly denounces a political system. Rachel, a movie star, is the mistress of a powerful and corrupt man who arranges the release of her old boyfriend from jail. In exchange for freedom, the young man becomes embroiled in a deadly political intrigue that compels Rachel to re-examine her world. This is Brocka at his best: energetic, essential, urgent. --Marie-Pierre Macia