Batch '81 (1982)

Fresh and Exciting

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film seems low budget but the acting and the story are at a high caliber. Definitely one of the good classic movies of the PH islands.

Batch '81 is a film about seven neophytes who undergo six months of physical initiation and suffering mental humiliation as they seek acceptance into a fraternity known as Alpha Kappa Omega or AKO.They go through this ordeal under the elder frat members whom they call "masters". The story is told from the perspective of one of the neophytes,Sid Lucero,who was portrayed by Mark Gil.Veteran Filipino director Mike De Leon is at helm for this feature.This is one of the most important films in Filipino cinema.At the time it was shown,the movie reveals the ill effects of joining and participating in fraternity activities especially to the lives of the students.In it,we get to see the physical pain and mental anguish experienced by the neophytes while trying to gain acceptance from their so-called "masters".Added to that,we also get to see how it severely affects their lives outside fraternity activities such as their personal relationships with both parents and their girlfriends as well as their academic activities.In Sid Lucero and his co-neophytes,we get to realize their lack of self-confidence and hunger for both friendship and brotherhood which serves as their motivation to get into these fraternities.Furthermore,the viewer realizes that these neophytes get more into harm rather than good as these fraternities serves as a catalyst in their participation in gang violence and possibly committing acts of murder.Mike De Leon definitely opens the eyes of the viewers about what fraternities are all about and tries to inform them of what they really are all about especially during its popularity in the Philippines back in the 70's and the 80's.Aside from that,it also serves as an allegory of the condition of the Filipinos especially during the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos and the Martial Law years as it provides the Filipinos' psyche and condition during those times. This is definitely one of the best films ever released in the Philippines.

De Leon uses the fraternity as a symbol of fascism. The hazing rituals, demoralization, torture and militarism all cover the imposition of the mighty few against individual rights of the hapless ones. The violent rumble at the end captures the fanaticism of the subjects working for the goal of attaining the ultimate high - power. Strong, very powerful, a work of great political understanding from Mike de Leon.