The camera work is indeed great (there’s an even longer single-take shot in “Foster Child”, which you should also see). Speaking of camera work (and how it reflected their frenetic lives), I was reminded, in contrast, of how Lav Diaz’s “Evolution of a Filipino Family” does deal with the urban and rural poor as well, except that — as can be expected from its ten and a half hour running time — very little happens. Much of their lives is spent waiting for jeepneys that never arrive.

Which is an awful thing to say but Tirador doesn’t give me one good thing to hold on to and say “Ok, these are people who are just trying to get by and life/politics/the City get in the way.” Instead I’m given, “Not only are poor people bad, but they do everything they can to make their situation even worse and there is no sense in trying to save them.”

On the flip side, I am appreciating how the narrative revolves around Quiapo itself and not any one person in particular and how this is rendered with Mendoza’s insanely long and intricate single take shots in (what I’m assuming) is Quiapo. One take in particular started on one story line, went down through the building, follows a basketball game, then deftly starts off a new story line and without a hitch.

If this had been the story of at least one family, one crew of Jammers (that’s the name for Flip B-boys, right?), even if it all at least happened in one day, it might have let me take a deeper look into the systematic poverty of Quiapo and walked away caring a bit more for it as not just a slum but as a real home to real folks.