Season of the Devil

_Season of the Devil_ is a **4-hour** Filipino political musical about Martial Law era Civilian Home Defense Forces in the late 1970s in the Philippines. The movie has _Gone with the Wind_ aspirations but a _Left with the Breeze_ budget. _Season of the Devil_ is all setting with no story, so it feels as though we're watching a series of black and white music videos about cruel soldiers, volunteer doctors, local victims, poet rebels when an armed militia takes over a small, rural village. It is, for all intents and purposes, an a capella opera with no real action, just uncut scenes where a (usually) static camera films people singing while carefully choreographed sitting. The directing is pleasantly professional for a film so indie they couldn't afford musicians. Not only is there no music to any of the songs, there is no music - not even in the background - anywhere in the entire film. Which, you'll agree, is highly unusual for a musical. Overall, _Season of the Devil_ kept my interest because I'd never seen anything like it before, and now I won't have to see anything like it again.