Lino Brocka, who had just received acclaim for his previous work, "Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang", was approached by De Leon to direct the adaptation. Brocka took this as an opportunity to create a scathing commentary about the urban poverty amidst the Marcos administration, and never hesitated to include his trademark homosexual theme in to the story. Brocka (a homosexual man himself) requested Del Mundo to rework on a few scenes to accommodate such approaches, which were never present in the original source. Other significant revisions were made, such as condensing the structure and adding more dramatic weight to the narrative. “Brocka understood the popular audience well," Del Mundo says. "He suggested additions to the screenplay "The Claws of Light" to make it more commercial. It was fun working with him, although he was quite emotional.”