What was for me the most amazing scene in the entire film was how the image of the famous Spoliarium, painted by Luna’s brother Juan, was interwoven with Luna’s death scene, creating a tidal wave of impact that resonated with me long after the movie was over-the scene was tragic yet beautiful. His fighting spirit could not be shaken, and it took at least a dozen cowardly men (led by one captain who was embarrassed by the general in front of his own men because of his failure to comply with the general’s orders) to finally bring him down. How the general continued to get up despite his wounds was at the same time inspiring and painful to watch. It’s definitely something else to actually see things happen than just read or hear about it in the classroom. When the time came for this part in the film, I broke into tears. Which leads us to think about how heroes are not perfect beings with abilities beyond comprehension, but simply humans who stick by their convictions and act upon them.Īrmed with the little knowledge I had retained from Philippine history classes some 15 years ago or so, I knew General Luna would meet his tragic end eventually, though I could not recall how or who would seal his fate. While it is known that Luna was a strong, brash character who was a stickler for discipline, we also see him as a lover, as a son, a brother, a friend, a man with worries, a man who makes mistakes, a man who was flawed-we see him as, well, human.
In the film, we see a side of our heroes rarely talked about in our school text books (that quite often put all our heroes on pedestals one way or another). It’s so sad that we can see how these are present even today, where we care only about ourselves and think we can break rules just because we can get away with it.īut first let me talk about General Antonio Luna, who was played magnificently by John Arcilla. We see selfishness, lack of accountability, arrogance, sensitivity that leads to holding grudges and revenge on our fellow people. We see the complete lack of discipline of the Filipino people. In the film, we see the all too familiar politics that we currently despise, where those who are well-connected and/or have money are favored.
That despite our heroes’ efforts to fight for our country, we haven’t really learned. With the parallels the film draws with present-day Philippines, it’s not easy swallowing that bitter pill of reality. It may have been just a slice of our country’s history, but it really does speak volumes about what our people were like-what our people are like. I kept the radio off on my drive home after seeing the film for some quiet contemplation about it. It was beautifully made, and is the kind of movie that really makes one think well after the credits start rolling. The film stirred in me a lot of emotions. The story-telling was wonderfully done, which I feel further adds to my newfound appreciation of Philippine history. Visually, the film appealed to the photographer side of me, but that’s just one part of the movie that I enjoyed. There were a number of scenes that made me mutter quietly, “ Ang gandaaaaaaaaa~” (English: “Beautiful!”), the ambush scene (which I mention a few paragraphs down) and the above-posted photo included. I could probably harp on about the excellent photography and cinematography. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, being an alumnus of our state university, but it’s better late than never, I guess? (I suppose teachers thought our young minds were not mature enough to fully understand or deal with the violence behind it all.) It was only fairly recently, maybe a year or two ago, that I had a much better appreciation of Philippine history. I blame the school system of having us endlessly memorize all these names and dates and numbers, with very little focus on us understanding the meaning behind what happened in the past. I was never a fan of history class when I was in elementary, and I might have hated it at some point. I wasn’t able to catch it until two nights ago (because many were claiming that the movie was on its last day of showing), and I’m left awe-struck, to say the least. Last week, the film Heneral Luna by Jerrold Tarog was released in cinemas around the metro. (Image from the Heneral Luna website, and one of my favorite establishing shots in the film.)