Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon and the Loss of Innocence

By Miguel Cruz

The movie’s central theme is about the loss of innocence. The main character Nicolas is played by a young Christopher De Leon. I must confess he looks completely different, and I don’t recognize him. The man really glammed up over the years, and I am impressed.

He is an innocent teenager at the start of the film, but as the film progresses, Nicolas is confronted by life’s hardships and is forced to change. The film is a stylized recreation of the time when we were under Spanish rule. I recommend this film for the beautiful areas they show as well as the character writing and development.

The film starts with the death of Nicolas’s parent. As a young man is forced to fend for himself and is no good at it as he burns his house down by accident. This event forces Nicolas to go on an adventure to get a new home. On his travels, he encounters a Priest who gives him a mission to bring his son to the capital Manila to give him a better life.

Nicolas then sets out on an adventure in the countryside to find Bindoy the priest’s son, and bring him to his new home. Bindoy and Kulas experience many things together. They find themselves in the middle of a bandit raid, they meet actors and actresses, and finally, they ride on a boat with the Chinese to get to Manila.

Nicolas eventually reaches Manila and brings Bindoy to his new home. To his surprise, he gets rewarded with a big fancy house and an abundance of possessions. Bindoy has to go to an exclusive boarding school to ready him for Spain in the future. He is separated from Nicolas, and it upsets him, but life goes on.

The teenage farmer now lives a rich man’s life with money and a huge house. As time goes on, he then gets to experience the darker parts of society. He meets a cast of colorful characters that teach him different lessons. The gold-digging Diding teaches him how some people just want to use him for what he has. Don Tibor teaches Nicolas to fight for himself in valorous duel. Nicolas also witnesses a murder of a guard by a rebel.

Finally, he gets thrown in prison framed because he refused to identify a criminal. He escapes the prison with the help of a prisoner he befriended and meets up with the Chinese man again. The Chinese man offers to get them away from the soldiers, but fighting breaks out. The rebels attack the Spaniards and liberate the area. Nicolas and the Chinese man are forced to fight, but the Chinese man is mortally wounded.

After the liberation of the Philippines from Spanish rule, Nicolas realizes that even with all the wealth he had, it didn’t make him any happier. He decides to go back to the beginning and wonder the country again to have new adventures. He says goodbye to Bindoy and sets out to leave the city.

I hated this part. I wish he did not abandon the boy. I wanted the two of them to stay together and maybe make it to Spain with Nicolas and Bindoy becoming father and son. Nicolas finds children in a field and tells them that no matter what anyone says they are Filipino.

He wanders off to the woods, just like the start of the story. I can relate to why he did that because of all his experiences, and the loss of innocence he faced became too much. The man just wanted a return to simplicity. I just wish he did not abandon the boy.