Movies
Unpopular reasons to watch the most talked about Pinoy film, ‘Heneral Luna’
Finally, a truly satisfying mainstream Filipino movie actually worth paying to see in the cinema.
“Finally, a truly satisfying mainstream Filipino flick actually worth paying for to see in the cinema, compared to the endless, romance, comedy, romantic-comedy flicks our local film studios have been churning out for the past decades.” ★★★★☆ — By Karl B. Briguera
It has been years since a Filipino movie of this quality has hit the big screen and caught mainstream attention. Heneral Luna puts into film what historians, millennials, and movie buffs alike strive to see in our local film scene.
Sure enough, the masterpiece by Jerold Tarog will be good enough for anyone willing to see it. The movie wasn’t perfect. There are noticeable lapses and pacing problems throughout the film, but to cut it some slack, I can say with absolute confidence that this is definitely worth your every peso.
Plot-wise the movie is not much of a surprise for Filipino cinema. We’ve see a couple of mediocre historical films and biopics now and then, and honestly, Heneral Luna isn’t that any different when it comes to the plot’s execution.
I won’t spoil anything big about the film’s plot (if you haven’t seen it yet), but just know that it is about a Filipino revolution hero slash anti-hero, a with the name we are all familiar with (Gen. Antonio Luna) and his life, struggles, and demise (Yes, he dies. This is a historical film, keep up!)
Point being, biopics of historical figures don’t have much elbow room to creatively dramatize or fictionalize due to the fact that history’s already written, it just depends which historian you would believe more. But this film is a game-changer in Filipino cinema. Finally, a truly satisfying mainstream Filipino flick actually worth paying for to see in the cinema, compared to the endless, romance, comedy, romantic-comedy flicks our local film studios have been churning out for the past decades.
So here are not-too-mainstream reasons why you should see and appreciate Heneral Luna:
It is the biggest and most expensive film ever made in the Philippines.
With a budget of more than 80-million pesos (1.6M USD), the film can easily overcome the question of it being under-produced or rushed, as with the case of most of local films, even the ones they put out in the biggest, prestigious (used-to-be), cash cow, Metro Manila Film Festival. The film was in production for more than a decade, so imagine all the hard work and time put into making it.
Your opinion matters.
The film has had a reputation of making viewers more opinionated afterwards. This movie was made to be understood. It’s not one of those run of the mill pop culture trash that you’d forget as soon as you walk out of the theater. The people behind making the movie a reality really wanted it to be a work of art with meaningful content and message. These people gave tremendous amounts of effort and money just so this movie would be something different and refreshing.
The movie is pretty much just a really long song. Literally.
The film’s director, Jerold Tarog, who has a degree in Music Composition from the College of Music at the University of the Philippine-Diliman, indicated that he approached Heneral Luna, as with all his other films, from a musical perspective. He revealed that he sometimes even did so literally — using a musical staff to lay out scenes, plotting out the highs and lows with notes corresponding the scenes, and the pitch of the note corresponding to the mood. It’s so artsy, I bet you wouldn’t even notice.
Speaking of artsy, this movie is an artist’s dream.
Visual artists are in for a treat, with its rather unique and captivating cinematography. Almost all the frames and stills used in the film are inspired by paintings from the 1800’s. Pong Ignacio, who is the film’s director of photography, said that he drew inspiration from paintings of the film’s historical period such as Juan Luna’s (the titular character’s brother) Spoliarium. The world renowned painting, painted in 1884 and showcased in a Madrid exposition, was so cleverly depicted and so sublty incorportated in the film. Ignacio also recounts that the scene with the flashback to Luna’s childhood taken with a single long steady cam shot involving an elaborate set piece was the most challenging shot of the film.
Conspiracy conspiracy conspiracy?
From rumors and opinions about the Bonifacio and Luna assassinations to the rather discreet wink towards the affair of Antonia Luna/Ysidra Conguangco conspiracy theories, people who seem to indulge in these kinds of theories will be very satisfied with this film. Although the writers and directors of the film do not clearly state everything they show as fact, they do a pretty competent job of making them rather plausible.
Social relevance.
Tarog admitted they they took many creative liberties with this film to emphasize how important some of its parts are to what kind of message they want to communicate with their audiences. As such, Antonio Luna’s frequent usage of Filipino profanity such as punyeta and putang ina (roughly translated in English as “son of a whore”) in the film in an effort to connect the film to the Filipino millennial generation which was the film’s target audience. Tarog also described the film as an “attempt to identify the ills” of Philippine society, emphasizing that the Filipino’s biggest enemy has been their own selves and not necessarily colonization, and has been a “cycle of betrayal.” The film’s socio-political landscape still unfortunately fits and is still relevant to the present day. This was an eye-opener for the young adults. ■ AH Online / The Culture Review
Watch the trailer here:
(Editor’s Note: This review was first published in AH Vol. IV, Issue 2 on November 2015)
