Heneral Luna

A movie critique by: Ainah Moryne L.Sagun

Heneral Luna is a rare movie that will awaken your patriotism towards your country.
Also, it is a movie that is worth watching because its message will truly bring you to the past
experiences of Heneral Antonio Luna.

Personally, I am not a fan of watching historical movies like Heneral Luna seeing that
some of the stories may be biased or the author may changed some scenes that would changed
the real story behind. But after watching this, I am able to claim that Heneral Luna is different. It
is about knowing that the real battle is inside us. In spite of the fact that we see a war between the
Philippine and American army attacking each other, this may be considered as a secondary
concern of the author. With that, we can say that this movie is portrayed very fascinating.

In the movie, Heneral Antonio Luna was not introduced as a hero without flaws or
imperfections. The director and the author portray him as someone who will do anything and is
not afraid to face battles for the sake of the independence of the country. Seeing this, I could
conclude that the author wants us to know what the real meaning of patriotism is. Where being
brave, selfless and courageous is well presented by Heneral Luna which was portrayed by John
Arcilla. But as seen in the movie, the administration lack in unity that lead him to face more
terrifying battles even with his countrymen.

The movie makes it more appealing to me because the scenarios somehow convinced me
of what really happened during those times – their characteristics, love for the country and the
likes. In fact, Heneral Luna is not a boring historical movie which makes every viewer interested
about it.

Also, the movie is so interesting in a way the author blended humor and war which made
me quite surprised. Some of the remarkable lines for me of Luna are, “Negosyo o kalayaan,
Bayan o sarili, Pumili ka!” and “Ang Pilipino inuuna ang pamilya kaysa sa bayan.” Which is
true and that is the reason why up to now, we are enslaved because of our personal interest over
love for the country.

To sum up, I am really impressed on what the movie had shown. From the filmmakers, to
the actors who really portrayed very well, to the props, style and perspective, it is indeed a head
turner for me. Truly, they caught the attention of those who are non-lovers of historical movie like
me. Despite of that I am a bit disappointed of how the movie ended. It made me think of the toxic
Filipino culture which is crab mentality and it made me feel more disappointed. You see, his
fellow countrymen killing a great leader just to secure their position? Sadly we are still on same
track, we never learn. Also, as stated by the president in the movie, the death of General Antonio
Luna is a great loss for us Filipinos seeing that only he has the capability to lead us to freedom.
The time when he was put to death it seems that they also took away the hope for the freedom of
the Philippines during that time. If we really understand the context, it will serve as an eye opener.
Finally, Heneral Luna directed by Jerrold Tarog is one of the best Filipino movies ever made.