“Bayan o Sarili?

For the past few days I’ve been contemplating on what Filipino movie will I write a
review about? There are many choices to choose from but I chose my all-time favorite
Filipino movie General Luna. General Luna is not just any typical average Independence
Day movie it’s more than that. It’s a tale on how a contradict voice can get swooned
and infinitely crumble under a surge of raging egos and inner agendas. It’s also about a
man who’s dedicated to fight for the country’s freedom and he will do whatever it takes
even though it takes away his life from him. General Luna takes a diverse approach in
telling the story on how we failed to fight for our freedom and let the Americans occupy
our country. The movie focuses on the tension or violence between our so-called Filipino
founding fathers. The movie purposely puts the colonizers in the brink, making them a
background whose presence made the plot twist

Set in the backdrop where the Americans are trying to conquer our motherland
and where General Luna along with our soldiers are fighting for our freedom against the
Americans and our egotistic politicians that only think of themselves. The General
encountered many problems in giving orders to his fellow generals because of the way
he controls his power. The see him as an air headed general who’s crazy for power and
they decline to follow his orders because he is not the president of the country. The
Character of General Luna represented by John Arcilla made a big impact on me
because of his outstanding performance in portraying his character. You might see
General Luna as an average hero who wants to save his country and unite the people
from our despicable colonizers but no his character is indeed ferociously brave and filled
with passion but there is a lack of unity among the people in our country but there is when
it comes to their personal agendas and politics. Mon Confiado also known as Emilio
Aguinaldo gave me confusion to his stand as a president of our country he seems to have
his own hidden agenda to protect his crimes that he doesn’t want the countrymen to
know. Arron Villaflor also known as Joven Fernando gave me an impression that he
represents us Filipinos whose eager to know what is really the situation during the time
when the Americans are trying to conquer our land. Epi Quizon also known as Emilio
Aguinaldo did not really gave me an impact maybe because of how he portrayed his
character but even though he did not make such impact on me his stand is he wants all
of the people to unite and not fight especially the ones who has a high rank in the
government that is closed minded due to their raging egos and personal agendas. Paulo
Avelino as Gregorio Del Pilar, Joem Bascon as Paco Roman, Archie Alemania as Eduardo
Rusca, Arthur Arcuna as Manuel Bernal and Alex Vincent Medina as Jose Bernal these
characters left an outstanding impression on me because for me they represent the
soldiers of our country who fought for us even if it costs their lives and they have shown
great bravery.

The message of the film is about us Filipinos realizing that the Americans is not really
the enemy but ourselves because some Filipinos are closed minded and are only thinking
of their own well-being and it results to misunderstandings and fights that causes chaos
with each other. Also results to loss of unity amongst our countrymen and without unity
we cannot win the war we are set to fight and in the end it causes many loss of lives and
the loss of freedom to the Americans. I learned that unity is needed to achieve freedom
and we need to set aside our personal agendas in order for us to achieve unity with each
other. The scene that really struck me the most is when General Luna was killed mercilessly
just because of his stand to fight for the country’s freedom in his own way that pissed off
some people in the government. Some say that it was President Aguinaldo’s order to kill
General Luna but it was not proven and that it was his doing and some parts that I disliked
about the movie is some of the language that is used throughout the movie because
some people might adapt to it and that kind of language is not really appropriate.

This movie is R-13, a rating which shows more of a teen-adult audience due to some
of the scenes and the language used in the movie. This movie is also for people who are
historians and people who are engrossed in learning about the history of our country. This
movie is certainly for students and for everyone with an exception for kids below 13 years
old. I would highly recommend this movie to other people because this movie is not just
outstanding and amazingly crafted but also you can learn a lot about the history of our
very own motherland.

SCALE OF 1-5:

14

Carmela Marie D. Dolot

10-St.Irene