W alang Sugat, which means No Wound or Unwounded in

English, is a 1898 Tagalog-language zarzuela written by a

Filipino writer, playwright, and director of plays, Severino
Reyes, who used the pen name Lola Basyang. A zarzuela is a
a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that includes music, singing,
and poetry. Walang Sugat had been adapted into film twice,
first in 1939 then in 1957. The 1957 version was produced by
LVN Pictures, under the direction of Lamberto V. Avellana.
Among the Filipino actors who participat ed in the 1957 film
adaption included Rosa Aguirre, Miguel Anzures, Tony Dantes,
Joseph de Cordova,Oscar Keesee, Mario Montenegro, Charito
Solis, and Jose Vergara.

Set in the final leg of the Philippines Revolution, Tenyong is

forced to leave behind his childhood sweetheart Julia to join
the Katipunan. Meanwhile, Julia's mother pressures her into
marrying the wealthy Miguel instead. W ith no word from
Tenyong as the battle prolongs, Julia give in, but her wedding
is interrupted by the fatally wounded Tenyong, who returns with
a dying wish. It is considered as one of the Philippine’s
masterpiece. It portrays nationalism and the Filipinos’ love for
their country, and with the subject of the undying love of people
for each other.

I watched the 1939 version, and I expected it to be more of a

film like, but instead I got a stage play. Because I really
thought it’d be a movie, but I deemed it is just a recorded play,
but nonetheless the cinematography is good and the
surroundings and props are decent and friendly which made me
fascinated, also the music on the background was so diverting
to hear. The characters’ acting is pretty well played, but there
were no dialogues, the screen was just showing the characters
acting and doing something. After some time of introduction in
the story, ladies appeared and started singing in Tagalog,
which I can thankfully understand that is why it is so
entertaining to watch because whenever I watch films that I
cannot get the hang of because of the language, I can safely
say that it makes me bored unless the video is really q uite
pleasant, but the way the characters’ voice and their tuned
dialogues combined, sometimes it’s just inaudible, but even so,
the way they were singing was so amazing like they were
professional theater actors with charismatic voice along with
great acting that, of course, would highly catch the attention
of the viewers. In one of the first scene, the ladies and the
protagonist, Julia, moved and moved and danced, and it was
really good and woman like, and when I said womanlike, they
were gentle and frail, unlike today’s women, and it is a sign
that this zarzuela has been over a hundred years around and
that everything has changed, but that doesn’t mean that the
people had a change of heart, because no, we are still Filipinos
who dearly love our country.

When Tenyong was introduced, the ladies started giggling,

and it seemed like they like him. What I have seen is Tenyong
isn’t very much of a handsome man, but I knew from the start
that he’s a loving, respectful man, a sweet one and a young
man who seeks for justice, which led me to the thought that
whatever appearance you have, what matters is the way you
appeal to others, and how you treat people with love and
respect. That is why maybe Julia, the one he loves, like d him
very much to the point where she wouldn’t listen to her
mother’s request to marry Miguel, a young rich man, for her
own good. They were so in love until the time came when
Tenyong had to leave to avenge hi s father’s death through the
hands of the cruel Frailes. This is the scene where it broke my
heart, because imagine being away from someone you love and
knowing that they wouldn’t be safe for sure, especially if it’s
an act of war that his pursuing, but this is also the scene that
is so exciting, because it’s not just a simple goodbye, they
showed their love and made a vow, and in the film, there was
a little musical that was so good and entertaining, along the
musical, these two children appeared before Tenyong and Julia
who started to sing, and they were great even at their young
age, and when I was watching that part I wished that I was as
good as them, and also wondered what they are doing now after
almost a decade prior to the release of this film adaption of
Walang Sugat.

After the dramatic alone time scene of Julia, they showed her
giving Lucas a letter to deliver for Tenyong which Lucas gladly
accepted. Miguel showed up and Lucas kicked him that made
him fall, and this is one of the funniest thing s in the film; I saw
many situations that were hilarious, and that is why I like this
adaption, didn’t get me bored. Miguel courted Julia who
obviously didn’t like him. She directly showed disgust to him,
which made me sad for Miguel. One thing that I noticed is that
Miguel was not so manly at all and acted like a child, unlike
Tenyong who was mature enough to even founded a revolution
for vengeance.

Lucas successfully delivered the letter from Julia to Tenyong.

I was shocked when Tenyong read the letter aloud saying that
his mother passed away after he left for Katipunan, he also
mentioned when he was reading the letter that Julia would be
wedded to Miguel, his rival for love, of course he was so upset
about these bad news he received, and I feel bad for him. The
time went by and there was a battle, and then there Tenyong
was caught in it. The general sent a letter to Julia saying that
Tenyong died in the battle, that he bravely fought in it. After
that, Julia blamed Tenyong for everything that had happened.

She demanded Lucas to help her get away before the wedding
and Lucas refused to do so because he couldn’t. He just gave
her an advice that when the time comes, she should say it out
loud that she didn’t want to marry Miguel, but Juli a didn’t want
to do it because it would disappoint her mother, then Julia went
off. After that there was this funny encounter between Lucas
and the girl she likes. Then their wedding started with this fun
entrance of people singing and dancing. Everyone wa s so
excited and so was I even though I know that Julia and Miguel
weren’t for each other.

My most awaited part is when Julia was finally about to give

in to tie the knot with Miguel, a man announced that Tenyong
is at their location badly wounded. Juan a, Julia’s mother, kept
Julia because she didn’ want her to see him, then Julia
declared her love for Tenyong to everyone. She demanded
Miguel and his father to go away, then there the people started
singing in synchronized with each other “Mabuhay Ka Pilipinas”
which I thought was a good song. The soldiers arrived along
with Tenyong who’s seen to be wounded carried by a cart.
There, Julia hugged him, but Miguel interrupted and asked
when she would be ready for the wedding because they would
be late but Julia replied with a rush answer and funny enough,
Miguel cowardly backed off saying that she was so rude, which
she had been always to Miguel.

They said that Tenyong was already dying so they should call
a pastor. Tenyong finally woke up and sang a f arewell song for
Julia, which after they sang it together. The pastor came and
had made a big announcement, saying that since Tenyong was
about to die sooner anyway, he and Julia should be wedded
together as per Tenyong’s final request. Julia’s mother didn ’t
like the idea but was convinced by her daughter and Miguel
approved it. But before they were married, there was minor
trifle happened between the pastor and the general but was
immediately solved, then the pastor wedded the two together.

I was shocked but at the same time glad and happy for them
when Tenyong revealed that he was fine all along as he stood
up. The people was shocked shouted, “W alang sugat!” which I
thought is smart way to name a zarzuela. Everyone was happy
in the end especially the two lovers. W hatever their problems
were, they overcame it together.

I really love this film because it taught me so much. It taught

me how to fight for our nation and how to fight for love. It
taught me that vengeance is not always the answer but just a
way to escape the tragic reality you have. It was such a good
film to watch and I would totally recommend it to the others.
Not just that, what I really think is that this zarzuela is such a
masterpiece written carefully and with thought.