Reaction Paper in the Movie HENERAL LUNA

Soc.Sci 223 (Philippine History, Politics Governance and Constitution)

The movie is a real eye opener. & felt sad, angry, and even almost
hostile towards my fellow countrymen who betrayed Luna. It is true that t h e
real enemy of the Filipinos are their fellow Filipinos. unless there is
n o u n i t y a m o n g ourselves, how can we expect our country to be independent
and win against the invader? it is such a pity that betrayal and corruption are
evident before, which led to our defeat against the Americans. However, what’s truly
saddening is that all these terrible things are present even now. True, it is hard to think of
the country especially when your own interests have not been granted yet. everyone has
needs, a lot more if you have your own family. -one might choose their family and own
interests over the good of the country, while some might give their all for their beloved
nation. Heneral Antonio Luna is one of the latter. He is a certified nationalist, a great
general, but his temperament caused him to have enemies, both local and foreign. &t is
devastating to lose one of the greatest generals, the Philippines ever had just because of
petty internal fights. (he film shows that aside from arms and weapons, education should
also be used to fight the colonizers.

Ed u c a t i o n i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t . K n o w i n g t h e r o o t s o f o u r c o u n t r y ,
t h e i m p o r t a n t e v e n t s t h a t molded the Filipinos to who they are now can help us
further understand what the problems really are. Education can help open our minds,
thin" selflessly, love our country, and unite with each other, and hopefully one
day, we will finally escape from the grasp of our colonizers. Heneral Luna is a film that
every Filipino should watch as it can help us understand the ongoing problems that we
have now, made solution, and plan for a better future.

Submitted by:
Lolie Vista
BSOA 2A
 Reaction Paper in the movie HENERAL LUNA
Soc.Sci 223
Nowadays, people who would rather risk their lives for the sake of their country are
rarely to be found. Its actually unusual and weird to implant in the mind that some would
actually do that. Its hard to choose between your family and your country, but what’s harder is to
risk your own happiness for a satisfying painful death.

Heneral Luna is a historical film about one of the Philippines’ greatest generals. He was
the most intelligent in the Philippine military, the wisest man who ever ruled the Philippine
system in fighting using brilliant tactics instead of technology. “Hindi natin sila matatalo sa
teknolohiya, pero tatalunin natin sila sa taktika” This was one of the lines that caught my
attention proving that his decisions are different when it comes to winning wars.
He is uneducated when it comes to English nevertheless, he was a great doctor. Even if
he belonged to a wealthy family, he still chose to live a hard troubled life in order for him to
accomplish his mission in gaining Philippine independence. His patriotism can’t be measured
and it is boundless as the ocean, as high as Mt. Everest and as strong as a tree bowing its
branches up to God. He might be arrogant sometimes, hot-tempered but he had respect and
basically not everybody possesses that trait.

This movie is awesome! And surely it would create droplets of tears in your eyes
whenever you remembered the movie. It would really touch your heart and would make you
realize that life isn’t all about happiness but of sacrifice. He never had justice at his death but
God Knows that He accomplished something great. Few only truly love our country, we don’t
know and even heard but Luna truly sacrificed a lot. I hope we can see another movie that is
worth it enough to watch, and the movie is not that desperate to gain viewers by giving 50percent
off to the students but it’s a great strategy for making history more fun and more detailed.

Submitted by:
Marecil Villamor
BSOA 2A
 Reaction Paper in the movie Heneral Luna
Soc.Sci 223 - Philippine History, Politics Governance and Constitution

Unlike most films about heroes, this one manages to tell a compelling story about the
brilliant and fiery general. In this film, Antonio Luna is depicted as a real human being, full of
virtues as well as faults. It stimulates a special kind of reflection we need in rethinking our own
state of patriotism and sense of nationalism and nationhood.
This film enables us to understand not just the life of Luna but also the historical context
of his struggle and heroism. The Choleric Filipino General Antonio Luna as what I have
perceived from the movie has this notoriety of being a “hot-headed” individual but he is beyond
than that. I find Antonio Luna as powerful, passionate and resilient. He is fierce and is not afraid
to go after what he wants. He has a very complex personality he is extremely powerful and
capable but is also highly emotional. I would see him if he is in the right people that surrounds
him as a very capable General and able to accomplish anything. But when he goes dark side (his
demons) and out of balance he can become a terrible tyrant, equally capable of using power for
destruction and manipulation. He is fearless in any conquest and will not back down to anyone.
He doesn’t take no from anybody. On the outside I see him as tough, mysterious and unable to be
broken. Deep down, he is quite fragile and complex. He has this deep wisdom but often comes
with it are resentment and contempt for the common man.
The film shows the point of view of Gen. Antonio Luna in the system of the Philippines
in the American invasion period. Furthermore, the movie carries joy, laughter, sorrow, grief,
conflicts, and realizations especially when it became an eye opener for me. As an ‘International
Studies’ student, it’s typical for us to have some interest in different culture other than us
although I never actually detest our culture. However, with this film I observe a lot of admirable
actions as well as a lot of flaws in our country all the way from the late 18th century. I also
noticed that the Philippine government in the past greatly resembles the government issues in the
present, just like how the cabinet members prefers to be under the power of United States to aim
more money and superiority in their own state. Gen. Antonio Luna deserves to be one of our
heroes. He showed great bravery, intelligence and he also became an inspiration to our fellow
men during and even after the war. He really holds superior power and can lead people to follow
him.

Submitted by:

Sarah Jean Licanto

BSOA 2