21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Arvin Paulo M. Almeyda

HUMSS 12 BLK.1

I. INTRODUCTION
Going into this film, I knew nothing of General Antonio Luna, but what they did for this
legendary figure in Philippine history was extraordinary.
Luna was a man's man who was the ultimate patriot, willing to fight and die for his country. As he
fought a revolution against those trying to colonize his country, he showed them he was not afraid, which
made his enemies, even those more powerful than him, nervous. While his men followed him with pride,
he made some enemies from within from those who did not share his same ideals of patriotism.
It was a well-acted portrayal of Luna right up there with war epics like Patton. An overall good
war drama.

II. BODY
The General Luna (Film) set during the Philippine-American war; a short-tempered Filipino
general faces an enemy more formidable than the American army: his own treacherous countrymen.
General Luna opens claiming that this is a fictionalized biopic of one of Philippine's most important
historical figures, Antonio Luna, for the sake of getting the modern audience into the history's bigger
picture. In spite of being more intense and surprisingly humorous, the movie stays loyal to what this
figure truly stands for. The war is brutal, over-the-top to bring up for visual flare, and their serious
situations being often treated as sincere satires. How the film executed these ideas are just brilliant, it gets
larger-than-life without feeling outlandish, towards the heart of defending the nation worth fighting for.
The film is all about justifying their quote about the real enemy of this war is themselves. Although we
see warfare with both the Philippine and American army attacking each other, this battle is basically the
secondary concern here. The real detail of this war is how many soldiers chickening out from the
battlefield and some officials wanted to work with the Americans. But of course, their real goal is
independence; the movie makes a punchline out of those who aren't helping out, those who are just
running away and those who are just isn't fond of Luna's aggressiveness. The film doesn't glamorize the
character of Luna, either. Though his intentions are right, his rage could get out of hand which puts most
of them off. But that also indicate that winning this revolution deserves more discipline than what they
got. Back to the fact that this is taken a lot out of creative liberties, the movie fills this history with vast
amount of sense of humor and violent panache. The violence is, again, over-the-top. At times it gets
pretty symbolical, specifically the climax. The humor is clearly just satirizing to those characters who
aren't being helpful and those who are afraid of facing Luna's rage once more. And when it's not trying to
pull off any sense of levity, we just get to see the story flesh itself out more in the sidelines of its history
and other characters. The filmmaking is stunning, slick and stylish. The production looks pretty neat. The
movie is paced nicely even at times it's layered to different events, but puts itself together consistently.
The acting is beyond impressive; specifically, John Arcilla as Antonio Luna. He brings a genuine
humanity, and at the same time, a really compelling sense of madness, which terrifically lives up to the
complexity of its subject. The supporting also lends real gravity and even delight on screen, but it's
Arcilla's show and that's more than enough of a worth seeing performance throughout. Maybe some
quibbles I could point out; maybe how the enemies are portrayed felt like they're written to be campy
villains and maybe just one punchline in the film that felt like it belongs to a comedy skit. But again,
 these are quibbles and they can be debunked, even by myself. The former can be forgiven since they're
technically not the main villains of this ordeal, while the latter is just a single scene and obviously
designed to keep shaming the cowards at the battlefield. Anything else, there is so much to love in
General Luna. It's great, not only because it's humorous and visually interesting, but it's also a two-sided
argument towards its history, not based on praising, but actually by criticism. Yes, this is a war movie
that gets brutal, but the movie focuses on a meatier and more challenging side of the ordeal. And it pokes
fun at some unwise decisions the people behind this war make, but what matters is the intention of its
subject unable to die while he's still standing. Otherwise, it's just an ultimately entertaining film that
exceeds expectations.

III. CONCLUSION
 General Luna affirms that Filipinos lack depth and comprehension. That’s why his plans as a General
failed to be delivered- there was no one to understand him, not even the President. Our society is so used
to being shallow, being in our comfort zones, which only implies that we do not aim for something that
modifies the existing; therefore, we settle for the familiar. We remained in our comfort zones, and that is
a sure way to the death of one’s culture.

We, Filipinos, are our own enemy. Subtitle but very provoking lesson from the movie. We need to
save ourselves from our own selves, that is the true adversity. That is the ultimate truth of society then
and now. Who goes against the order of the Army being unified by General Luna? Filipino regionalists
who only care that their region of origin is overwhelmed with pride (Kawit soldiers). We cannot get past
our shallowness to provide and achieve a greater good. We stick with our own wrong ways. The last
scene that struck me the most, which I must say is very visual, exhibit our incapacity to look beyond our
emotions for a greater cause. We do not have a patriotic spirit that will make us put our country ahead
before us. The pain of dying for your country, as felt by General Luna, is as painful seeing our country
experience its slow death.

May the story of someone who is willing to give his life to the Filipino people be remembered not
forgotten in between lines of a textbook. Let us continue to support the movie and spread the word.