Bayaning Third World

Two filmmakers were trying to create a film about the life of the National Hero,
Jose Rizal. On the start of exploring the life of Rizal, the filmmakers began to question
why is Jose Rizal entitled a National Hero and what were his contributions to the
society. They attempted to dig up the past and reach out to the ones close to Rizal when
he was still alive such as his family and friends. While seeking the truth, the filmmakers
got to a more controversial topic with regards to the life of Rizal, which is the retraction
of Jose Rizal from his views against the Roman Catholic Church and issues such as the
marriage of Jose Rizal with Josephine Bracken. Jose Rizal was known to be a bachelor
and one of the anti-Catholics when he was still living because he believes that the
Spanish friars are responsible for manipulating the Catholicism religion, which
condemned the freedom of the Filipinos. When they found the retraction document, both
filmmakers look for pieces of evidence if it was genuine or not. They ended up in the
past “interviewing” the mother of Jose Rizal, Dona Teodora, his brother, Ponciano, his
said to be wife, Josephine Bracken, his niece, Narcissa, his sister, Trining, and the
Jesuit father to whom he gave the retraction document, Padre Balaguer. Also, another
controversial topic arouses while on the search for the life of Jose Rizal, they have
discovered that Jose Rizal was not part of the “Himagsikan,” or also known as the
revolution. The filmmakers were puzzled and confused at the same time with the
controversies since they cannot believe that Jose Rizal would turn back to the novels;
he wrote that made him a hero. However, in the end, they ended up hearing the
confession of Jose Rizal himself, yet their questions were left unanswered; it was still a
mystery that can never be revealed.
The film “Bayaning Third World” based on my analysis is a film that seeks the
truth.
However, finding the truth would be hard because only Jose Rizal himself can satisfy
the curiosity of the people. The protagonists tried so hard to discover his heroism and
contributions, yet they have uncovered whole new mysteries instead. I know that they
were trying to show the controversies in the life of Rizal like the truth behind retraction,
“Himagsikan,” and his marriage, yet I feel that it needs more explanations in every
scene. In my opinion, I find the film quite vague in some parts. For example, the time in
the film where they just showed the retraction document right away, and I had no idea
how did they end up getting to that topic. I did not even get what the retraction was until
I search the internet. Also, the protagonists had the chance to communicate in Jose
Rizal himself in the last part, yet it was useless. The film was confusing to me since I am
not a fan of history that much, I have not much background on the life of Rizal, and I
thought that the film would help me understand more, yet it led me to more questions.
Despite the vagueness I felt, the film made me realize that it does not matter how many
controversies his life had. The fact that he devoted his life to us Filipinos to have the
freedom that was once stolen from us is enough for me to say that he deserves the title.
Even if he was married or not, or if he wrote that retraction or not, he is still the same

This study source was downloaded by 100000847256280 from CourseHero.com on 01-14-2023 04:19:51 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/82921728/Summary-of-Bayaning-Third-Word-and-Reflectiondocx/
 hero that saved us from the hands of the manipulative Spaniards. To sum it all up, the
film was vague in some parts, I guess it needs in-depth analysis, but it was
interesting.

This study source was downloaded by 100000847256280 from CourseHero.com on 01-14-2023 04:19:51 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/82921728/Summary-of-Bayaning-Third-Word-and-Reflectiondocx/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)