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| Directed by Jerrold Tarog | Cinematography by Pong Ignacio |
Its the feeling that you don't always get watching Filipino films. Despite of student discounts, i am happy to see that people are actually lining up for a local movie. That's what i feel when i first see this film, when the cinema is full of people, you hear their reaction, and the applause the movie get afterward is just a fantastic feeling. But the question is, does the movie deserve this applause? My answer is "YES", I myself as moviegoer who prefer watching silently still get along with the audience who seems to appreciate the art the film whoever they are i guess.
Honestly i came into the moment of refusal to see this movie despite of the attention it gathers because we just had this "Historical biopic films" recently and now we are gonna have another? but then i realize from the moment they are making a biopic about Heneral Antonio Luna and t'was given a huge budget with a long production going, i said I'm down to it and i wanted to see it because its interesting, and i never really had this kind of interest in a big budget Filipino movies since Erik Matti's Aswang chronicles. People might have this kind of thought before seeing this film that it is going to be just another generic biopic film but if you look into history books they may think that Heneral Luna's odyssey during Philippine-American War was indeed interesting and if it was put into film, it must be respected, and i must Jerrold Tarog did a fantastic execution to that story and it wasn't just a generic historical biopic it's far different from the others.
The film tells the story of Heneral Antonio Luna played by the amazing actor John Arcilla during the Philippine-American War. It is a story of his tragedy. The betrayal of his patriotism to fight for Philippine Independence against the american invasion. It's a tale of one righteous belief against the odds. The real villain in this film is not the Americans but 'WE' Filipinos ourselves, there's a great debate going on inside this movie on the way of the approach of reaching peace and independence.
And throughout the story there this fantastic cast, from big John Arcilla to Small roles "The Chicken vendor" added with a compelling script the film is definitely a masterpiece just for the casting. I love what they did for such roles like Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado) you see him really confused on a decisions he made as the president of the republic during the time and what he needs to do, and at the end you'll ended up hating him despite that he never shows any villainous actions. It also becomes sometimes the flaw of the movie. There's some moments where it's obvious that some actors can't reach out the level of the performance of another actor which affects the authenticity of drama.
I think the best way i can say why Heneral Luna works so well It's because it didn't try to be so serious and dark, the movie is aware of what it is and it knows where to put itself. It's often hilarious yet it was well balanced to the serious taking; Great to setup the final act of the movie. Another thing on why this film works is that it has a poetic taste. A contemporary poetry on the dialogues that the characters enthrall. A very bold dialogues really that sometimes becomes a humor even if it wasn't meant to, despite of it's timeline Heneral Luna manage to still put an impact and twist to modern era.
Talking about the action scene on this movie it is really good, it doesn't have CGI Cannon balls, the firefight felt very real at some points, thanks to Jarrold Tarog's incredible stylish film-making on this movie. I have to praise the cinematography of the film, It's incredible, the details are endearing, there's a scene where it gives an homage to Juan Luna's Spoliarium, when i saw that my hair just raise up, and there's a scene where we visited the memories of Luna, it was taken in long take in a very stylistic way and it was so satisfying and appealing. Yet despite of those compelling styles another thing that flawed but it was barely noticeable is the pacing of the movie but it doesn't really bring the downfall of the movie at all and i have to give Jarrold Tarog another compliment for he also act as the editor of the film.
I am aware that it wasn't really the most historical accurate biopic for Heneral Luna, but at least it was honest on the belief of the character they are trying to portray on this movie. The fact the Antonio Luna is one of the most iconic Historical figure in the Philippines helps the build up the film to really mold the character himself. But for the people who are seeing this movie should be also aware that the movie can create some Hyper-Nationalistic type of deal to the people, that's the risk of the film all in all. They are taking history on their hands, and this movie itself is provocative that it can easily put one perspective into one place, we should understand the history is a broad thing to know with. This film just shows the idea of the historical events that happened but not in the most absolute way.
I think that's why the movie are surprisingly hilarious, and shows some satirical moments, because it doesn't try to show accuracy, it just trying to teach us and that's the point of the film. Overall the film is very audacious, for the director himself Jerrold Tarog, he did a great job doing such film. They took the advantage of having a big budget to make this film, and they took it very well that they ended creating a masterpiece that exceeds everyone's expectations. The movie is just completely for everyone, it is highly recommended, and although it has some small pacing problems and unbalanced performances it wasn't affected the entertainment that the film was trying to give us, it is an entertainment masterpiece that shows that mainstream Philippine Cinema has some strong personalities that is going on to it. I give Heneral Luna 8.5/10
Heneral Luna (2015) is directed Jerrold Tarog, Starring John Arcilla, Epy Quizon, Alex Medina, Archie Alemania, Mon Confiado, Joem Bascon, Arron Villaflor, Nonie Buencamino, Leo Martinez and More
The film tells the story of Heneral Antonio Luna played by the amazing actor John Arcilla during the Philippine-American War. It is a story of his tragedy. The betrayal of his patriotism to fight for Philippine Independence against the american invasion. It's a tale of one righteous belief against the odds. The real villain in this film is not the Americans but 'WE' Filipinos ourselves, there's a great debate going on inside this movie on the way of the approach of reaching peace and independence.
And throughout the story there this fantastic cast, from big John Arcilla to Small roles "The Chicken vendor" added with a compelling script the film is definitely a masterpiece just for the casting. I love what they did for such roles like Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado) you see him really confused on a decisions he made as the president of the republic during the time and what he needs to do, and at the end you'll ended up hating him despite that he never shows any villainous actions. It also becomes sometimes the flaw of the movie. There's some moments where it's obvious that some actors can't reach out the level of the performance of another actor which affects the authenticity of drama.
I think the best way i can say why Heneral Luna works so well It's because it didn't try to be so serious and dark, the movie is aware of what it is and it knows where to put itself. It's often hilarious yet it was well balanced to the serious taking; Great to setup the final act of the movie. Another thing on why this film works is that it has a poetic taste. A contemporary poetry on the dialogues that the characters enthrall. A very bold dialogues really that sometimes becomes a humor even if it wasn't meant to, despite of it's timeline Heneral Luna manage to still put an impact and twist to modern era.
Talking about the action scene on this movie it is really good, it doesn't have CGI Cannon balls, the firefight felt very real at some points, thanks to Jarrold Tarog's incredible stylish film-making on this movie. I have to praise the cinematography of the film, It's incredible, the details are endearing, there's a scene where it gives an homage to Juan Luna's Spoliarium, when i saw that my hair just raise up, and there's a scene where we visited the memories of Luna, it was taken in long take in a very stylistic way and it was so satisfying and appealing. Yet despite of those compelling styles another thing that flawed but it was barely noticeable is the pacing of the movie but it doesn't really bring the downfall of the movie at all and i have to give Jarrold Tarog another compliment for he also act as the editor of the film.
I am aware that it wasn't really the most historical accurate biopic for Heneral Luna, but at least it was honest on the belief of the character they are trying to portray on this movie. The fact the Antonio Luna is one of the most iconic Historical figure in the Philippines helps the build up the film to really mold the character himself. But for the people who are seeing this movie should be also aware that the movie can create some Hyper-Nationalistic type of deal to the people, that's the risk of the film all in all. They are taking history on their hands, and this movie itself is provocative that it can easily put one perspective into one place, we should understand the history is a broad thing to know with. This film just shows the idea of the historical events that happened but not in the most absolute way.
I think that's why the movie are surprisingly hilarious, and shows some satirical moments, because it doesn't try to show accuracy, it just trying to teach us and that's the point of the film. Overall the film is very audacious, for the director himself Jerrold Tarog, he did a great job doing such film. They took the advantage of having a big budget to make this film, and they took it very well that they ended creating a masterpiece that exceeds everyone's expectations. The movie is just completely for everyone, it is highly recommended, and although it has some small pacing problems and unbalanced performances it wasn't affected the entertainment that the film was trying to give us, it is an entertainment masterpiece that shows that mainstream Philippine Cinema has some strong personalities that is going on to it. I give Heneral Luna 8.5/10
Heneral Luna (2015) is directed Jerrold Tarog, Starring John Arcilla, Epy Quizon, Alex Medina, Archie Alemania, Mon Confiado, Joem Bascon, Arron Villaflor, Nonie Buencamino, Leo Martinez and More
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