Sunday, August 22, 2010
"Jose Rizal" (starring Cesar Montano)
Friday, August 6, 2010
"Jose Rizal" (starring Cesar Montano)
This was the Filipino movie I have been waiting for, for a long time. Most of the Filipino movies that I've seen are cheap imitations of Hollywood movies with forgettable characters and forgettable plots. But I won't be forgetting "Jose Rizal" anytime soon.
With impeccable production values and a truly great performance by the lead actor, Cesar Montano, "Jose Rizal" is the equal of anything that Hollywood can produce (and better than most of the crap that Hollywood routinely puts out on the street).
The movie tells the life story of Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. It covers his life from his childhood to his execution at the hands of the Spanish forces occupying the Philippines in the late 19th century. We are also thrown into the world of Rizal's novels (filmed in black and white), so we get a glimpse of how he viewed Filipino society under the Spanish heal.
One note, this movie is not for the faint of heart. There are graphic depictions of violence and even torture. The opening few scenes depict some episodes from Rizal's novels. In one a Catholic priest rapes a Filipina. I guess I now know where the Mestizo (i.e., mixed blood) class came from in the Philippines. In the other scene a Catholic priest beats a child for alleged stealing. Strong stuff, and it made me wonder how the Catholic Church could possibly retain any power in the country, if this is what the national hero thought about it.
The movie introduces us to the life of subjugation of the Filipino people under the rule of the Spanish friars. From the execution of three Filipino priests in 1872 for alleged subversion to the harsh and unequal treatment of Filipino students in the schools, this film is a stinging indictment of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. We see scenes both from Rizal's actual life but also from his imagination (via his novels).
As a young man, Jose is sent to study in Spain. This is a plan hatched by his brother Paciano. Jose will write and do everything in his power to bring to the attention of the world the abuses of Spanish power in the Philippines, while Paciano will protect the Rizal family at home and keep up the struggle against Spanish rule. Jose excels in his studies as a medical student at Madrid University and eventually earns a degree as an ophthalmic surgeon. Meantime, he becomes involved with a group of radical Filipino students who also seek to end the Spanish abuses in their country. He eventually has a falling out with the student group as he realizes that the real struggle is taking place back home. He decides to return to the Philippines.
He is arrested by the Spanish authorities upon his return to the Philippines in 1892. He is sent to Dapitan in Mindanao where the Spanish authorities can keep a watchful eye on him. It is there that he meets the love of his life, Josephine Bracken, although the movie does not devote much attention to this love affair. When a rebellion breaks out in 1896 the Spanish governor orders that Rizal be moved to the prison in Manila.
It is here that Rizal is introduced to Luis Taviel (played by Jaime Fabregas) who has been appointed to defend him at his trial. Taviel is a Spanish officer who at first mistrusts Rizal and views him as a dangerous revolutionary. Most of the movie takes place in Rizal's prison cell and involves Taviel confronting him about his life. There are frequent flashbacks but some of them are flashbacks to his novels, so it is sometimes hard to keep the order clear. Eventually Taviel learns to respect Rizal and he decides to do his best job in defending him.
But it is to no avail. The evil head of the Franciscan order in Manila arranges for a new governor to take over control of the Philippines. The new governor promptly orders a show trial where the outcome has already been decided. Rizal must die. Despite his best efforts, Taviel cannot save Rizal from his fate. The verdict is reached and the execution date is set for December 30, 1896. Taviel admits to Rizal that he is ashamed to be a Spaniard.
In what is the most bizarre scene of the movie, on the night before his execution, Rizal is confronted by his own character Simoun from his novel. Simoun urges Rizal to rewrite him so that his mission can be for a higher purpose. And so in his final work, Rizal pens "Mi Ultimo Adios" knowing full well that his death will light the torch of the Filipino Revolution.
The final few scenes show Rizal being led out to the execution ground. He requests to face the firing squad but he is denied. The Spanish want to shoot him in the back as a traitor. But as he is shot full of bullets he manages to turn as he falls so that he lands facing the sky. I must tell you that my wife was crying like a baby during this scene and she's seen the movie twice. I must also admit that I had some moisture in my eyes too. I was also muttering to myself "Spanish Bastards! Spanish Bastards!". Strong Stuff.
| Actor/Actress | Role |
|---|---|
| Cesar Montano | José Rizal |
| Joel Torre | Crisostomo Ibarra / Simoun |
| Jaime Fabregas | Luis Taviel de Andrade |
| Gloria Diaz | Teodora Alonso |
| Gardo Versoza | Andrés Bonifacio |
| Monique Wilson | Maria Clara |
| Chin Chin Gutierrez | Josephine Bracken |
| Mickey Ferriols | Leonor Rivera |
| Pen Medina | Paciano Rizal |
| Peque Gallaga | Archbishop Bernardino V. Nozaleda, O.P. |
| Bon Vibar | Ramón Blanco |
| Subas Herrero | Alcocer |
| Tony Mabesa | Camilo de Polavieja |
| Alexis Santaren | Olive |
| Chiqui Xerxes-Burgos | Father Villaclara, S.J. |
| Archie Adamos | Olive's Aid |
| Fritz Ynfante | Anatomy Class Professor |
| Gina Alajar | Saturnina Rizal |
| Tanya Gomez | Narcisa Rizal |
| Tess Dumpit | Maria Rizal |
| Jhong Hilario | Prisoner Servant |
| Irma Adlawan | Lucia Rizal (as Irma Adlawan-Marasigan) |
| Angie Castrence | Josefa Rizal |
| Rowena Basco | Trinidad |
| Kaye Marie June Congmon | Soledad |
| Ronnie Lazaro | Don Francisco Mercado |
| Dominic Guinto | Young Rizal |
| Ping Medina | Young Paciano |
| Dennis Marasigan | Marcelo H. del Pilar |
| Gregg de Guzman | Propagandist |
| Mon Confiado | Propagandist |
| Eddie Aquino | Propagandist |
| Manolo Barrientos | Propagandist |
| Rolando T. Inocencio | Propagandist (as Roli Inocencio) |
| Gilbert Onida | Propagandist |
| Jim Pebanco | Propagandist |
| Troy Martino | Propagandist |
| Kokoy Palma | Propagandist |
| Richard Merck | Propagandist |
| Jess Evardon | Propagandist (as Jesusito 'Jess' Evardone) |
| Marco Sison | Pio Valenzuela |
| Joel Lamangan | Gobernadocillo |
| Tony Carreon | |
| Noni Buencamino | Elias |
| Roeder | Basilio |
| Richard Quan | Isagani |
| Cristobal Gomez | Father Damaso |
| Nanding Josef | Antonio Rivera |
| Ryan Eigenmann | Fernando |
| Jon Achaval | Fraile 1 |
| Cloyd Robinson | Fraile 2 |
| Marco Zabaleta | Fraile 3 |
| Ogie Juliano | Padre Rodriguez |
| Minco Fabregas | Padre Sanchez |
| Shelby Payne | Fr. March |
| Pocholo Montes | Maestro Justiniano |
| Karl Meyer | Belgian Printer |
| Bey Vito | Don Doroteo Onjunco (as Bhey Vito) |
| Kidlat Tahimik | La Liga Filipina Guest |
was a Filipino polymath, patriotand the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered a national hero of the Philippines,[2] and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial andexecution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.
The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning aBachelor of Arts. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages.[3][4][5][6] He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El filibusterismo.[7]These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries against the Spanish colonial authorities.
As a political figure, Jose Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan[8] led byAndrés Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.
social relevance of the film to our present society- Austin Craig, Lineage, Life and Labors of Rizal (Manila: Philippine Education Co., 1913). He was conversant in Spanish, French, Latin, Greek, German, Portuguese, Italian, English, Dutch and Japanese. Rizal also made translations from Arabic, Swedish, Russian, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. He translated the poetry of Schiller into his native Tagalog. In addition he had at least some knowledge of Malay, Chavacano, Cebuano, Ilocano, and Subanun.(Read etext at Project Gutenberg:[1]. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ a b c d Frank Laubach, Rizal: Man and Martyr (Manila: Community Publishers, 1936)
- ^ Rizal's annotations of Morga's Sucesos de las islas Filipinas (1609), which he copied word for word from the British Museum and had published, called attention to an antiquated book, a testimony to the well-advanced civilization in the Philippines during pre-Spanish era. In his essay "The Indolence of the Filipino" Rizal stated that three centuries of Spanish rule did not do much for the advancement of his countryman; in fact there was a 'retrogression', and the Spanish colonialists have transformed him into a 'half-way brute.' The absence of moral stimulus, the lack of material inducement, the demoralization--'the indio should not be separated from his carabao', the endless wars, the lack of a national sentiment, the Chinese piracy--all these factors, according to Rizal, helped the colonial rulers succeed in placing the indio 'on a level with the beast'. (read English translation by Charles Derbyshire at [2]. Retrieved 10 January. 2007.
- ^ In his essay, "Reflections of a Filipino," (La Solidaridad, c.1888), he wrote: "Man is multiplied by the number of languages he possesses and speaks.'
- ^ His signature book Noli was one of the first novels in Asia written outside Japan and China and was one of the first novels of anti-colonial rebellion. Noli me Tangere, translated by Soledad Locsin (Manila: Ateneo de Manila, 1996) ISBN 971-569-188-9. Read Benedict Anderson's commentary: [3]. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ Bonifacio was a member of La Liga Filipina. After Rizal's arrest and exile, it was disbanded and the group splintered into two factions; the more radical group formed into the Katipunan, the militant arm of the insurrection.[4]. Retrieved 10 January 2007.