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Must See Movie...

Fresh and Exciting

Blistering performances.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

After hearing enough of the buzz and fuss of this movie, "HENERAL LUNA", I finally gave in and joined in towing the line of late screeners for this intriguing flick. The question I want answered as I crept inside the theater is this: "IS THE MOVIE TRULY DESERVING OF ALL THE PRAISES RECEIVED? I soon found out.I am no history buff but there's no point anyway if we dwell on arguments on the film's accuracy in depicting the life and exploits of this revolutionary army since the flick opens with introductory disclaiming line, saying "It's A Work Of A Fiction Inspired By Facts…", therefore, that being implied, it is only but right to set aside debate on its historical precision.This movie offers a lot of promise, I should say. It has its telling, inspiring, and yes, visually jaw-dropping moments that one could even wonder if this is indeed a Pinoy-made film, well, at least technically speaking. The narrative is likewise quite impressive, though at some point the simulation on some movies of the same theme is somehow evident, if not dead obvious. To sum it all up, this is a movie of one's bravery, his courageous exploits in spearheading the struggle for independence and freedom for his homeland, his unfaltering principle, the corruption in politics, the grand conspiracy, the ensuing betrayal, the ultimate sacrifice of death, and the eventual "Pontius Pilate" demeanor of the red-handed characters who were being alluded to of having the brains of his gruesome demise.At its surface, and as bolstered by the hype this movie gets, it really sounds promising and intriguing. Or is it not? I say not quite.While admittedly I was literally enthralled and wowed by the cinematographical innovation, visual flares, and passable portrayals (except for Buencamino, and few handfuls who have really done great) of the characters on selected scenes, I simply find this movie being just "OK" and "far" near from being spectacular, as others described it to be. Yes, the flashback sequence where Luna closes his eyes and recalls the past with interchanging events in one sequence, and, that final act of repulsion and denial of the surviving important characters during interviews with beautiful score being played on the background, until the digitally-enhanced (CGI) burning of the Philippine flag that was hanged on the wall as credit started to roll, are so damn perfectly executed that it was a no surprise when I heard applauses in quite a number from some overly-satisfied viewers at my back.Unfortunately, while I tried hard to be in concurrence and joined the bandwagon of chanters who glorify this film, my distastes on some non-trivial scenes and horrendous depictions simply prevail over my sheer admiration specially that this movie, if i heard it right, has been selected as our entry for the upcoming Oscar Awards. Why i said so? Take for instance those scenes where Luna, under the heavy gun battle with bullets flying all over his (or their) direction, mainly stood there in the field like a bold lion directing his docking men (where some were already fatally shot), while occasionally returning aimless fires, and yet he was spared from even a single bullet?! Oh-ha!There's more (and many more,actually). The final act showed Luna being shot multifariously at the center of an "encircling" shooters who were just about four meters away from each other with rifles (and bolos)! Seriously, ha? And one can't assume excuses on lack of strategy of soldiers during that time, since shooting a lone adversary while fatally endangering yourselves of an inevitable crossfire while surrounding him at such a distance, is not only foolish at the highest level but downright stupid. And yes, as if that was not enough of a ridicule, our main actor refused to fall down and die) that easily despite sustaining several shots, stabs and hacks (and shot again, and stabbed again, and hacked again) that I can't help but ask myself if the makers of this film are in fact implying a cryptic message that Luna was into heavy drugs just like Tony Montana (played by Al Pacino) in that climactic scene in "Scarface" (pun intended).Don't get me wrong here for just like you, I can easily suspend disbelief and let trivial errors slip just that, but not on this one which I really considered as an idiotically-made blunder. How come the director and writers paid less, or no, attention at all to such important details and compromised, to that effect, a movie which has so much potential to be good, or even best, unless otherwise they were just sarcastically insulting the viewers' wit.Finally, I earnestly thought the vast amount of comedy and humor injected on some serious scenes as outlandish and uncalled for, as most of them were cheesy and distracting at times or in some point, instead of drawing the desired comic relief.Should you watch this movie (assuming that you haven't done that yet)? It's up to you, really, but you've been warned.Just my two cents.

Set in the era of Philippine-American war and follows the story of an artistic, poet and a witty General, Antonio Luna.Intense, thrilling biopic movie that starred awesome actors. They all acted their parts fantastically. Gave me goosebumps on some scenes because of its high-quality direction. One scene to be exact is the one long shot of the character's background. Forget Star Cinema, forget GMA Films, watch these type of movies. An eye-opener Filipino film and this should be the start of deviation of the clichéd romance 'kilig' Filipino movies.This is the second Filipino movie that made me this hype. First was On the Job. These are must watch films. One of the best films of 2015.A must-watch film.

While not entirely a groundbreaking film in the strict sense of the word, there's just a number of firsts in "Heneral Luna" (2015, Phil.), the latest work from the director of the excellent Camera trilogy ("Confessional", "Mangatyanan", "Sana Dati"), Jerrold Tarog. Chief among which, of course, is the subject-matter itself: Antonio Luna (played to perfection by John Arcilla), the valiant and volcanic Filipino general who was a major force in the Philippines' fight for freedom and independence from the American colonizers during the later part of the 19th century. Filipino historical films or biopics seem to be generally restricted to just two prominent figures: Andres Bonifacio and Jose Rizal. From the top of my mind, I can only recall a couple of films that featured heroes other than those two stalwarts: a Macario Sakay film by Raymond Red and one about Lapu-Lapu starring Lito Lapid. If there are other such works still, they may have already been drowned in obscurity.Thus, a film that details the significant contribution of Gen. Antonio Luna to our history (or his life and death, if one may opt to say so) should be most welcome. After all, as our history is undeniably marked by numerous wars and battles, it would be just apt that we get to encounter as well those who helped maneuver our frontline fight against the foreign intruders and colonizers. And so, how does Tarog's "Heneral Luna" actually come about as a viewing fare? To put it succinctly, the film is brimming with delight, irreverence, and fervent and genuine patriotism. And to top it all, the characters, most specially the key figures, are portrayed with a fresh breeze of humanism, rather than as cold textbook derivations. While watching the film, one really gets the feeling that all the proclamations of nationalism and duty to and love for country aren't merely hollow airings, but are genuinely impassioned without having to spell them out in big, bold letters. And while at it, "Heneral Luna" manages to be consistently entertaining as well, with its humor and some off-the-wall moments. Such is the accomplishment of the film. At the film's prologue, it's pointed out that the filmmakers have taken the liberty of combining "fact" and "fiction" to be able to bring across bigger truths. Thus, the inspired artistic choices: the young journalist who "interviews" Gen. Luna;the general's clandestine love affair with a woman named Isabel;the "flashbacks" within a narrative that's already by nature a flashback by way of history;Luna's stirring guitar-tuned flamenco under the moonlight which, in effect, is also a swan-song;the poignant touch of magic realism towards the end, accompanied by Beethoven's plaintive piano sonata. The film, likewise, doesn't shy away from a brutal and graphic depiction of the battlefront and of the tragic fate of the general in the hands of his own men. This is all due to the brave and intelligent screenplay by Tarog, E.A. Rocha and Henry Hunt Francia, and the unflinching and imaginative direction by Tarog himself. (If one is keen enough to pick up the "signals", the historical saga will most definitely have a continuation with the stories of Gregorio del Pilar (to be portrayed most probably by Paolo Avelino) and Manuel Quezon (most likely to be interpreted by Benjamin Alves);Tarog is no stranger to making a trilogy.)On point of performance, while everyone has put in invaluable work, the film is undoubtedly owned by Arcilla. As the title character, the actor is able to delineate on screen the general's reputed fierceness, hardheadedness, brashness and fearlessness with gusto and aplomb. One can really see that he relishes his character flesh and bone that the screen simply flares up every time he's in the frame. But beneath the volcanic personality, one can still sense a deeply-felt love for the country and an unassailable desire to fight for its freedom till the end being harbored by the general. It's an incomparable performance that sees through the humanity of a "monster". While it has to be admitted that the film's irreverence, narrative- and character-wise, isn't unique to itself as one can in fact recall Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H*", Franklin J. Schaffner's "Patton", Mike Nichols' "Catch-22" and even our own Mike de Leon's "Bayaning Third World", nevertheless "Heneral Luna" is to be applauded for being able to infuse fresh vigor to the historical drama that's rarely seen nowadays. If it's to be of any note, the film starts and ends with the image of the Philippine flag - in the first, the national emblem is fresh and intact;while in the second, it's burning to ashes. It's sad to think what this coda really says to our journey as a nation so far.

OK, I don't want to be biased here, the film was just OK. It was not excellent nor was it bad. It was just OK. I like the script thou, especially the joke part and the cursings. I feel like i'm watching Inglorious Basterds, the way they killed him in the last part of the movie, he was like this "masamang damo, mahirap mamatay" "Bad weed, hard to kill" (forgive my translation) kind of scene. It was gruesome and a little too much. The part when he travels to a lot of places was also confusing, he arrives just too fast. My favorite scene was the first battle scene, where he charge with his horse right straight to the enemy. The part when he was about to shoot his head, because he thought it was already the end, and unknowingly made his fellow filipino soldiers rallied with him in the battle field revive with courage because of his acts of chivalry and great example for fighting for inang bayan (mother land). I was really touch by that scene and was just holding back to clap so as not to annoy my seatmate in the cinema.The close your eyes scene was also nice, the composites of the scenes in interchanging events, technically perfectly executed. The special effects and the sound effects was also good. I would not make this long, the film in general promotes the idea of sticking up with your principles, that is, it should not be biased, conditional and incorruptible. To Mr J Tarog, the cast and the writers of the movie, hats off, its my first time to watch a movie where after the credit part/end part people were clapping there hands. Certainly they were touched in sorts of ways to react like that. I think that is the essence of making a film, that after watching it, a little mark is left behind could be an idea of sorts good or bad, it doesn't matter. Certainly it did mark for me, especially Artikulo Uno!