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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
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