Name: Jan Caleb S.

Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

The Book Of Life

I. Summary

On the 2nd of November, the Day of the Dead, a group of five detention kids

went into the National Museum in Mexico. In that hall, the kids, accompanied by the

lady tour guide who will be later introduced in the story, caught a sight of the ancient

items - statues, relics, artifacts, skulls - that showcase the culture and beauty of Mexico.

Most importantly, the museum exhibits the so-called Book of Life, which contains all

sorts of stories around the world including the story about the town at the center of

Mexico, the little town of San Angel. Being the center of the universe, directly below San

Angel lies the Land of the Remembered. Moreover, below that lies the Land of the

Forgotten. There exist two entities that govern the abovementioned worlds: La Muerte,

the ruler of the festive Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba, the ruler of the lonely

Land of the Forgotten. La Muerte, who is made out of sweet sugar candies, believes in

the kindness and purity of mankind, while Xibalba, who is made out of tar, trusts the

opposite. Furthermore, the Candle Maker, made out of wax, keeps the balance between

the two realms.

Curious and thrilled, the kids continue on listening as the lady tour guide tells

them the story about San Angel.

On the Day of the Dead at the town of San Angel, ex-lovers La Muerte and

Xibalba appeared. Xibalba, whove had enough of the vile and cold Land of the

Page | 1
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

Forgotten, prepared a wager wherein the ownership of the Land of the Remembered is

at stake. As ridiculous as it may seem, the bet that will determine who will rule the Land

of the Remembered depends on the three then-so little kids: Maria, Manolo, and

Joaquin. Maria is the daughter of General Posada, the mayor of San Angel; Manolo is

from the family of the Sanchez bullfighters; while Joaquin is the son of Captain

Mondragon, the hero who died fighting the fierce bandit, Chakal. La Muerte and Xibalba

will gamble for whichever boy will get to marry the beautiful Maria. The two selected

between Manolo and Joaquin as their champion to represent their bet. And so the

wager is set, La Muerte ended up choosing Manolo while Xibalba picked Joaquin with a

bribe the medal of everlasting life, which can give courage to the holder and will not

let the bearer get hurt.

Not a long time later, due to misbehavior, Maria was sent away to the Convent of

the Perpetual Flame of Purity at Spain by her father to study abroad and to straighten

her inside out. Meanwhile, the two boys, waiting for Marias return, focused on self-

improvement. Joaquin concentrated on strengthening the body for him to be able to

bring out the best of the medal that was given to him at the beginning of the bet. He

joined the physical training for the mighty brigade that will protect the city from Chakal

the bandit. Later on, the town-famous Joaquin, finally with a reall mustache, became the

hero of San Angel that kept places from prying bandits. On the other hand, Manolo, a

musician by heart, was forced to train in bullfighting by her father for him to not break

the legacy and reputation of the Sanchezs.

Page | 2
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

Years later, on Marias return from Europe, the three are to meet again after a

long time on a special presentation at San Angel featuring Joaquin the towns hero and

Manolo the bullfighter. At the heat of the said event, Manolo was not able to finish the

bull. He shouted to the crowd, Killing the bull is wrong. After that, Manolo was scolded

by his father saying, You are no Sanchez.

On that night, the mayor threw a party where almost everyone in town except

Manolo and his gang was invited. Maria lost her appetite during dinner in that party

after hearing Joaquins belief that woman live only to make man happy. Maria, together

with Chui, the pig she received as gift from Manolo before her depart to Spain, was so

pissed that night. Same goes for Manolo for not being honored to be at the occassion.

Later on that night, Manolo sang for Maria, who was on her porch that time, professing

his love for her. It ended good, though - kind of. Joaquin knew about this affair, so, to

compete, he presented a ring and proposed for a marriage to Maria right before she was

about to go outside to meet Manolo. As you may have guessed, Manolo barged in to the

scene and saw the picture of Joaquin kneeling in front of Maria while holding a diamond

ring. The two friends who both believed in the line, No retreat, no surrender, fought

each other for the hand of Maria.

Right after Joaquin walked out of the place, the bandits came to terrorize the

town. But the town was protected by Joaquin. He single-handedly brawled with the

bandidos at the middle of town. One follower of Chakal knew about Joaquin and the

Page | 3
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

Medal of Everlasting Life and reported it to Chakal himself after they fled from the brawl

at San Angel.

After Joaquin walked Maria home after the fight, Manolo sneaked into Marias

balcony to ask and beg her to meet him at the bridge at dawn. Realizing that Xibalba is

about to lose the wager with La Muerte, Xibalba, a born cheater and liar, released its

two-headed snake which is disguised as a staff. The snake was supposed to lay its fang

on Manolo but ended up biting Maria instead.

Then Xibalba came into action again and appeared to Manolo. He made Manolo

swear with all his heart to see Maria again to follow her in the afterlife. He knew that

Maria is really dead, but she isnt. One bite from the snake is not lethal, but being bitten

by the both heads of the snake will surely bring you to the land of the dead. Maria was

stung for only once, but Manolo was stung twice. He didnt realize until later that he was

tricked by Xibalba.

The dead Manolo woke up in the Land of the Remebered. There he reunited with

his ancestors, the Sanchez bullfighters, and also her mother, Carmen Sanchez. The dead

Sanchez family went to La Muertes Castle at the center of the Land only to find out that

Xibalba became the new ruler of the Land of the Remembered, while La Muerte was

sent away to the lonely Land of the Forgotten. Then, as Manolo interact with Xibalba, he

found out about the bet and how Xibalba cheated. So he decided to go and visit La

Muerte to the Land of the Forgotten to report Xibalbas trickery.

Page | 4
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

No one has ever gone to the Land of the Forgotten and returned in one piece.

But because of his true love for Maria, he, together with his mother Carmen and

Grandpa Luis, set their course to the doomed Cave of Souls the only passage to get

down into the Land of the Forgotten. He overcame the trials on their way and was

judged and passed, all because of his pure heart.

As they go through the Cave of Souls, they met the Candle Maker, who then

toured them to the Magic Waterfalls that serves as his factory or workplace in making

candles ala making life. The Candle Maker foretold the gruesome incident that is about

to terrorize San Angel. He said that Chakal is about to set foot on San Angel to end the

town. So with that in mind, he hurriedly led Manolo and his company to the Land of the

Forgotten. Then, Manolo met La Muerte to do what hes intended to do, why they went

all their way into that land. After finding out about Xibalbas deception, La Muerte

became so angry so angry that she shouted and summoned Xibalba right away. As

compensation to what he has done, Xibalba was told to bring Manolo back to life. But he

refused.

Desperate to go back to the land of the living to live with Maria, Manolo offered

another wager to Xibalba this time. Manolo mentioned that he will beat whatever task

Xibalba is gonna make to be back alive for Maria. So, Xibalba made Manolo fight every

bull every Sanchez has ever fought in the arena. And he conquered the quest, not by

Page | 5
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

force, but by playing from his heart as Maria has taught him. That time, Manolo beat not

just Xibalbas bet, but also his greatest fear being himself.

So in accordance to the wager, the Candle Maker, La Muerte and Xibalba brought

Manolo back to life. Manolo, Joaquin, Maria and the whole town, alongside the souls

from the Land of the Remembered, fought against Chakal and the bandidos. They put up

a good fight and eventually came up on top.

In the end, friendship won and true love conquered them all. Joaquin realized

the essence of being a true hero. Manolo and Maria get to live with each other, both as

a Sanchez, for the rest of their lives. And La Muerte and Xibalba (the lady tour guide and

the guard), they eventually ended up forgiving and loving each other, too.

II. Compare the culture of the Mexicans to the Filipinos

According to Villareal (2014), Roman Catholicsm and the Manila-Acapulco

(Mexico) or the Galleon trade during the Spanish regime in the Philippines mustve

influenced over the likeness in the culture between the Filipinos and the Mexicans.

There exist culture similarities between the two nations, which include:

1. Coming of Age Celebrations Quinceanera is celebrated when a girl in Mexico

reaches the age of 15, while a debut is for the 18 year-old Filipino women.
2. Religious Rituals - Folks in both countries take time to remember their deceased

loved ones. In the Philippines, they call it All Souls Day, while in Mexico, Dia de

Los Muertos.

Page | 6
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

3. Food - Both cuisines have Spanish and common influences. Example dishes are

Chicharon, Paella and a whole assortment of Tapas.

4. Town Layout - Both of town layouts are similar with central plazas, Church and

municipal buildings around it. PH does have rotondas but not as much as the

Spanish. Also, both drive on the right.

5. Language - There are a substantial amount of common words like Mesa (table),

Kuberytos (utensils), Silya (chair) and others. Cebuano (a regional language)

counting is similar to Spanish counting. Chabakano is a Spanish-like Creole. Of

course, there are many Spanish curse words used in everyday language.
6. Telenovelas - Both cultures love it together with the rest of Latin America. They

even import telenovelas and dub them.

7. Boxing - Both countries have an obsession with boxing, and pride themselves in

being home to amazing boxing champions. Marquez, Barrera, Morales for

Mexico, and Pacquiao and Donaire for the Phils, to name a few.
8. Lateness - Filipino time and Latino time basically mean the same thing - Lateness.
9. Baby Jesus - Both Catholic countries love Baby Jesus, or Santo Nio. Both can

have whole processions with a baby Jesus statue as the centerpiece.

10. U.S. Immigration - It's crazy hard for people from both countries to get to the U.S.

It's unbelievable how difficult it is to apply and qualify for a visa.

11. Exporting labor - Speaking of immigration, Mexico and the Philippines are always

exporting labor. For the Mexicans, it's mainly to the U.S., but overseas Filipino

workers can be found all over the world.

12. Familia - Whether they're called titos and titas or tos and tas, and lolos and

lolas or abuelos and abuelas, every single member of the family is valued. Huge

Page | 7
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

familes are a Latino staple, and because of Spanish influence, theyre a common

Filipino staple as well.

13. Laughter - Jokes, laughter, and a general positive approach to life can be found in

both Mexico and the Philippines, despite the similar backdrop of poverty, crime,

pollution, and corruption. Theyre very happy people in general.

14. AIDS - Both are afflicted with AIDS or Acute Income Deficiency Syndrome.

Despite their poverty, however, the Mexicans are a happy and deeply spiritual

people. Like their Filipino cousins, they can smile even when they have almost

nothing.

III. Evaluate the movie. Is it good or bad? Why?

I like the movie, because it is good. Not being great, though, I honestly cannot

not rank this movie with the great movies that I have watched and loved up to present.

Those movies - including Inception, Predestination, The Prestige, Harry Potter, Narnia,

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, Shawshank Redemption, The Hunger Games

movies, Percy Jackson movies, The Vow, Inside Out, Sherlock Holmes movies, any Marvel

or DC Movie, the list goes on and on have twisted and unusual plots and settings that

often made me think a whole night about the movie. In the movie Book of Life, however,

there are things that I appreciate the most.

First, I like the scenes in this movie that showcases musicality. The reason is that I

always love movies that have good songs with it (eg. The Last Five Years, High School

Page | 8
Name: Jan Caleb S. Manzano
Section: BSIT 3-1
Date: 10/23/17
Subject: HUMAN100

Musical, Pitch Perfect, Moana, etc), for the fact that it adds meaning and effect to the

theme and the moral lesson of the story.

Also, I loved the part of the movie the ending where Xibalba and La Muerte

decided to be together again. Even after all those centuries of quarrel, deceipt and

coldness between the two, they still end up loving each other. I enjoy flicks, where love

wins.

Finally, I appreciate the movie for the knowledge I earned while watching it. This

movie is of great value not just to me but also to the children and anyone at a young

age, because it is very informative; it is an outlet of good lessons and examples; and, at

the same time, it is artistic.

Page | 9