Philippine Literature

The docudrama “Alaala” portrayed by Alden Richards is about the experience of Boni Ilagan

during Martial Law. He “Boni” was an activist during those times and they lived underground

when martial law started. Boni and his friend journalist Pete Lacaba was captured and tortured in

many discourteous ways. His sister Rizalina Ilagan followed his path of being activist but sadly

after she moved to underground, she suddenly disappear and until now she is missing. She is one

of the main reasons why until now, Boni is still an activist. He can hardly write his experiences

because he do not want to remember those bad things. He cannot even hold his tears when he is

telling about his sister, Lina.

The film itself is very interesting and somehow educational especially about the Philippine history

in Marcos’ administration. It is very brave of Boni to present his story to the public even if there

will be consequences. All of his experiences inspired lots of people, mostly students to fight for

their rights and become nationalistic. It is also good that even the actors did not experience the

martial law, they still tried so hard to understand the one they are portraying. It is a great thing that

they meet in person and discuss about the story and life during martial law.

The technical is appreciable because the editing and sounds are greatly done. The camera shots are

also fine and the transitions is creative and organized. While in terms of acting, I can say that the

main characters are great like Alden Richards and Rocco Nacino but there are some extras are
cringy like the one who “tortured” Boni and asking questions; but other than that, everything is

quite great. The film is informative yet it is not boring.