Jayrico Q.

Coscolluela

REFLECTION PAPER IN THE MOVIE-LIFE OF JOSE RIZAL

The movie that I’ve watched tells the life story of Jose Rizal, the national hero of
the Philippines. A three-hour epic on the life and struggles of his poet and patriotisms. 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.
The film also through a series of flashback showing Rizal as a genius, writer,
doctor, an artist, a lover, friend, brother and son, thus giving a rich texture of Rizal’s
character.
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.
I also commend the film for its bravery in showing the evil tyranny of the
Catholic Church during that time. Considering that the Philippines is a Catholic nation
that is like butchering a sacred cow but alas, Abaya works her magic in depicting the
suffering of the Filipinos because of the friars.
This is by far the best Filipino movie that I have seen so far. I would urge anyone
reading this who likes movies, to either rent it or buy it.
I particularly love the last scene of the film when Rizal fell in the ground facing
the sky, having his last breath looking at a beautiful sunrise- a metaphor depicting that
Rizal did not die in vain. He did not die for nothing. He did not die defeated. Rather he
died victorious because his death is the torch that lights Philippine independence, that
ignites Philippine Revolution.