Barte, Chastity History

2013 – 44897 2/11/14

Jose Rizal

A Film Review

The film Jose Rizal directed by Diaz-Abaya is about the life and struggles of our national

hero in the era where Spaniards still colonize the Philippines. It is about love, trust, camaraderie

and revolution – not only against the Spaniards but also against himself. Here, Rizal is faced with

many difficulties and problems which molded him to the person he was.

The film recounts about Rizal’s exile in prison. He was imprisoned by the Spaniards

because of he has written two novels Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo together with the

accusation that he had started a revolution. He was to be put under trial to determine if he was to

be set free to put to death. As Rizal meets Taviel, a Spanish soldier in charge of Rizal’s case,

Rizal encounters a series of flashbacks. Taviel found out that Rizal was innocent. But, the friars

who were the main target of his books, wanted to end Rizal’s life. They had much influence even

on the Spanish officials. And thus it was their will that was to be followed.

Rizal was a son, a brother and a friend. He was taught and raised to be a responsible

individual. He was taught a bit of Spanish by his mother and was later on sent to a local school.

There, he first encountered Spanish abuse. Rizal’s mother was later sent to jail causing him to

change his last name. He was sent to Europe to study medicine. His brother, Paciano, urged him

to do so too since it was for his benefit.

 Rizal was a lover. He had an affair with his cousin, Leonor, before he had left for Europe.

When he had left, he was not able to say his goodbyes to Leonor. Later on, he had found out that

Leonor was to be wed to another man causing him grief. But, this was not the last time Rizal had

experienced love.

As a writer, Rizal had written two novels: Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo – each

related to his life and each related about his views about love, Spain’s colonization, the Filipino

youth and revolution. The main character of his novels was Crisostomo Ibarra. In Noli me

Tangere, he was a man of pure nature. There he had encountered love for the first time. There he

had hope that the Filipino youth could be molded into brilliant individuals. There, he had hope

that if Spain saw this progress, Philippines will be granted freedom. In Noli me Tangere, Rizal

placed all his hope for his country. Hewas Ibarra. It was his method of telling the Filipino what

was truly happening in the Philippines.

In El Filibusterismo, however, Ibarra had changed. Rizal himself had also changed. He

had encountered various hardships in his life and so did Ibarra. Ibarra was forced to go into

hiding and change his identity to Simon. Forced to go through all this, he now has cynical views

on the Spanish officials and friars. He was more violent. He had less hope on the youth. He

wanted the Youth to stop getting education from the colonizers for slowly, they had been losing

their national identity. Here, it was clear that Simon had wanted revolution yet in the end, failed.

Rizal met Andres Bonifacio, who was greatly moved by his books. Andres wanted to

urge Rizal to join his revolution but Rizal denied. The books were Rizal’s way of saying that he

had wanted a peaceful change and that even if there was a violent revolution, it would not

succeed.
 There were various factors that led Rizal to create his masterpieces Noli me Tangere and

El Filibusterismo. There was his love for Leonor and his family; there was the abuse on the

Filipinos by the Spanish officials and friars.

Rizal, like any other person, also experienced grief in his life. He had various

propagandas to give Filipinos information yet he was surprised that one of his colleagues would

privatize their work and not publicize it. He was hurt, that the love of his life had left him oh so

suddenly to marry another man. He was also hurt when his first child had died. Even still, he had

remained strong-willed.

I guess we can say that he was the spark that urged the Filipinos to fight back. He made

them realize that they were suffering – and all these must end. To gain independence and recover

nationalism, to get back our national identity which had seemed forgotten because of Spanish

colonization – these where his dreams. Although he did not approve of violence, it had seemed

that there was no other way to fight back.

It may seem that it was Bonifacio’s efforts which made change and impact. But, without

Rizal – without his works, Andres’ movement would also not occur. Like many people’s

successes, there needs to be a dream, a goal, a hope of some kind. Andres’ ambitions were

sparked by Rizal – and, not only Andres’ was inspired by Rizal’s books, but all the Filipinos,

inside and outside the country, had started to fight back.

Rizal was a son, a writer, a lover, a propagandist and, the man who sparked a revolution.