Heneral Luna

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Heneral Luna

Official movie poster

Directed by Jerrold Tarog

Produced by Fernando Ortigas

 Henry Francia
Written by
 E.A. Rocha
 Jerrold Tarog

Starring  John Arcilla

 Mon Confiado
 Arron Villaflor
 Joem Bascon
 Archie Alemania
 Epi Quizon
 Nonie Buencamino
  Paulo Avelino
 Leo Martinez
 Mylene Dizon
 Ronnie Lazaro

Music by Jerrold Tarog

Cinematography Pong Ignacio

Edited by Jerrold Tarog

Production Artikulo Uno Productions

company

Distributed by  Quantum Films

 Abramorama
(United States)[1]

Release date  September 9, 2015 (Philippines)

 October 30, 2015 (United States)

Running time 118 minutes

Country Philippines

Language Filipino

Budget ₱80 million[2]

Box office ₱256 million[3]

Heneral Luna (lit. General Luna) is a 2015 Filipino historical biopic film depicting General Antonio
Luna's leadership of the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine–American War.
Directed by Jerrold Tarog and produced by Artikulo Uno Productions, the film received critical
acclaim from critics, praising its cinematography, writing, acting and plot. The film was selected as
the Philippine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not
nominated.[4]
With a production budget of ₱80 million,[5][6] it is one of the most expensive Filipino epic historical
films ever released. On September 29, 2015, it broke previous record of ₱160 million to become the
highest grossing Filipino historical film of all time.[7][8][9] Despite a 50% discount offered student
viewers,[10] by the beginning of its fourth week the film was well on its way to reaching the ₱200
million gross ticket sales.[11] In October 11, it was officially announced that the film had reached
its ₱240 million break even point.[5] The film's success spawned the sequel Goyo: Ang Batang
Heneral, General Gregorio Del Pilar during the Philippine–American War.

Contents
 1Plot
 2Cast
o 2.1Historical characters
 2.1.1Members of Aguinaldo's Presidential Cabinet
 2.1.2Antonio Luna's general staff
 2.1.3Members of the "Cavite faction" of the Philippine Republican Army
 2.1.4Other Philippine Republican Army personnel
 2.1.5United States Army personnel
 2.1.6Other supporting characters
o 2.2Fictional or composite characters
 3Production
o 3.1Screenplay
o 3.2Pre-production
o 3.3Casting
o 3.4Filming
o 3.5Makeup and prosthetics
o 3.6Visual effects
o 3.7Music
 4Release
o 4.1Pre-release screenings
o 4.2Marketing
o 4.3Theatrical release
 5Reception
o 5.1Box office
o 5.2Home media
o 5.3Filmmakers
o 5.4Critical reception
o 5.5Accolades
 6Themes and symbolism
 7Historical accuracy and significance
o 7.1Isabel and conspiracy theories related to Ysidra Cojuangco
 8Controversies
o 8.1Early pull-out
o 8.2Lack of knowledge about Mabini's paralysis
o 8.3Portrayal of Aguinaldo
o 8.4Unauthorized releases
 9Sequel
 10In popular culture
 11See also
 12References
 13External links

Plot[edit]
Spain's 333 years of Philippines colonization ends in 1898. Unwilling to surrender to the Filipinos,
Spain sells the archipelago for $20 million.
While the Americans prepare to claim their latest colony, the Filipinos argue amongst themselves,
unaware of their country's fate under the Treaty of Paris.
December 1898. In Bulacan, President of the First Philippine Republic, Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon
Confiado), his Prime Minister Apolinario Mabini (Epi Quizon) and his presidential cabinet are
debating the issue of the American presence in the Philippines.
Filipino ilustrados Felipe Buencamino (Nonie Buencamino) and Pedro Paterno (Leo Martinez) argue
for an American alliance with Philippines as its protectorate. This angers the military leaders present
in the cabinet meeting: General Antonio Luna (John Arcilla) and General José Alejandrino (Alvin
Anson) who want to continue the revolution for Philippines independence. They are wary of the
presence of American forces in the country, believing another imperialist nation will simply replace
the Spaniards. They are concerned about the latest American orders barring Filipino troops out of
the walled city of Intramuros since the mock Battle of Manila in August. Intramuros is the seat of
government and power base of the Spaniards in the archipelago.
Luna's military instinct senses something afoot. He asks the Cabinet to authorize a pre-emptive
strike against their liberators to take control of Intramuros while the Americans forces have not yet
landed their ground troops and the Philippine Revolutionary Army still have the advantage.
Prime Minister Mabini specifically warns the cabinet of the 7,000 additional American reinforcement
arriving to fight any insurgencies. The Generals want to strike now, reiterating their soldiers'
willingness to sacrifice their lives for their country.
Aguinaldo is swayed by the elitist voices in the cabinet and leans towards continuing American
peace and trade discussions and sends Buencamino and Arguelles to meet with them. He assures
his cabinet that the Americans promise to help win freedom from their Spanish overlords.
The truth was that months earlier on August 13, 1898, local Spanish and American generals,
secretly and jointly planned a land engagement, later known as the Battle of Manila"[12] to transfer
control of Intramuros from the Spaniards to the Americans.
Following the surrender of the Spaniards, the Americans turn their attention to keeping General
Aguinaldo's men out of Intramuros, an unusual order questioned by the Filipinos who provide
support for the Americans. Filipino forces were not able to capture Manila, increasing anti-American
sentiments and suspicions that the liberators are our next conquerors.
As it turns out, the peace talks come up empty-handed for the Filipinos. On December 10, 1898,
Spain and United States of America sign the Treaty of Paris that ends the Spanish American war.
Spain cedes authority of the Philippines to the United States. They turn over Intramuros to the
Americans, while American troops begin to engage with Filipino soldiers and seize control of cities
like Santa Mesa, San Juan, Paco and Pandacan, showing aggression against any Filipinos
resistance. After their fight against the Spaniards, the Filipinos fight another war.
Luna and his trusted comrades – General José Alejandrino, Colonel Francisco “Paco” Román (Joem
Bascon), Captain Eduardo Rusca (Archie Alemania), Captain José Bernal (Alex Medina) and Major
Manuel Bernal (Art Acuña) – embark on an arduous campaign against the invading American forces.
During an intense battle against American troops led by General Arthur MacArthur Jr. (Miguel
Faustmann) and General Elwell Otis (E.A. Rocha), Luna asks for reinforcements from the Kawit
Battalion but its commander, Captain Pedro Janolino (Ketchup Eusebio), refuses to comply because
the order did not come from President Aguinaldo himself. Luna angrily rides to Janolino's camp,
humiliates him in front his men, and dismisses the battalion for insubordination. Luna then
assembles an army of 4,000 soldiers by declaring his infamous "Article One", stating that all who
refuse to follow his orders shall be executed without the benefit of a trial in a military court. He also
recruits Lieutenant García (Ronnie Lazaro) after witnessing his marksmanship skills, and makes him
commander of his elite unit of snipers and sharpshooters.
As the new war drags on, Buencamino and Paterno indicate their support of a proposal for Philippine
autonomy as the protectorate of the United States. Enraged by this, Luna orders their arrest as
traitors to the constitution they swore to uphold. Aguinaldo reluctantly arrests them, especially as
Prime Minister Mabini validates Luna has grounds.
Luna's military campaign is undermined by General Tomás Mascardo (Lorenz Martinez), who
opposes Luna's order for reinforcements, stating that he will only follow the President's direct orders.
While the two generals are about to clash in Pampanga, the Americans advance steadily as other
Filipino generals like Gregorio del Pilar (Paulo Avelino) retreat to the north. Luna visits Aguinaldo
and Mabini to file his resignation, knowing that Buencamino and Paterno have been set free.
Aguinaldo refuses to accept his resignation, and approves Luna's request to establish the
Philippines Military headquarters in the north.
Later, Luna is summoned to the President's headquarters in Cabanatuan. Although his officers are
suspicious of the telegram, Luna rides to Cabanatuan, bringing only Román and Rusca with him.
Upon arrival, the streets are unusually empty, most of the soldiers had already left the president's
headquarters under Aguinaldo's orders, with the exception of some elements of the Kawit Battalion
and presidential guards. Luna discovers that Aguinaldo had already left that morning, and only
Senator Buencamino remains in the office. As they exchange heated words, a single shot is fired
outside. Luna investigates and encounters Captain Janolino and his men, who attack him. Luna is
shot, stabbed, and hacked repeatedly to death. Román is also killed while a wounded Rusca
surrenders to the Kawit soldiers. Most of Luna's remaining loyal officers are arrested during the
purge, while some are tortured and killed, including the Bernal brothers, Heneral Luna's closest
aides.
As ordered by Aguinaldo, Luna and Román are buried with full military honors by the Kawit Battalion
- the same men who killed them. Mabini, who is among the mourners, notices a
bloodied Machete on one of the soldiers; however, the inquest exonerates the Kawit Battalion and
Luna's killers are never caught.
After the war, while American newspapers in the Philippines quickly blame Aguinaldo for Luna's
death, Aguinaldo denies his involvement on the assassination; calling Antonio Luna as his most
brilliant and most capable general. MacArthur and Otis acknowledge Luna as a worthy adversary,
laughing at the fact that the Filipinos killed the only real general they had.
In the film's post-credits scene at the end, General Gregorio del Pilar prepares to cover President
Aguinaldo's retreat to the north. Del Pilar inspects Luna's remaining men and orders his aide,
Colonel Vicente Enríquez (Carlo Aquino) to select 60 of them.

Cast[edit]
Historical characters[edit]

 John Arcilla as Gen. Antonio Luna

 Mon Confiado as President Emilio Aguinaldo
Members of Aguinaldo's Presidential Cabinet[edit]

 Epy Quizon as Prime Minister Apolinario Mabini

 Alvin Anson as Gen. José Alejandrino
 Nonie Buencamino as Felipe Buencamino Sr.
 Leo Martinez as Pedro Paterno
Antonio Luna's general staff[edit]

 Joem Bascon as Col. Francisco "Paco" Román

 Art Acuña as Maj. Manuel Bernal
 Alex Medina as Capt. José Bernal
 Archie Alemania as Capt. Eduardo Rusca
 Ronnie Lazaro as Lt. García
Members of the "Cavite faction" of the Philippine Republican Army[edit]

 Lorenz Martinez as Gen. Tomás Mascardo

 Ketchup Eusebio as Capt. Pedro Janolino
 Anthony Falcon as Sgt. Díaz, messenger of General Mascardo[13]
Other Philippine Republican Army personnel[edit]

 Paulo Avelino as Gen. Gregorio "Goyong" del Pilar

 Benjamin Alves as Lt. Manuel Quezon
United States Army personnel[edit]

 Miguel Faustmann as Gen. Arthur MacArthur Jr.[14]

 E.A. Rocha as Maj. Gen. Elwell Otis
 Greg Dorris as Maj. Gen. Wesley Merritt
 David Bianco as Maj. Peter Lorry Smith
 Rob Rownd as Col. Boyd
Other supporting characters[edit]

 Bing Pimentel as Laureana Luna, mother of Antonio Luna

 Allan Paule as Juan Luna, brother of Antonio Luna
 Marc Abaya as young Antonio Luna
 Perla Bautista as Trinidad Aguinaldo, mother of Emilio Aguinaldo
 Dido de la Paz as Don Joaquín Luna de San Pedro, father of Antonio Luna
 Junjun Quintana as José Rizal
 Nico Antonio as Andrés Bonifacio
 Jake Feraren as Procopio Bonifacio
 Carlo Aquino as Col. Vicente Enríquez
Fictional or composite characters[edit]

 Arron Villaflor as Joven Hernándo, the film's POV character, a fictional journalist interviewing
Luna.[15]
 Mylene Dizon as Isabel, a composite character of several of the historical Luna's love
interests.[16]

Production[edit]
Screenplay[edit]
The first draft of Heneral Luna was written in 1998 by E.A. Rocha and Henry Hunt Francia, who
chose to write about Antonio Luna after being hired by Cirio Santiago to write a television script for a
television series in celebration of the centennial of Philippine independence. When the series failed
to push through, Rocha and Francia were asked to rewrite the script as a feature-length film. The
film did not go into production, however, and was shelved for seventeen years.[17] Francia died before
the film's release.[18] Eventually, Leo Martinez convinced Rocha to submit the script to the Film
Development Council of the Philippines.[19]
Jerrold Tarog, who had separately developed an interest in making a film about Antonio Luna after
reading literature about him, learned about the Rocha and Francia script, and asked if he could use
it for his planned film. Tarog got permission to re-write the script, which was originally written entirely
in English,[20] and then asked fellow director Alvin Yapan to help translate it into formal
Tagalog.[17] Tarog then tweaked the script further, simplifying it, and adapting it further for the
appreciation of modern audiences.[20][21]
Notably, one of Tarog's later changes was to separate the Mascardo and Janolino characters, which
at one point had been merged into a composite character, "Mascolino", who would have taken on
characteristics of both historical characters. Tarog indicated that separating the characters would
help flesh the film out further, and give it more highlights.[19]
The characters of Paco Román and Eduardo Rusca, who were portrayed in a character triptych with
Luna in the film, were written to be polar opposites. Román would be a more controlled, logical
character who would help bring out a more controlled side of Luna, while Rusca would be a more
passionate character who could provide moments of levity throughout the film.[22]
In an interview on Filipino music website Radio Republic, Tarog, who has a degree in music
composition from the College of Music at the University of the Philippines Diliman,[23] indicated that
he approached Heneral Luna, as with all his other films, from a musical perspective. He revealed
that he sometimes even did so literally - using a musical staff to lay out scenes, plotting out highs
and lows, with notes corresponding scenes, and the pitch of the note corresponding to the mood.[20]
Among Tarog's references during the rewriting of the script were Philippine National Artist Nick
Joaquin's A Question of Heroes, which he used as a guide to the film's tone and in humanizing the
character of the titular protagonist; and Vivencio José's The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna, which
Tarog used as the primary source on Antonio Luna's life.[17]
Pre-production[edit]
Before meeting with Rocha regarding revising the script for the film, Tarog approached mainstream
producers to do the film; he was however met with skepticism and doubts over the film's
marketability, as they assumed that such a historical film "will be boring" or would not appeal to a
mainstream audience. Tarog expressed difficulty into convincing them otherwise, lamenting that the
local film industry has been institutionalized into producing films solely for entertainment, without
taking into account those that "contribute to the minds of the people".[17][24]
The film was bankrolled by businessman Fernando Ortigas' film production outfit Artikulo Uno
Productions, which takes its name from the Philippine-American War military directive, prominently
referenced in the film. Ortigas himself makes a brief cameo in the film.[24][25] Ortigas and Rocha
served as co-producers of the film.[24] Ortigas remarked that if he would have received the script for
the film a week earlier than he did, he would have just junked the script because he was not in a
good state of mind to work with films at that time. He comments that the script arrived "at the right
time" and said he enjoyed it.[26]
The film went through a long pre-production phase, which allowed the film's various departments to
cope with the challenges of filming a period film in contemporary settings.[24] With roughly 90% of the
film needing to be shot on location, the film required extensive location shoots in the few areas in the
Philippines which still matched the architecture and environment of the period.[27]
Casting[edit]
Speaking at a press conference for 2015 Quezon City International Film Festival, at the beginning of
the film's fourth week, Producer and co-writer E.A. Rocha noted that no expense was to be spared in
getting "only actors suited for the role" instead of big-name stars. Tarog said his experiences on
watching John Arcilla's performance in Raymond Red's short film Anino and later in the feature
film Metro Manila later influenced him to cast Arcilla as General Luna.[22]
Filming[edit]
To keep costs down and cope with the requirements of shooting a historical film in modern settings,
the film hewed close to its very tightly planned shotlist.[22] Tarog revealed that he designed his shots
to reflect the two sides of Luna's personality - mostly straightforward shots to reflect his bluntness,
and longer steadicam shots in moments that revealed his poetic side.[22]
Cinematographer Pong Ignacio drew inspiration from paintings from the film's period, including
Antonio Luna's brother, Juan, and referenced numerous films portraying trench warfare,
citing Stanley Kubrick's 1957 film Paths of Glory as a particular inspiration.[27] Ignacio recounts that
the flashback scene to Luna's childhood, which was a single long steadicam shot involving an
elaborate set, was the most challenging shot of the film.[27]
Makeup and prosthetics[edit]
Makeup and prosthetics for the film referred extensively to actual pictures of the historical
characters. Arcilla had to grow out his moustache for the film, while Confiado lost significant weight
for the role. Confiado also had to spend a long time looking for a barber who could render
Aguinaldo's iconic haircut well. Carmen Reyes, who oversaw the makeup and prosthetics for the
film, revealed that the makeup for Bing Pimintel, who portrays Luna's mother in two time periods,
was particularly challenging. She also added that the choice to portray General Mascardo with only a
partially formed moustache was symbolic, reflecting his frustration about being overshadowed by
Luna.[28]
Visual effects