CHRISTIAN LESTER R.

ALMONTE LIFE WORKS OF RIZAL RESEARCH PAPER

BSBA-LM 2ND YEAR DECEMBER 5, 2019

JOSE RIZAL
1. What do you think is the strength of the movie Rizal?

As I saw at the movie “Rizal” it encompasses the story of Rizal and not just on
Rizal himself but also on other “Katipuneros” who strived for hardship to conquer peace.
This art through relaying our history will surely help our future generation. Being Rizal
as the main persona on this movie I’ll just drop some of my points according to his
works.
Rizal is considered by many to be the national hero of the Philippines. He was a
doctor, writer, and an intellectual who travelled abroad and to the provinces declaring
that the Filipino people were capable of self-government and didn't need to be ruled by
Spain or any other foreign power. And history proves he was correct. He was an
influential individual on Filipino independence, and education, as well as a bolster to
Filipino self-image and mind-set. He could be considered responsible for instilling
Filipino pride of being a unique, independent, a person who places great value on
education and the national pride of being a great example who have strived in a hard
country for many centuries.
He is noble, bright, courageous according to the movie he wrote the ammunition
to shut down the wrong doings of the friars, and the Spaniards. Without a doubt, it’s his
two novels, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Contrary to popular opinion, these two novels are not just about the oppressive
Spanish occupation. Rizal was a passionate patriot, and he acknowledged Spain as the
Mother Country. He wrote his books in Spanish, and his target audience was mainly
Europe and Spain.

Noli and Fili are satirical sketches, meant to show that there were huge problems
in Philippine society. Rizal, a medical practitioner, wrote that it was a cancer of society.
All sectors were infected: the natives with indolence, the priests with greed, the
government with apathy and so on. His novels were not an appeal for freedom from
Spain. They were an appeal to Europe, to the Mother Country, to please fix things in the
Philippines. Things like providing Spanish language education, and sending over better
leaders and more sensible clergymen.

His strength in a sum, he is not afraid to execute the rightful acts and preach it to
the people through the help of mass dissemination of his novels for the cause of the
tyranny of the Spaniards.
CHRISTIAN LESTER R. ALMONTE LIFE WORKS OF RIZAL RESEARCH PAPER
BSBA-LM 2ND YEAR DECEMBER 5, 2019

2. What do you think is the weakness of the movie Rizal?

The weakness of the movie itself is on the transition, the flow is cluttered which is
understandable for the newbies by watching it on repeat. As the story is complex yet
fuzzy that is how substantial learning the life of Rizal.

As to describe the weakness of Jose Rizal, he is frank which in terms of his doings.

On the movie, As a result of his stinginess, Rizal also turned out to be a total wet
blanket in one party. Irritated because he was assigned to buy champagne for a New
Year’s Eve potluck party organized by the Filipino community in Europe, Rizal urged his
fellow guests to avoid gambling, drinking, and womanizing (he also did all three, by the
way).

At the end of his rant, he told everyone present to chip in for the champagne
because he just made an “abono” and expected everyone to pay for their share. Of
course, everyone laughed and thought he was joking until he passed his hat around. In
the aftermath, Rizal’s popularity among his peers declined.

One of his weaknesses is that he is too proud to ask for help, despite his
meticulous budgeting, Rizal’s financial situation did not always go smoothly. After his
family’s estate in Laguna was subjected to a dispute, Rizal’s allowances became few
and far between.

Nevertheless, Rizal’s “Pinoy Pride” would never allow him to seek financial

assistance from anyone. In fact, on the days he was broke and hungry, Rizal would
often go out of his boarding house for a walk while cursing his bad luck.

Like a normal person, Rizal also suffered from heartbreaks, homesickness and other
feelings of sadness. At one point, when he heard about his family’s land dispute and
persecution in Laguna, Rizal even wrote to Ferdinand Blumentritt just on the eve of his
departure to Brussels that he would have committed “a great folly” were it not for his
faith in God.

While Rizal never explicitly stated what his phrase meant, author Jose Baron Fernandez
postulated Rizal was likely thinking of committing suicide because he felt guilty about
causing his family pain and suffering
CHRISTIAN LESTER R. ALMONTE LIFE WORKS OF RIZAL RESEARCH PAPER
BSBA-LM 2ND YEAR DECEMBER 5, 2019

3. What can you say about the movie Jose Rizal?

Freedom… Wrath… Happiness… Scepticism… Sadness…

These were only some of the things I felt when I watched the Jose Rizal movie. Every
dialogue, every scene, every reaction in the movie was a momentum to keep. It was
breath taking. Seeing history flash before my eyes was just so remarkable. Gradually,
my blinded eyes were opened.
The movie depicts the life story of Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero of the
Philippines. It covers his life from his childhood to his execution at the hands of the
Spanish forces occupying the Philippines in the late 19 th century. We are also thrown
into the world of Rizal’s novels so we are able to have a glimpse of how he viewed the
Filipino society under the Spanish regime, revealing the suffering of our country.
The attributes that made our hero great and that has always left me astounded
was also clearly shown. His achievements since his childhood: he was an artisan, a
man of knowledge and wonder, a linguist, a gentleman, a master in every crafts, not to
mention his hundreds of achievements and profession, with a miracle of how he had
attained all of this in his short life span. But most of all he was a good brother, son and a
wonderful lover.
Moreover, the film made known the line of attack did by our heroes and
countrymen to achieve the freedom of our country under the rule of the Spaniards friar
and military force. It introduced us to the life of subjugation of the Filipino people and
that is the reason of the rebellions. Even in school, it was felt by Rizal and other Filipino
students. Many of them suffered and most of them were viewed as the servants of the
Spaniards.
Rizal used pen as his weapon rather than the sword in fighting against the
Spaniard administration, he had written it in novels and poetry. The most famous of his
writings are the “Noli Me Tanghere and El Filibusterismo”. One of the strengths of these
2 novels is the incorporation of the characters in the life of Rizal and of the Filipinos in
general. This only means that the two books are reflections of the lives of the Filipinos
during the Spanish era. But the notions and honorable principle written in the book did
not die but instead continued living until this present time manifesting the immortality of
Rizal’s ideas.
CHRISTIAN LESTER R. ALMONTE LIFE WORKS OF RIZAL RESEARCH PAPER
BSBA-LM 2ND YEAR DECEMBER 5, 2019

For more than a centennial now, Jose Rizal was executed by the Spanish Army
following a false conviction for rebellion, sedition and conspiracy. Rizal had devoted all
of his brief adult life to liberating his countrymen from the 300-year yoke of Spanish
colonial tyranny. So his imperial overlords were happy for any excuse to get rid of such
a demagogue, even though Rizal had not put his hands on the uprising. He believed in
nonviolent resistance He always had hope in his reforms and never agreed to the
revolutions being planned out by our fellow countrymen. For Rizal was a man of
words  but his were so much more combustible that he gave birth to the Philippine
Revolution with even more force than a gun or a sword can do.

I specifically love the part where Rizal fell facing the sky, having his last breathe
seeing the beautiful sunrise. A scene telling us that he did not die in vain, that he didn’t
die for nothing, that he didn’t die defeated. Actually, he was victorious. It was his fire
that lighted every Filipino heart to aim for Philippine independence.
He can be compared to a meteor of history. Meteors flash in the sky and light the
world. And in the process they consume themselves leaving an impression in the
integrity of mortal men.
CHRISTIAN LESTER R. ALMONTE LIFE WORKS OF RIZAL RESEARCH PAPER
BSBA-LM 2ND YEAR DECEMBER 5, 2019

4. What can you say about the characters that being portrayed to the story?

On this part I will focus to Rizal’s life in prison when he met Taviel. The movie “Jose
Rizal” is all about our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal – His life and works, his struggles in
order to free his countrymen from abuse, until his death under the hands of the
Spaniards who occupied our country for a very long time.

Most of the scenes of the film took place during Rizal’s imprisonment at Dapitan
wherein he meets Taviel, a Spanish officer, who will eventually defend him on his trial in
court. During their meeting, Taviel asks Rizal everything about him and his works
through various questions. Every answer that Rizal brought out from his mouth made
Taviel realize that Rizal was indeed an innocent man.
On the course of their conversation, Rizal talks about the making of his Two
Novels “Noli Me Tangere” and its sequel “El Filibusterismo” which are both anti Spanish
Novels that depicts how the Spaniards rule the Philippines and how the rights of the
Filipinos were abolished. Rizal portrayed himself on the said Novels – as Crisostomo
Ibarra on “Noli Me Tangere” and as Simeon on “El Filibusterismo.”
Going through with the movie, while Rizal is telling his story to Taviel, the scene
on the movie switches from his life story then to his portrayal on his Novels. Sometimes
the scene gets very difficult to follow because of the sudden switches during the scenes
on the movie most especially during the time that his first novel was on the process of
writing.
Rizal, a brave and a man of his word, was never afraid whatever the
consequences he may suffer because of his writings that are against the friars and also
to Spaniards. His goal was to free the Philippines from the unjust government of
Spanish colony.
In summary, the movie talks mostly of Rizal’s life until his death and the creation
of his great novels. The actors and actresses who acted on the movie did a great job
presenting how it was during Rizal’s time even though the said events in Rizal’s life
were just written in books.
CHRISTIAN LESTER R. ALMONTE LIFE WORKS OF RIZAL RESEARCH PAPER
BSBA-LM 2ND YEAR DECEMBER 5, 2019

5. If you are going to be the director, would you change the scenario of the movie?
Why?

No, as what should the history tells it must be relayed at an exact point. Showing
the specific scenarios would be helpful not just to tell the truth but also to uphold the
authentic origin of our freedom on our country. As the history is the basis of all branches
in general, false story must not be shown as the movie commemorates or relay the life
of our heroes as to mention Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and other fellow Filipinos who
fought for our freedom in this mother land.

But there are some points that the director misses, the flow of the movie
transition because it’s kind a bit messy when it comes to the changes on the story
especially to those foreign viewers who doesn’t have a good foundation on the story.

During Rizal tells a story in the movie the subjects changes into a new one
without any theme of transition or statement and even me as quite knowledgeable to his
story, I was confused when the scene changes into another story of Chrisostomo
Ibbara, that was puzzling but overall the movie was great even though we didn’t finish it
due of the limit of time.

As the director my job is to spread directly to the viewers the story little by little in
order for them to digest it thoroughly.

Rizal is a great hero and a person that fought for the freedom of his homeland.
Promoting courage to his comrades but unfortunately, the ruling Spaniards didn't agree
with Jose Rizal’s philosophy of independence, and they executed one of the greatest
and most intelligent, patriotic spokesman in human history.