CALUCIN, Angelique Faye V.

BSA 1-23

I couldn’t believe that this movie was released in 1998 and never in my life I have watched it, I

was aware that there was a movie titled Jose Rizal played by Cesar Montano, and I intentionally

did not bother to watch it thinking that it is such an old movie already for me and that it would

just bore me out telling me things that my teachers already taught about the life and works of

Jose Rizal. I’m not going to lie but as we were tasked to watch this movie, it felt like forced labor

for me but as I went on with watching it, I realized how wrong my assumptions are, telling that

my expectations were exceeded is a mere understatement. It was one of those movies that I

would not dare to take my eyes off and miss a scene, it was just like a ride of a roller-coaster,

every scene was heartfelt giving me such mixed emotions all throughout.

The movie revolved around the life of Jose Rizal, it started from his youth, how he was raised by

his family, the education he took from different educational institutions, love affairs, and the

things he did and had been through that made him our national hero today. The first thing that I

would like to point out in the movie is the vivid and realistic representation of not only the life of

Rizal but also how our fellowmen suffered oppression and injustices from the hands of the

Spaniards. I would like to commend their bravery for depicting the evil tyranny of the friars of

the Catholic Church, considering that we are a Catholic nation today. I liked that there was no

censorship, using the opportunity to its fullest extent to expose how Filipinos were maltreated by

heartless colonists, showing only the truth and nothing but the truth. And because of that, the
movie served as an eye to our history, making me feel like I was also there with them the whole

time, instilling empathy for our country and patriotism, I bet that I was not the only one feeling

outraged from the doings of the Spaniards. I also liked how they were able to incorporate the

characters in his novels, showing how his life and the things he has seen affected the flow of the

stories. They also did a great job in relying on that our national hero was also an ordinary human

just like us and who was also among us, they showed different chapters of his life which made us

know him more personally and explained a lot as to how he was able to succeed his mission for

our country. I must say that all of the scenes in the movie are worth commending, all of it caught

my interest, but in pointing out a few, the first scene would be his meaningful conversation with

his servant while he was in jail, his servant said to him that he is such a highly-intellectual person

who had achieved a lot of educational attainments but he ended up being in jail and having a lot

of enemies while the servant pointed out that he did not have any education but he is not in jail

and does not have enemies. This scene showed us how powerful education can be, that it could

open one’s eyes to the wrongdoings of other people, but Rizal also pointed out that although he

has high regard for education, he realized that there is education out there that is blinding. The

second scene was in one of Rizal’s class when a professor pointed out that one of the reasons

why Spaniards are more superior than Filipinos is because they are taller, Rizal being himself

rebutted that if they are superior because of their heights then why are some of their colonies

who are small natives are gaining freedom from them, this showed that even through classes,

Rizal already showed courage to fight for his own race and country when it is being stepped on.

The last scene that caught most of my attention is the scene with his counsel, Jose Taviel de

Andrade, where his counsel kept insisting to him that his book is an exaggeration and that the
Spaniards would never do such things, with this Rizal said, “Pareho ba tayo ng nakikita? O may

ayaw ka lang makita?”. This made me realize that as long as someone is not badly affected or

have not experienced injustices, they will keep a blind eye and will not stand up for those who

are vulnerable to the situation. Rizal taught us here that even though you are someone that is not

affected it doesn’t mean that nothing wrong is happening and it doesn’t mean that you should not

do anything about it. Once your eyes have been open it is a sin to close them again. Moreover,

they did not disappoint with the ending of the movie when Rizal died facing the sunrise, a way of

showing that his death was not the end for us but the beginning.

All in all, the movie was much detailed and informative, if I have to study for a test about Rizal’s

life and his work, this movie would definitely help me ace the test. This film was created to

commemorate our 100 years of independence and I must say that they did not disappoint, it was

such an exquisite way to lighten up again the patriotism and nationalism within Filipinos, to

recall all the sacrifices and hardships our national hero and fellowmen went through so that we

could experience the blessings of our rights, freedom, and democracy and inspire every single

citizen of this nation to be better individuals that will bring pride to our motherland. I hope that

they will keep producing movies like this that value our history and unique identity. With what is

happening with our country right now, now is the time to use our voices, now is not the time to

choose political sides, for now, is the time to stand up with what is truly best for our country.