ARIAN KEITH P AQUINO

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Reflection Paper about Jose Rizal, GMA Films, directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya
The Filipino film Jose Rizal, released in 1998, opened our eyes to the tyranny of the
Spaniards. I'm quite amused that Filipinos have produced such excellent film, and I had
no idea until I met the Rizal subject that they had.
To begin describing Jose Rizal's life as depicted in the film, I was struck by his youthful
innocence. Everything seems perfect and beautiful when you're young, and everything
is spoon-fed to you until you're old enough to spit out the bitter truths. The Spanish
friars' harsh ruling. I'd also point out the film's ironic role of the priests, who are
supposed to be God's stewards but aren't. I'd like to clarify that it was the church, not
God, that lied. I'd also like to applaud the film's artistic cinematography, which, as norm
says, adds "Filipino feels." The child beaten by the priest also serves as a reminder of
how Filipinos have struggled just to survive in their own country. In a nutshell, Rizal's life
(particularly his early childhood) depicts the beginning of Philippine historical treason.
Based on my reading and class discussions, I believe the film depicts what we call "the
fall of patriarchy," in which patriarchs (Spaniards) are deposed in the name of justice
and equality, or for the greater good of a larger group. The film depicts how much you
are willing to sacrifice for the future of the land where your mothers and great-great
grandmothers lived and carried the blood of Filipinos in their wombs. The film is more
than a film that inspires viewers to light a fire when colonialism is no longer necessary. It
seeks Filipinos' camaraderie, not fear, in order to fight for honor and glory. It represents
everything that has been given up in order for us to have what we have now. The
freedom, the serenity—everything we are experiencing today is a result of thousands of
lives lost during historical events.
The film, on the other hand, seeks to answer the question, "How much are you willing to
fight for today?" in my opinion. "Today," I said, referring to us. Can we do for ourselves
what our heroic forefathers did for us? I believe the Philippines is divided today, and as
a result, we are unprepared for any future colonialism. Filipinos aren't united, based on
recent events, and we're all fighting each other. We are all speakers, but we have no
one to listen to us. The film, I believe, reminds us to unite, like sturdy blocks of walls
glued together to defend against potential disasters. The film depicts the horrors that
may occur in the future if the current generation ceases to fight. We must continue to
fight oppression, including not only colonialism but also today's oppression in China,
discrimination against the LGBTQ community, poverty, corruption, and so on. These are
the issues we should be fighting, but are we all willing to do so?
The last but not the least, my own reflection based on the film is that, we are all slaves
of something that matters to us. Rizal is the slave for his loved country that he died for
it. We? As individuals, we can answer uniquely. Some people are slaves of fear, some
are slaves of money, some for power— some are slaves of hunger for knowledge, some
are ignorance, some are slaves of love and some are slaves of nothingness. The film
made me realize that the things that we are willing to sacrifice is the cost of the love to
what is important to us. I’ve like to end with the statement I’ve read in Facebook, it says,
“Nak, makinig ka. Hindi tayo lumalaya, lumalawak lang ang ating kulungan.”
 Reflection Paper about Rizal sa Dapitan, directed by Timoy Aguiluz
Rizal sa Dapitan is a film about Jose Rizal's life while in Dapitan. It was delivered
in 1997 and was remembered for the Toronto Film Festival. Albert Martinez, Amanda
Page, Candy Pangilinan, and Jaime Fabregas were among the cast. It was coordinated
or directed by Tikoy Aguiluz.
In the film, because of his nonstop battle against the Spanish government and
monks, Rizal was tossed to Dapitan. He made his life in Dapitan beneficial by extending
a hand to help his kindred Filipinos there by executing such things. At that point he
began to look all starry eyed at an American woman which was is Josephin Bracken,
who went to the Philippines to look for clinical assistance for her dazed stepfather. They
wedded however neglected to keep their kid.
The film finished when Rizal went to Cuba with his family. Rizal sa Dapitan was a
decent depiction of Rizal's life while in Dapitan. Albert Martinez depicted Rizal in a great
manner - a polite honorable man, canny, good and attractive. The decision of
entertainer of Amanda Page as Josephine Bracken was additionally reasonable - white
cleaned and lovely, truly American like. However, Candy Pangilinan as Rizal's sister
was somewhat unconvincing in light of the fact that she is a comedienne. That scene of
her and Rizal contending appeared as though she was attempting to make us giggle.
The content was likewise superb. Rizal utilized profound words, similar to an artist,
similar to Edgar Allan Poe, the what we call as 'matalinghaga', and it showed us how
shrewd Rizal was. The image quality was not that acceptable and the cutting of the
scenes was befuddling. For instance, Rizal was conversing with Father Sanchez then it
suddenly changed to the scene when they were having some espresso.
The film additionally needed music to add more feeling into each scene. With regards to
the exercises that could be found in the film, positively much can be found in Rizal sa
Dapitan. It trained me about the worth of life and the excellence of kids when Rizal and
Bracken's child kicked the bucket. It showed me the significance of opportunity and how
to in any case live regularly and completely in the event that it had been denied of me. It
showed me not to stop and shrink with regards to battling for what I believe is correct.
Rizal sa Dapitan isn't actually an unquestionable requirement watch film, however as a
set of experiences understudy or as an individual who needs to find further who Rizal
truly is or find out about Philippine history, there's no mischief to check it out.
Rizal sa Dapitan was acceptable, the selection of characters was additionally
acceptable, however there ought to be enhancements in the content, cinematography
and music. This film is by and large great, however I discovered shortcomings in it that
makes me say that it isn't anything contrasted with the film Jose Rizal featuring Cesar
Montano which everything being equal, delivered in 1999.