A Movie Review Quezon's Game: The Inspiring Story of the Philippines'

"Oskar Schindler"

The uplifting story of the "Oskar Schindler of the Philippines" deserves to be told better.
Quezon's Game, a 2018 Philippine biographical drama film, is a collaboration between Star
Cinema, iWant, and Kinetek. Matthew Rosen, the director of Quezon's Game, is a British
national who lives in the Philippines with his Filipino wife Lorena Rosen, who is also a co-
producer on the film that only had a production budget of $500,000. Nonetheless, the color film
is 125 minutes long and is filmed in English, Spanish, and Tagalog. The movie is also an
excellent expression of Manuel Quezon's heroism during World War II. Quezon's Game
influences the social remembrance of past events as it offers a unique viewpoint on World War II
and depicts the obstacles Quezon had to overcome under American authority to protect the rights
and dignity of the oppressed.

During the pre-World War II era, Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon, portrayed by
Raymond Bagatsing, devised a scheme to shelter German and Austrian Jews fleeing Nazi
Germany in the Philippines. As other countries slammed their doors shut, President Quezon
provided refuge to 1,200 Jews from Germany and Austria in 1939 with the help of High
Commissioner to the Philippines Paul McNutt (James Paoleli), Jewish American businessman
Alex Frieder (Billy Ray Gallion), and military advisor — and future US President — Dwight
Eisenhower (David Bianco). Hence, a deft political operator wheeled and dealt with Washington,
which controlled the Philippines' borders at the time and obtained visas for the refugees. The plot
is based on a real-life political chess game that has all the elements of a compelling race-against-
the-clock thriller, but it devolves into plodding, tedious, and unconvincing melodrama. As the
narrative comes to a head with a battle between Quezon and Roosevelt's government, which
includes anti-Semites who are obstructing visas on false national security grounds, it should
make your heart race, yet this is a film with exposition-heavy speech. However, there is one
heartbreaking scene in which Alex Frieder, a Jewish-American exile, weeps in anguish as he is
forced to choose 200 names for the initial wave of immigration from a list of thousands of
Jewish candidates. In the end, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines prevented Quezon's
attempt to save 10,000 Jews.

There are two types of historical films: those that attempt to mirror reality and attempt to
build a new world to serve a story best. Sometimes it's clear which type you're going for, but
other times the reality is much more subtly hidden. However, in most circumstances, either
approach is acceptable if the picture is creatively successful. The case of Quezon's Game is not
one of them. Indeed, the Philippines took in 1,200 Jewish immigrants from Nazi Germany, but
the film is framed so that the entire thing appears to be carried out exclusively on Quezon's back.
More information about the role of High Commissioner Paul McNutt, the Jewish Refugee
Committee of Manila, and the broader backdrop of the plans to make Mindanao into "a new
Palestine," as historian Bonnie Mae Harris describes it, would be ideal. Another factor to
consider is that a large part of the reason this was feasible was the Philippines' unique status as
an American colony, not primarily due to it, as the film implies. Quezon was also seeking
constitutional changes to assure his re-election, while McNutt was considering running for
President of the United States in the impending 1940 elections, both of which are factors that
needed to be highlighted more prominently in the film. To add, the timeline of Quezon's Game
depicted events as if they occurred over a period of weeks. Presumably, due to a lack of telling
audiences about the actual timeline. By reason, there are so few films depicting Philippine
history it's all too tempting to presume that each one is accurate enough.

Despite some inaccuracies, I applaud the film's writers for retelling this wonderful story
in a new and moving way, despite difficulties and challenges in retrieving and collecting local
manuscripts about Quezon's great humanitarian cause, and instead considered to consult and read
theses and dissertations of American historians who tackled the subject matter. Moreover, it was
able to capture the expected emotions of the viewers. I was personally moved as Quezon tries to
finish his duty while dealing with the agonizing task of lowering the refugee list in the face of
opposition to visas, refugee quota hikes, and exit permits. Raymond Bagatsing presented himself
as a dignified and elegant portrayal of Quezon. Other actors, particularly Gallion, Bianco, and
Paoleli, give equal performances that were genuine to the characters' objectives. To be honest,
even though Quezon's character is the primary character in the film, all four characters shined
equally. However, the presence of three languages in the film, despite being present during the
timelines, rendered the discourse more "detrimental than useful." It would be preferable if they
just used Tagalog and English.

Quezon's Game closing credits were accompanied by interviews and touching

testimonials about the powerful good that resulted from one noble man's commitment to helping
others while the world turned away with some of the children Quezon saved as youngsters, as
well as their families. This is a little-known fragment of our history that must be treasured and
remembered. In today's world of uncertainty, prejudice is the kind of story we need. Quezon's
Game explores the complexities of human decisions and how one could be drawn into obstacles
that sometimes tapped our ethical choices and emotions – asking us to reconsider our priorities
when we could help those suffering. I am inspired by this narrative of doing the right thing in the
face of unfavorable odds, of a selfless and exceptional act that leaves one wondering to his dying
day, "Could I have done more?".
 References

Friedlander, J. (2021, March 19). Why Filipinos Deserve Much Better Than Quezon’s Game.

SINEGANG.PH. https://www.sinegang.ph/features/why-filipinos-deserve-much-better-

than-quezons-game

Neal, M. (2020, March 6). Quezon’s Game, how Filipino president Manuel Quezon rescued

1,200 Jews from the Holocaust. ABC News.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-06/how-filipino-president-manuel-quezon-

rescued-1200-jews/12009840

Tenorio, R. (2020, March 3). Little known Philippines’ WWII rescue of Jews was capped by US

interference. Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/little-known-philippines-

wwii-rescue-of-jews-was-capped-by-us-interference/