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A Consolidated Film Review on Heneral

Article · December 2021

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Febie Sueña
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 A Consolidated Film Review on Heneral Antonio Luna and Generalissimo,

Makaryo Sakay

Heneral Luna (released in 2015) was directed by Jerrold Tarog, and Sakay (released in 1993) was
directed by Raymond Red, both having great experience in directing biographical movies. Heneral
Luna was produced by Artikulo Uno Productions, and it is one of the most successful historical films.
There was a 50% discount given to students who would watch it on cinema but despite that, the film
was about to reach the ₱200 million gross ticket sales in just four weeks. Alpha Omega Productions
produced Sakay, the film tells the story of Macario Sakay, a Filipino patriot and hero who was
proclaimed an outlaw and a criminal after continuing hostilities against the US after the "official" end
of the Philippine Insurrection.

The Heneral Luna film revolves around the life of Heneral Antonio Luna, one of the greatest generals
during the Philippine – American War. The film started with Joven interviewing Heneral Luna,
Despite the Army's financial constraints, Luna believed that they needed to come together to
establish their professionalism, such as by wearing uniforms that were identical and uniform, a feat
strongly opposed by Gen. Tomás Mascardo. Mascardo eventually accepted Luna's order because it
had been approved by Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo's. When Joven brought up the matter of Americans,
Luna recalled a Cabinet meeting in Bulacan where members discussed whether or not to trust the
presence of Americans in the country. Despite the fact that the majority of the Cabinet believes that
foreigners have good intentions, Luna has expressed his strong opposition to American forces in the
Philippines, recommending that they be overrun as soon as possible in order to regain control of
Manila, particularly Intramuros. In the middle of differing viewpoints, Luna bolstered his assertion
that they should quit being naive in actually listening to the Americans'. He even used obscenity to
refer to his fellow Cabinet members, but afterwards apologized for his actions. Luna led his forces
against American soldiers led by Gen. Arthur MacArthur in Caloocan. As the battle waged on, Román
informed him that one of their flanks was in grave danger, most of his men were retreating, as his
words of encouragement does not compare to the fear of the soldiers. Luna went to Kawit because the
reinforcements he was asking for is not showing up, there he caught soldier slacking off, he got
mad and physically dragged Janolino out in front of his men, humiliating and insulting him.
Afterwards, Luna and Román returned to the frontlines to resume battle. Luna had a great plan to
fight the Americans but they are lacking in people, with these worries in mind, Luna just requested
for "three days," and he summoned the Bernal brothers to accompany him on their journey to
gather enough men from other camps. Luna used his "Article One" during this mission to ensure that
the soldiers follow his orders to join them in
their plan. Finally, Luna and the Bernal brothers returned to their camp early the next morning with
4,000 workers to help build the trenches. After that more chaos came, and President Aguinaldo
eventually suspects him of being a traitor. Aguinaldo sent Luna four telegrams to make sure that he
got the order to proceed to Cabanatuan. Aguinaldo's guards later ambushed Luna and his
aides, resulting to the deaths of the General and his aide Colonel Paco Román, as well as the surrender
and arrest of Captain Eduardo Rusca.

The Film is about Macario Saka, a Filipino general who fought against Spain during the Philippine
Revolution and the Philippine-American War. Following the official American declaration of the
Philippine-American War's end in 1902, he continued his resistance to the United States and became
president of the Tagalog Republic the following year. The Americans persuaded Sakay to come down
from the mountains in exchange for amnesty for himself and his officials, as well as the construction
of a Philippine Assembly made up of Filipinos to serve as the "portal of freedom." His surrender was
made a condition for a state of peace that would ostensibly allow Filipino delegates to be elected to
the Philippine Assembly. The struggle, according to Sakay, has switched to constitutional means, with
the Assembly as a tool of achieving independence. Afterwards he had a talk with his father and was
reminded of what he should be fighting for. He would again take up arms and establish the so-called
Tagalog Republic. The remaining revolutionary leaders who still were fighting for freedom in
different regions Luzon recognized the Tagalog Republic. They all gathered their resources in order to
mount a powerful counter-offensive against the Americans. They planned to infiltrate American
outposts dressed as contabularyos, Filipinos who worked for the Americans, and steal their weapons.
They were successful for a time, but the Americans became aware of their operations. As part of their
counter-offensive, the Americans gathered all of the rebels' supporters in one location. The
revolutionaries began to starve as a result of their actions. The Tagalog Republic's demise is a very
repentant one. The Revolutionaries were sold to the American government by Mr. Gomez, a Filipino
citizen. They were promised that if they surrendered, they would be forgiven. But the truth is that the
double-crossing Americans never considered making a deal with the rebels. The plan from the start
was to invite the leaders of the revolution at a banquet and capture them there. In the end Sakay was
convicted and sentenced to death.

Heneral Luna and Sakay are both great films. In Heneral Luna the actor were great, and the
symbolisms are on point. John Arcilla’s is suited for his role, and I can say that he did not disappoint.
Also the script of the film is good, every line of John Arcilla is iconic. I personally
 liked, “Para kayong mga birheng naniniwala sa pag-ibig ng isang puta” and, “Mga kapatid, mayroon
tayong mas malaking kaaway kaysa mga Amerikano: ang ating sarili.”

Sakay is also a good movie, but it was hard to watch the movie. I couldn’t see the faces of the actors
so it’s confusing, and sometimes I can’t hear the conversations well. Although that is understandable
because it’s an old movie, surely at the time it was released the viewers were pleased with the quality.
Filmmakers should make a remastered version of that movie, better yet, a new film about Sakay. I’ve
noticed that very few people knew him, personally if I didn’t watched the film, I wouldn’t know what
he did for our country.

In both films both heroes were betrayed by their own country. It’s so disappointing to learn that it was
us who doomed ourselves from the very beginning. Heneral Luna was killed because Aguinaldo was
afraid that Luna would over throw him, and Macario Sakay was hanged because of a traitor among his
men. We could have had the freedom we wanted, if only more Filipinos loved our country the way
our heroes did.

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