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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

CRITIQUE PAPER: Movie Review with the

Application of Critical Approaches

Critique Paper on
Henaral Luna : Movie

SUBMITTED BY: Airene Marie D. Borja

STRAND AND SECTION: SPORTS 11-A

SUBMITTED TO: Ms. Dianne San Antonio

Heneral Luna is one of the greatest historical films ever made in the Philippines. It

contains all of the facts and information that Heneral Luna and his team gathered before.

Because it is based on our history, the film is extremely powerful and eye-opening as I

watched it. As a millennial, I had no concept of how hard our Filipino heroes fought simply

to protect our nation. The director wants us to understand that even though other

Generals and high-ranking government officials failed to assist him, Heneral Luna fought

till the end. Even without supplies, equipment, collaboration, or leadership, Filipinos can

battle the Americans. Bravery is another example in the film. Heneral Luna also displays

his aggression for cowards and traitors on his side, as well as his devotion to the country

he adores. The film is completely engrossing due to its graphics and emotions,

demonstrating that it is well worth seeing. Its action-packed plot and thrilling scenes

transport us back to the events of the Philippine-American War.

The director was able to show not just Heneral Luna’s true tale, but also the lives of

Filipinos. General Luna was recognized for the brilliant yet astute ideas that he used to

lead his revolutionaries against the Americans. Despite his reputation as a war genius,

many of the businessmen who assisted the Republic of the Philippines in obtaining the

necessary supplies for the war despised him because he treated them as traitors for

prioritizing their businesses and families, and they wanted to negotiate with the Americans

so that they would not be implicated in the revolution. Gen. Luna sees it as a sort of

treachery in their own country because they wanted the Philippines to be controlled by

foreigners, and it appears that they are selling their own country. Many Filipinos,

particularly the youth, are drawn to it because it offers us the power of bravery and

cooperation. It appeals to the young because it educates us about Philippine history and
heroism in the past. For me, the fight between Luna and his men and the Americans is a

function of art. It’s like a trench conflict when two adversaries wait in their dugouts and

then come out to shoot each other. Because the scenario and the painting are

comparable, I recall the sight as the portrait or art of the “Battle of Manila.” Also, for me,

the last scene is a function of art because it reenacts the “Spolarium,” which shows the

traitors who killed Luna and his companion, bragging them towards the wall, and at the

precise moment, it really brings back the image of Spolarium in the movie, and it is also

a historical one because most Filipinos are familiar with the “Spolarium,” and it gives them

knowledge about it. While viewing the film, I was also struck by the aesthetic, since most

of the scenes depict various forms of art. Arts that express something within it that we

may describe in many ways. It depicts the arts during a battle and conveys emotion via

the actors’ movements. It depicts many items in the past, such as antiques, which

symbolize the arts in the film. There are instances throughout the film when something is

inexplicable of difficult to explain. In the film, art is decided by a person who genuinely

enjoys everything that involves actions and feelings.

The film is fantastic because it demonstrates how difficult it is to battle for the freedom

that we desire for our country and our fellow citizens. It is not only about the struggle for

freedom between Filipinos and Americans; it also demonstrates that we fight for our other

goals (money, independence, and power) and that battling our fellow Filipinos is

reasonable. The fact that the film demonstrates that there are gaps in our past. It makes

me wonder why the killings of General Luna and Andres Bonifacio were depicted in the

movie, and who was the perpetrator. Joven, Felipe Buencamino, and President Emilio

Aguinaldo all testified regarding Gen. Lunas’s death before the end of the film.
Furthermore, when he determines what to do to take leadership of the Republic of the

Philippines into his own hands, President Emilio Aguinaldo interprets authority in both

positive and negative ways. The film’s settings are quite reminiscent of our lovely

homeland, the Philippines. The way Filipinos used to live back when they had to create

their food, and the way we work now when there are no tall structures, pollution, and

traffic. Joven Hernandez also symbolizes the people who watched the struggle between

Filipinos and Americans, General Luna’s desire to gain our freedom, and how the

Republic of the Philippines ended up in American hands. He, too, desired freedom in our

nation, and he attempted to fight for it by writing the truth with his pen as a sword.

We wanted to discover what or how history happened before we were born in this

contemporary age, why and how our government and country were perverted into our

own hands, and he symbolizes us because of our innate curiosity. He represents a new

generation that is always ready to defend and patronize its homeland. A new generation

that understands politics. A new generation will mark the beginning of a new age. The

start of a new era in which our government’s corruption may be addressed. Joven

Hernando is the character in the “Heneral Luna” film in which I can be involved and

inquisitive. I believe Joven Hernando represents the next generation since every word

Luna speaks to him may assist the next generation to push themselves to their limits and

demonstrate that every generation has a new leader who can stand up and demonstrate

their leadership. Joven Hernando is another figure that needs to be preserved because,

in his role in the film “Heneral Luna,” he can convince the Filipinos that Luna’s valor is

genuine and worth fighting for. Heneral Luna is always concerned for Joven Hernando’s

safety since he is the future generation of Filipinos, and Heneral Luna wants to ensure
that his words and combat resolve will soon serve as an inspiration to the next generation

of Filipinos. Add it all up. The statement “Ang kalaban natin ay ang sarili lang natin” from

the movie “Heneral Luna” was the one that hit me the most. Because of Luna’s harshness,

the Filipinos were terrified and unsure of what to do, so they devised a strategy to fight

the same race, or “lahi,” which is Filipino. We will not be able to fight ourselves or win a

war if our system of collaboration and teamwork fails due to our cowardice and

traitorousness. We must demonstrate our aggression and desire to preserve our

homeland, the Philippines if we are to win a war. In the end, the film is excellent for people

who are open-minded and passionate about Philippines. This is another classic historical

film that I’d like to rewatch and learn more about.