Dekada ‘70: The Movie

Movie Review

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Performance Task in Social Studies
Submitted to Mr. Lawrence San Aguilar Fernando

ALVAREZ, KENT ADRIAN BATALLA

10-ST. JOHN
5 February 2024

Problems of Each Member

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Each member of the Bartolome Family has some kind of problem as the plot progresses:

Amanda: Amanda feels chained to Julian, as Julian always takes charge in everything. She
feels useless and wants to do things herself. But whenever confronting Julian about it
(example when Amanda wanted to work), her ideas will be shut down by him who protects
his pride as a man. She also faced a problem on Jason’s death, where she blamed Julian for
it and wanted a divorce.

Julian: Towards the end of the story, he faced two problems. One was the death of Jason,
whose body was found with stab wounds all over it in Manila Zoo, where he blamed Amanda
for it indirectly. The other was when Amanda threatened divorce, where he fought for her,
and due to finally softening up and telling what he truly feels to Amanda, they stayed
together.

Jules: Also known as “Kakoy” in the rebellion, he had a problem with both Amanda and
Julian, but mainly with Amanda. He was the point of conflict in the family because of being a
rebel, but finally his parents learned to be proud of him. He also faced minor problems
including being captured and imprisoned because of a friend who was an undercover spy,
but he was released in the late 1970’s.

Gani: Gani had a problem with his girlfriend, Evelyn, as they had intercourse and he
accidentally got her pregnant. They still raised the baby and they named it Annaliza. He also
had a conflict with Jules, when he told Julian that he would go work for the American Navy.
Jules opposed this idea, saying that Gani will become a puppet for Uncle Sam, to which
Gani responded by throwing a basketball at him.

Em: Em was the first one who was the first one bearing the problem of the death of Jason as
he was the first one to learn about it. Other than that, he had no other problem.

Jason: Jason had a problem prior to his death, not being able to go on a date with her
girlfriend Bernadette, causing them to break up.

Bingo: Bingo, although seeming calm, had a problem toward the end as he burdened the
death of Jason the most, thinking if he actually told Amanda what Jason was going on a date
on Christmas Day, he wouldn’t have died.
Climax:

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The climax in my opinion was the death of Jason. His death brought a lot of problems to the
Bartolome Family, at this part everything spiraled out of control between Amanda and Julian.
Their marriage was put on the line, their children were also caught in between, and here we
can finally see Amanda trying to show that she is done living in Julian’s shadow, she wants
to take charge in some sort of sense and finally be ready to counter argue with Julian if she
doesn’t like what he is doing. Here also is when Julian realized that sometimes he has to
soften up. He finally realized that his wife is not just his wife, but even a friend whom he can
talk to whenever he is feeling down. I love this part as this is a breakthrough for both
characters, it also breaks the idea of machismo, where men should act tough and never cry
whereas women’s only job is to stay at home and provide food for the family.

So what now?

After watching Dekada ‘70, I felt a pang of sympathy for the parents that lost their children
due to the tortures during martial law. Willie and Jason, two young children who lost their
lives due to the military oppression due to martial law, where grieved and mourned by their
parents, and Jason’s father, Julian, nearly committed suicide in grief. Probably one of the
best quotes in the movie is “ Gusto ko naman ngayon, ako mismo, just for a change, maging
proud sa sarili ko.” This quote hits me hard and I also love it that Amanda is finally breaking
out of that shell that Julian trapped her in. It hits me because it is like a person not wanting to
be a people’s pleaser anymore, and I am a people’s pleaser so I want to say this quote for a
change.

If I was asked if I would recommend this movie, I’d say that it would be ok for people who
like a bit of a history lesson with drama. Dekada ‘70 was a great story about a mother
fighting for their child, a theme that I loved. Dekada ‘70 was like another movie I watched,
Mindanao which I loved, so this is close to the heart.