Heneral Luna (2015) directed by Jerrold Tarog is a historical biopic about Dr. Antonio Luna who is quite an underrated hero in our history. We must remember that this actually happened, this is no work of fiction and it is as raw as it gets. In this film not only did I gain knowledge about the works of Antonio Luna, but gained so much more respect for him knowing what he has done for our country. I actually had to watch the movie twice, the reason being, when we tried to watch the first one, we were late for about 10 minutes and when we came, the people who were sat next to us were immensely loud and very insensitive to those who were watching the film. We could barely understand anything so we had to leave not even halfway through the movie, which was such a shame. As much as I’d love to talk more about the film, I want to discuss the cinematography, musical score, costumes and an absolutely astonishing mise-en-scene. Firstly though, I want to give props to the scriptwriters, Tarog, Francia and Rocha, for an exquisite and humorous script, it was brilliant. Secondly, John Arcilla, you are the man. It’s like he was born to play Antonio Luna, I can’t praise him enough. Anyways, on to the cinematography. The setting for the scenes were stunning, although it made me quite sad that some of the parts were filmed on a green screen, which I don’t blame them at all. It’s not like they could actually rebuild everything or go back in time. Nonetheless, it was still superb. Can we talk about the assassination scene? It was so intense, I could feel every gunshot. That scene was so moving and I can’t even put into words how much I look up to Antonio Luna now. Another scene, I should mention is the one take of Antonio Luna’s youth. It’s so seamless, such a visual spectacle. BUT there was one scene I absolutely loved, which was a breathtaking drone shot with Luna on the hill. I was awe-struck, I adore that shot. And with that, I realised how beautiful our country really is. We have got to give it to Tarog for not only directing the film, but also provided the musical score. The costumes, dare I say it, were on point. It was very noteworthy and accurate. And now to the immaculate mise-en-scene; the Spoliarium scene. I literally got chills when I saw it. It’s not subtle at all and I think it was slow motion for a purpose. When Antonio Luna’s body was being dragged across the courtyard, it was meant to mirror the Spoliarium, the famous painting of Antonio Luna’s brother, Juan Luna. Considering I cried twice during the movie, which I totally did not expect would happen, I can’t even put into words how impressed I am with everything. I’m not one to watch Filipino films, but this has got to be my favourite one, by far. Overall, the movie is a wake up call to us; it is meant to spark a conversation. We Filipinos are still the enemies of ourselves, lacking settlement, torn by selfishness.
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