I feel like an odd man out writing like this about a piece of creative work that a lot of people I know have been heaping with glowing praise. Maybe it will gain some critical acclaim for the novelty of a movie where Americans are presented as the bad guys. I also hope that the producers don’t feel too discouraged if they don’t win any awards at the Oscars where, I understand, they plan to enter the film.

I guarantee that they will enjoy it as I did. I would suggest that, whatever their filmic or academic background, they should just go watchHeneral Luna for its entertainment value. Having said that, I would like to caution the serious students of motion picture art or of history to lower their expectations of the film because they could be in for some disappointment. Who cares about authenticity? And to rub it in, the officer was earlier shown in bed with a woman – as in, “How could he do that while fellow Katipuneros were being slaughtered?Ummmm. And then, there’s the sequence where Luna dragged a Kawit Katipunero captain before his troops by the poor fellow’s balls.

Heneral Luna does that with dialogues and scenes intended to elicit spontaneous laughter or jolt the moviegoers in their seats (“Puñeta” has the same recall potential as Ramon Revilla’s “Bwakang ina” in Nardong Putik). The present generation has become so jaded that one needs to use the shock tactics of Trump and Duterte or Tony Santos’ approved kwela techniques to gain attention It’s just that, as an old hand in movie making, I couldn’t help noting how the makers of Luna applied familiar cinematic touches that my late director friend, Tony Santos, referred to as “Approved kwela.”Ĭonsidering how the audience loved the irreverent depiction of familiar historical figures and the overdose of invectives spit out by the Luna character I’m not surprised that Donald Trump is leading in the GOP presidential derby and Davao’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has endeared himself to many Filipino voters looking for someone to elevate to the presidency. I realize, that sounds almost blasphemous, talking about Heneral Luna in the same breath as Harabas, Agent X-44 and Nardong Putik. It reminded me of the dozens of films I wrote for Jun Aristorenas, Tony Ferrer and Ramon Revilla decades ago. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I wouldn’t mind watching it again, although I would prefer better seating. We also had to make do with seats so close to the screen, it was practically like watching a show on a big screen TV with our faces a few inches from the set.īut I enjoyed every minute of the movie, the discomfort was well worth it. We had to buy tickets for the next screening three hours later and had to kill time waiting for it. The lines at SM BF on Sukat Road were long and we couldn’t get seats for the mid-afternoon screening. I HAD a chance to watch the movie Heneral Luna with my wife and family members and I was truly impressed with the crowd that it pulled.

The heneral luna movie