Heneral Luna: An Eye Opener by Joyce Marayag
Who
wouldn’t want to watch a movie with a half percent discount in price and at the
same time a fun way of learning the history of our country? Heneral Luna may
actually be what we need for us to understand the previous way of life. This
movie is making noise from different people especially in the social media.
History gives us another opportunity once again to look back and learn more from the past.
In
the start of the film, it shows a Nipa Hut which is the Philippine national house,
burning in fire. This is a symbol of our mother land who suffers in pain in
hands of colonizers. There was also a bird soaring high in the blue sky which
may also be a symbol of our land who’s in need of peace and freedom. The
lighting in the beginning of the film is also kind of dim. Meanwhile, the
camera work is excellent. I also noticed that they used bird’s eye angle
in some of the scenes and camera panning used in the flashback. The color is grayish blue and sometimes yellowish.
In
the scene where Luna tried to resign as a General, the background was white,
indicating that he gives up his position. But when Emilio Aguinaldo comes out
of the picture, the background turns into red. There was also a scene where
Luna plays a guitar, facing the moon. Aguinaldo’s close up face was also seen.
This indicates the tension rises between both of them. While playing the
guitar, Luna’s mother knocked on his door. Luna sat down and closed his eyes
and flashback began as his mother retold the story when he was still a child. I
also noticed this woman dressed in retro style in the flashback scene wherein
she sat down as the painter sketches her. This shows the painting of Antonio
Luna’s brother, Juan Luna, The Parisian.
Meanwhile, there were some roofs of the house and the church which used galvanized iron sheets (yero)
which are inappropriate knowing that this film was set in the late 1900’s.
On
the other hand, in the scene where General Luna went to Aguinaldo’s office and
instead Felipe Buencamino was there, the lighting was dim which may indicate
something dark might happen. When Luna went out of the office, there were a
number of presidential guards outside. Suddenly, the katipunero slashes Luna’s
face using bolo which angered him. But then, the other katipuneros shot him
using their guns many times leaving Luna helpless and weak. When he died, the
picture turned into red which means bloody and justice. His killers dragged his
dead body leaving a picture of the Spoliarium, a mise- en- scene, which also
painted his brother, Juan. The people also wear black which symbolizes grief
and sorrow.
The
last scene was when Aguinaldo saying lies to the public saying he was not the
mastermind of Luna’s killing. Aguinaldo and Buencamino sugarcoated themselves
by telling the story in a 360 degree turn. The background for this scene was a
Philippine flag in crumple that slowly burns in fire. In the beginning of the
film, a Nipa hut burns while in the last part, our own Philippine flag burns.
This means that we are still not free from all the pains and sufferings.
The movie tackles the themes that still haunt
us in the present: betrayal and human rights violation. We are our worst
enemies. Just like in this society we are living today, especially in the world
of politics where public officials betray the Filipino people by means of
stealing billions of money from the public that violates the rights of every
people in this nation.
Overall,
Heneral Luna helped us, millenials, to see world of the Philippine-American
War. And perhaps, this film questions us and waits for us, the next heroes of
this generation to take an action in this society where betrayal still exists. The
unravelling truths from the past are the lessons that will help us in pursuing
the dreams that Filipinos are still dreaming of – truth, peace and freedom.
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| Source: http://noeljose.com/entertainment/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/07/Heneral-Luna-Poster.jpg |
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