Reflction

I was never a fan of history class when I was in elementary, and I might have hated it at some point. I blame the school system of having us endlessly memorize all these names and dates and numbers, with very little focus on us understanding the meaning behind what happened in the past. (I suppose teachers thought our young minds were not mature enough to fully understand or deal with the violence behind it all.) It was only fairly recently, maybe a year or two ago, that I had a much better appreciation of Philippine history. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, being an alumnus of our state university, but it’s better late than never, I guess?

I could probably harp on about the excellent photography and cinematography. There were a number of scenes that made me mutter quietly, “Ang gandaaaaaaaaa~” (English: “Beautiful!”), the ambush scene (which I mention a few paragraphs down) and the above-posted photo included. Visually, the film appealed to the photographer side of me, but that’s just one part of the movie that I enjoyed. The story-telling was wonderfully done, which I feel further adds to my newfound appreciation of Philippine history. 

The film stirred in me a lot of emotions. It was beautifully made, and is the kind of movie that really makes one think well after the credits start rolling. I kept the radio off on my drive home after seeing the film for some quiet contemplation about it. It may have been just a slice of our country’s history, but it really does speak volumes about what our people were like—what our people are like. With the parallels the film draws with present-day Philippines, it’s not easy swallowing that bitter pill of reality. That despite our heroes’ efforts to fight for our country, we haven’t really learned. Not much has changed.

In the film, we see the all too familiar politics that we currently despise, where those who are well-connected and/or have money are favored. We see the complete lack of discipline of the Filipino people. We...