3rd Bayani

If genre theory was used to define this film, anyone would just be beleaguered. No conventions were utilized by the filmmaker that would make this film definable in any genre lexicon. This film is humorous but it could not be classified as a comedy. This film is informative but it could not be classified as a documentary. This film could not be classified as a mockumentary simply because all of the scenes shown are based on factual events and people. As it is, it questioned the whole tradition of filmmaking by reinventing itself without defining itself completely.

What the film achieved in questioning the filmmaking tradition is nothing compared to what it did to the realm of Philippine cinema. It did not only question the long standing culture and tradition in the Philippine cinema industry, it completely shattered them.The film was released in 2000 when Philippine cinema's studio system philosophy was starting to gain grounds again. This is when hiring actors are paramountthan constructing a story. This also when huge investments were used to promote a film not based on the content of the film but on the star power it had. Bayaning 3rd World veered away from any formulas that Filipino movie studios were practicing that time. It had no big names to boast of. It did not promotethe film locally or even internationally. When invited by film festivals abroad, the filmmaker would not release his film with subtitles. It was shot on black and white when no Filipino film for the past four decades prior where released commercially. It questioned the factuality of every film made on Rizal when just few years back, two major Rizal films were released by big studios. I would like to believe that the filmmaker, Mike De Leon, made a conscious effortin making this film not to make any friends in the industry but to set therecord straight on Rizal without compromising himself or his craft.

At the end, Bayaning 3rd World is the perfect epitomy of post-structuralism theory....