Dekada 70, a Reaction Paper

Reaction on the movie Dekada 70

The movie “Dekada 70” is listed as one of the top Filipino movie that instill socio-political awareness to the viewers. The movie is about the life of a middle class Filipino family that struggles on the social and political issues during the 70’s. During those times Philippine was under Martial Law, under the leadership of the former President Ferdinand E. Marcos. It was September 21, 1972 when the former President Marcos declared the Martial Law that brought the Philippines in the hands of the military. Under the Martial Law, the press or media are under the control by the military. Political oppositions are imprisoned, tortured and some times being killed by summary execution. Under the Marcos regime, Filipinos suffered greatly under the hands of Martial Law.

Dekada 70 is a story of love despite of the hatred and hope despite of the sufferings. This is a story of a Filipino mother and her family how they live and was affected by the problems specifically during the Martial Law.

The movie is based on a middle class family , how they deal with the problems and tragedies that was caused by Martial Law to their family. The father, Julian who is an engineer and was married to Amanda, leads the family. They had five sons. The eldest was Jules, an activist and eventually joined the New People’s Army. He soon became a political prisoner. Gani, the second son, at a very young age got a girl pregnant and married. He left Philippines to become a US serviceman. Em, the third son is a writer. Mostly he writes anti government literatures. But unlike his elder brother, Em didn’t have the courage to join any anti-government organization. He believes freedom can be attained in a peaceful manner. Jason is a typical teenager. Most of the time he goes home late at night. He soon became a victim of violence, most probably by summary execution by the police or military which eventually open the eyes of his parents on what is...