The movie Jose Rizal is a great interpretation of the Philippines's tragic history. I believe it got all it's facts right which would help a lot in studying this quarter's lesson. It also shows patriotism and heroism in a peaceful way. It also is an accurate and colourful biography of Jose Rizal's full life. However, there were a lot of points where it was very difficult to understand what Jose Rizal was saying because it was usually in Spanish, and although they were really speaking in Spanish, I could tell Cesar Montano was having difficulties in reciting his Spanish lines. It only shows how he lacked practice and coaching with these parts. It is also rather confusing to watch because there were too many flashbacks and you won't know if he was still in Spain or what. If you are a person who is easily confused, do not watch this movie because all you would do is gape at the screen and be befuddled by these flashbacks. Of course, if you can cope with the weird scene-cuttings, well, there isn't a problem with watching it at all. I would also encourage you to watch it again after the first time to understand it more clearly. I would not recommend this movie to students' grade 5 and below. Apparently, the movie has its own complexity and some scenes of violence. There are also some scenes wherein it's very inappropriate for young children such as the nude and bed scene in the first part. Although the scene shows how abusive the friars are with their power which would include raping Filipino women, the scenes are very disturbing, even for us. There is also some times wherein Jose Rizal has somewhat a mad glint in his eye as if he seemed frustrated which is quite disturbing to look at. It only shows the desperation of Jose Rizal through body language; however, this was excellently portrayed in some scenes. Although based on true fact, I believe that the fact that Jose Rizal did have a love affair with his cousin should not have been shown in the movie because it gives Jose Rizal a new and bad light after he kissed Leanor Rivera, his cousin. Maybe they could have showed that Jose Rizal did have a love affair with his cousin in a more custom way, but it should not have been portrayed in a sexual way. This would completely disgrace Filipino culture because our culture is very conservative, and kissing in a clinic is very far from what I would say conservativeness of the Filipinos. Other love affairs of Jose Rizal such as the one with Josephine Bracken publicly showed that they had a child together, but it died during birth. It was also mention several times that they had a child. This would not only disgrace the name of Jose Rizal but also the Filipino people. Although he wasn't exactly what you would call a teenager at that time, a pre-marital baby is not what you would be proud to this day, and I guess in those days, you would reach the point of being disowned by your own family. And even though we all know that Jose Rizal was really a womaniser, you wouldn't want to know that our national hero actually was a very kinky man after all. Overall, I half-enjoyed and was also half-disturbed by the movie. This would certainly help in understanding the life of Rizal, but I really don't think it's appropriate for small kids. I would recommend this movie to people who would like to know more about the history of the Philippines, but personally, if you are not interested and you are not required to watch this at school, do not watch it because as I have said, it's very disturbing.
This is a copy of my reaction paper for this movie in History class and i'm 13 years old and we're REQUIRED to submit one.
This is a copy of my reaction paper for this movie in History class and i'm 13 years old and we're REQUIRED to submit one.