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Why Marilou Diaz Abaya’s Jose Rizal remains the definitive filmbio on the hero

The Philippines’ most expensive homegrown movie is handsomely mounted, but….

Marilou Diaz Abaya’s acclaimed film bio on Dr. Jose P. Rizal was the big winner in the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival. Simply titled Jose Rizal, the movie was produced to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Philippine independence. It started streaming on Netflix on the anniversary of Rizal’s death last December 30.

Jose Rizal is the result of the collaboration of some of the country’s most esteemed filmmakers and actors. GMA Films pulled all the stops for this one. Production budget was P80 million, making it the most expensive homegrown movie to date. The money spent is evident on the screen. Manila and Laguna of the 19th century are artfully recreated, with the make-believe use of Intramuros and Vigan’s Calle Crisologo as venues.  The use of sepia gives a distinct “I remember yesterday” Bear Brand TVC vibe.

This filmbio is indeed handsomely mounted. The camera work and editing are expertly done, at par with Hollywood.   The late and great Marilou Diaz Abaya was a first-rate director. Her screenwriters tried their best to present Rizal in a dignified way.  It’s a story that’s so difficult to pull together as the hero remains enigmatic to this day. The filmmakers did produce an effective history lesson for people who hate reading history books.

What hindered them from coming up with a masterpiece is their quest to make Rizal a person we could be in complete awe of.  They’ve ensconced him on a pedestal much higher than the one at Rizal Park. This makes him into a man we can hardly connect with. Irreverence can sometimes be good for a film or play. Think of playwright Peter Schaeffer, author of Amadeus. His depiction of Mozart is that of a genius who loved to tell dirty jokes and indulge himself in wine, women, and sonatas.

Richard Lester’s version of The Three Musketeers humorously showcased the not so admirable qualities of the three swashbucklers. Produced in 1973, it’s hailed for its cheeky take on Alexander Dumas’ classic novel, and is considered by many to be the most faithful film adaptation of the book. The enemies consist of Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway), and Count Rochefort (Christopher Lee). On the surface they don’t seem obviously evil. Nuanced acting slowly unveiled the nefarious intentions lurking beneath such impeccable decorum.  Heston plays the cardinal the way he played Moses. As Count Rochefort, Lee didn’t channel Count Dracula—he’s as suave as James Bond. Dunaway is always the elegant vixen, even in the hilarious catfight with the film’s heroine (Raquel Welch).

In sharp contrast, the Spaniards in Jose Rizal are stereotype villains. Many of them—the friars, professors, and military officials—are played flamboyantly by some of our notable theater directors. They were probably channeling themselves which isn’t really a bad thing—if only the lines given them came with some semblance of humor. Sadly, dry wit or sarcasm rarely exists in the scripts of our movies.  If not for the period costumes, they could just as well be Batman’s dynamic enemies. Good and evil is presented in solid black and white.

Jose Rizal has a cast of charismatic movie stars and stalwart theater actors. It’s amusing to see them looking so youthful, even if they’re prevented from creating real life characters. Everyone speaks as if one was in a senakulo.  It sounds inauthentic—in contrast, the film General Luna showed our heroes shouting expletives, just like us ordinary muggles. Consequently, each scene in Jose Rizal plays like a reenactment of an event for a documentary, or an interlude between each performance of a song in Aawitan Kita.

We’re also never convinced that Cesar Montano is Rizal, but we can’t fault him. We know nothing of what Rizal was like. Montano tries to make him forceful and impertinent. His portrayal comes across as a conniving mafia consigliore.

The story is told in non-linear form. It begins with Rizal surrendering himself at Fort Santiago. In his incarceration, we’re shown flashbacks of his childhood, his college life, and what triggered his hatred for the Spanish regime. It starts getting cluttered when scenes from Noli Me Tangere are inserted within the flashbacks.  Apparently, this was done to reveal which of the protagonists was the inspiration behind the book’s characters. It’s not a terrible idea, but it encumbers the flow of the storyline. It’s a classic case of adding too many ingredients in a dish.  A different set of actors plays the fictional characters; Joel Torre is Crisostomo Ibarra and so on. To avoid confusion, scenes from the book are shot in black and white. It’s information overload that promises to give viewers information indigestion.

Nevertheless, there are many scenes worth waiting for. The segments from Noli are beautifully shot. Joel Torre gets too intense as Ibarra, but this is offset by Monique Wilson, who looks lovely as Maria Clara. She even sings a poignant song which is a welcome treat for us.

Rizal’s childhood is also lovingly filmed.  Dominic Guinto plays the young Rizal (the boy must be in his 30s by now). He’s a refreshing departure from the posturing of his colleagues. He’s engaging in the classroom scenes where Rizal was often bullied. He also wins us over when his teacher asks him to recite a sentence in Spanish about Julius Caesar’s ambitious political plans. With much enthusiasm, he declares, “Caesar ambicioso!” At first I thought it was an indictment of his co-star’s portrayal of the adult Rizal.

Well, anyone who sets out to make a movie about Jose Rizal needs to be driven by ambition. It was during this film’s preproduction phase when another acclaimed filmmaker tried to write his own Rizal epic. For Mike de Leon, it was a struggle to come up with an acceptable script. By his own admission, it’s impossible to make an epic about our hero whom he deemed too mysterious and not exciting enough to make a compelling film.

Two years later, he wrote and directed Bayaning Third World. It’s less about Rizal and more about why he gave up on his Rizal biopic. He cast Ricky Davao and Cris Villanueva as two filmmakers who give it a try. Joel Torre, the go-to actor when it comes to historical movies, is back, this time as Rizal (he was born on June 19, 1961—exactly 100 years from Rizal’s birthday!)

 As Mike de Leon’s alter egos, the two filmmakers travel back in time to interrogate the people who surrounded Rizal. To their dismay, it’s learned that the usual suspects are an enigma in themselves. Sardonic and spiced with flippant lines, Bayaning Third World plays like a whodunit with its tongue planted firmly on its cheek. Since Mike de Leon’s film plays more like a mockumentary, Marilou Diaz Abaya’s work remains to be the definitive Jose Rizal filmbio, by default.

About author

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He is a freelance writer of lifestyle and entertainment, after having worked in Philippine broadsheets and magazines.

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