Since I first knew of Rizal in a book of Asian history, I have had a question. Why is Rizal the National Hero, not Aginard, nor Bonifacio? Rizal did little except writing two novels. Why? Watching the movie, I thought I had an answer. Historically, his books and his death triggered the revolution activities. But true reason is, I suppose, that Rizal had a universal view on humanity and freedom. I was impressed by the following two lines: 1) In a Madrid pub, he says "Unless we first learn self-respect, we will not be respected by any other peoples." 2) After having death sentence, his barrister says he is ashamed as a Spanish. Rizal says, "No, we are the same human beings." He was not a perfect man, nor his ideas. But he left something everlasting, that Filipinos can be proud of.

The next question I had was: His death triggered the revolution activities. Was it beyond his will, or did he want it to happen? The night before execution, the ghost of Simoun came out in his room, and urged him to rewrite the story. At last Rizal says "Let me have a rest. To know who I am." Then he rewrites the story so that the lamp explodes to kill many suppressors. So, what Abaya wants to say?

Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, known as Jose Rizal, the greatest hero of the Philippines was indeed the pride of Malayan race. He is also known as a many-splendored genius. He was richly dowered by God with superb intellectual, moral, and physical qualities. He was an anthropologist, botanist, businessman, cartographer, dramatist, economist, educator, engineer, essayist, entomologist, ethnologist, farmer, folklorist, geographer, grammarian, historian, horticulturist, humorist, lexicographer, linguist, musician, novelist, painter, physician, poet, philologist, philosopher, polemist, psychologist, satirist, sculptor, sportsman, sociologist, surveyor, traveler, and zoologist.
Rizal was also a lover, loved Leonor Rivera, who was his cousin, but despite that fact, he was forced to go to Europe to stud medicine, ordered by his brother Paciano, in order to fight against the Spaniards. He became a traveler, and each country he visited, there were always important events that occurred.
Rizal wrote two novels, the “Noli Me Tangere” and the second part of it, the “El Filibusterismo”. These writings state how the Spaniards rule the Philippines, how the rights of the Filipinos were abolished. The genius, Dr. Rizal, portrayed himself in his two novels.
Rizal, a brave and a man of his word, was never afraid whatever the consequences he may suffer because of his writings that are against the friars and also to Spaniards. His goal was to free the Philippines from the unjust government of Spanish colony.
Dr. Rizal was a patriot, hero, and a martyr. He consecrated his God-given talent, and even sacrificed his own life, for the redemption and welfare of his people. Verily, a man of his heroism and versatility appears but once in the history of any nation. Anyway, it is a very good film. It is the first Philippine film put on a Japanese screen except kinds of film festivals. I hope more Philippine films are shown in Japan, especially Abaya's. ave you ever heard the word “martyrdom complex”? It is the act of sacrificing everything including life itself for patriotic or religious action. Jose Rizal had this complexity. He sacrifices his life just to attain a free or a democratic Philippines.
The movie “Rizal” is a great interpretation of the Philippines tragic history. It shows patriotism and heroism in a very peaceful way. The movie was very difficult to understand what Rizal(Montano) was saying because it was usually in Spanish. Also, the translation of what they were saying at the bottom part cannot be read sometimes because of the color of the font or the text. It also shows that Montano was not good in speaking Spanish compared to other Filipino artist. The movie was also very confusing to watch because there were too many flashbacks and you won’t know if Rizal was still in Spain or not. Some scenes also do not have a date or place.
The movie has its own complexity and some scenes of violence. There are scenes that are inappropriate for young children to watch such as the nude lady and the bed scene in the first part. Although the scene shows how abusive the friars are with their powers which include raping Filipino women, the scenes are very disturbing to watch. Some scenes also show that Rizal (Montano) has somewhat a mad glint in his eye as if he was frustrated. Maybe the director wants to show or portray that Rizal is frustrated of what is happening to his country. It’s true that Rizal is womanizer but its very improper to show that the relationship of Rizal and his cousin was purely or only sexual (maybe the director just want to commercialize the movie). The scene would completely disgrace the Filipino culture because our culture is very conservative and kissing in the sala or clinic during that time is very far from the conservativeness of the Filipinos. Although he wasn’t a teenager when he had an intimate relationship with Josephine Bracken, an out wed baby is not what you would be proud during that time.
The movie makes me sick to what is happening to Catholicism during that time. The church doesn’t really respect the people. They are talking about hell or bad actions but they too are also doing bad things. The movie also shows many realities that can be seen today such as plundering, abuse of powers, the lack of freedom of speech for the people and for the writers, and bribery. It just implies that what happens to the past has a big or great effect to the future. The movie shows that the Spaniards are racist during that time because of the scene that the Spanish student named the Filipino student a monkey or an idiot. A scene at the ending part shows that some Filipino was condemning Rizal to what he was done. How can the Spaniards respect us if we too are not respecting or supporting of what our kababayan was doing. This action was also present on these days because there are many Filipinos trying to conquer the international tilt in singing or dancing and there are also many Filipino inventors that were creating a good project proposals but we or our government was not supporting them.
Rizal’s blueprint of nationalism was for as to have a national identity and a national unity. Unlike most of his country men of his era, Rizal realizes that there could never be a country unless each Filipino recognized the need for self sacrifice and putting aside differences for the common good. Sad to say that since his death, the country has degenerated into rival political clans and families just the same way Filipinos used to be before the Spaniards arrived.

Huwag na nating pag-usapan ang mga teknikal na aspeto. Kahit saang anggulo tingnan, parehong obra maestra ang Bayaning 3rd World nina Mike De Leon at Clodualdo Del Mundo at ang José Rizal nina Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Ricky Lee, Jun Lana at Peter Ong Lim. Premyado ang cinematography, ang production design, ang pag-arte, at higit sa lahat, ang screenplay at pagdirihe. Kaya mas maganda sigurong pag-usapan ang magkaibang punto de bista ng dalawang pelikula sa Pambansang Bayani ng Pilipinas na italicized na, capitalized pa.

Sa una pa lang, satirikal na ang dating ng B3W. Isama ba naman sa listahan ng mga Pambansang fill in the blank ang henyong si Rizal? Litrato ng agila, National Bird,; litrato ng narra, National Tree; litrato ng mangga, National Fruit; litrato ni Rizal, National Hero. Pagkatapos ay malalaman mong hindi pala si Rizal ang main character kundi dalawang filmmakers na hindi sasabihin ang mga pangalan. Gagamitin pa siyang pangalan ng deodorant. Iisipin mo kung magiging seryoso ba ang pelikula.

Pero sa JR ni Diaz-Abaya, walang duda. Katulad nga ng sinabi ng direktor, sinubukan nilang gumawa ng isang pelikula ng Larawan ng Binata Bilang Alagad ng Sining. Henyong artista si Rizal na madalas na dinadalaw ng mga multo ng pagdududa sa sariling kakayahan, ng pagdududa sa tingin niya’y silbi niya sa bayan. Kahit anong pilit ng mga gumawa na palabasing katulad natin siyang timawa lamang o karaniwang tao, superman pa rin ang dating niya. Iisipin mo naman kung magiging totoo ba ang pelikula.

Hindi masamang isipin ang dalawang bagay na iyon. Alam mo kasing sinasadya ng mga gumawa ng dalawang pelikula na ganito ang gusto nilang isipin mo muna sa umpisa. Ang gusto mong hintayin, kung paano nila babasagin sa bandang gitna at huli ang mga nakagawian na nating mga konsepto at pagtingin kay Rizal. Ang gusto mong malaman, kung paano sasagutin ni Rizal ng B3W ang mga akusasyon nina Filmmakers 1 and 2 na pinlano naman talaga niyang maging bayani sa simula pa lang. Ang gusto mong malaman, kung ano ang gagawin ni Rizal ng JR sa kontrobersiyal na retraction scene, o kung may retraction scene nga ba sa bersyong ito.

Sa kaibuturan, pelikula ng kung paano gumawa ng pelikula tungkol sa buhay ni Rizal ang B3W. Sa maraming brainstorming at pag-aaway na pagdadaanan ng dalawang filmmakers, iisa lang ang pagkakasunduan nila: hindi magandang materyal ang pelikula ng bayani, hindi cinematic. Kahit pa nga raw isama ang pagiging matinik nito sa mga babae. Aba, sasabihin pa nila, mas maganda pa yatang isapelikula ang buhay ng uliran niyang ina. At least si Donya Loleng, pinagbintangan ng tangkang pagpatay at ipinalakad nang malayo papunta sa pagkukulungan nito.

Nagustuhan ko sa B3W na para itong paglilitis. Isa-isang dadalawin ng mga filmmakers ang mga tao sa buhay ni Rizal, na iba-iba rin ang pagtingin sa kanya. Sa huli ay hindi na nila maiiwasang kausapin si Rizal mismo, at si Rizal din mismo ang magagalit sa kanila dahil hindi nila siya ma-gets.

Tinatangka namang bigyan ng mas personal na ‘spin’ ng mga gumawa ng JR ang tila mythological na tingin natin kay Rizal. Sa ganang akin, hindi rin nila ito na-achieve. Ang dating pa rin sa akin ni Rizal ay isang higanteng may 5’3” ang taas na nakapagpabagsak ng isang imperyo sa pamamagitan ng pagsulat lamang. Maganda ang layunin nila, pero hindi ko maramdamang puwede akong makipaglokohan kay Rizal, ‘yung tipong puwede ko siyang tawagan sa telepono at yayain siyang makipagdiskusyunan tungkol sa Meteor Garden.

Melodramatic ang JR. Huling-huli nito ang lasa ng masang Pilipino. Sa eksena ng huling pagkikita ni Pepe at ng kanyang Nanay, hindi mo na dapat ikahiyang tinablan ka ng drama ng buhay nila. Kung sa B3W ay hindi cinematic ang buhay ni Rizal, gamit na gamit dito ang lahat ng telenovelaic devices na gustong-gusto ng Pilipino.

Sa ikabubuti o ikasasama, si Rizal ang Pambansang Bayani ng Pilipinas na italicized na, capitalized pa. Marami pang pelikula ang gagawin tungkol sa kanya, at marami pang mga henerasyon ang lalong hindi makakaunawa sa kanya. Wika nga sa B3W, kanya-kanyang Rizal iyan. Depende sa kung sino ang nagsasalita (o sa kaso natin, sa kung sino ang may hawak ng kamera), ibang Rizal ang maipapakilala sa atin.

Sa isang banda, malungkot iyon. Di hamak na mas exciting, kung tutuusin, ang buhay at mapusok na pagmamahalan nina Diego at Gabriela Silang. Mas gusto ko yatang matuto tungkol sa buhay ng tusong pulitikong si Manuel Quezon. At pihadong mas maraming bakbakan sa tunggalian ng mga puwersa nina Luis Taruc at ni Ramon Magsaysay. Huwag din nating kalimutan ang masalimuot na buhay ni Flash Elorde, at kahit na ang makulay na buhay ni April Boy Regino.

Veneration Without Understanding, sabi nga ni Renato Constantino. Sa bansang katulad natin na mas mahilig manood ng sine at telenobela kaysa magbasa ng sarili nating kasaysayan, ang mga katulad lang ni Rizal na malakas ang box office draw ang iginagalang natin kahit hindi natin nauunawaan kung bakit dapat silang igalang. Kung may pera lang ako, gumawa na ako ng pelikula tungkol kay Mang Pandoy, o kaya tungkol sa isang labintatlong taong gulang na batang lalaking namatay habang sinasagip ang ilan ding bata mula sa pagkakalunod sa kasagsagan ng isang bagyo.

Sa pamantayang limang Rizal Underarm Deodorant (Hindi ka na mangangamoy Indio) ang pinakamataas, bibigyan ko ang Bayaning 3rd World ng apat na bote, at tatlo naman sa José Rizal.