History comes to life

In the late ‘90s, when Philippine cinema was offering the same formula of chaste romance, action flicks and slapstick comedies, one film dared to be different — an epic film budgeted at P70-M, making it one of the most controversial films in Philippine cinema history.

That film was Jose Rizal, a biographical picture based on the life of our national hero directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya and released by GMA Films as its centennial offering. It was shown on June 12, 1998 and was one of the highlights of festivities for the Philippine Centennial celebrations (although I watched the film during December’s Metro Manila Film Festival).

I was impressed by its production. The Filipino film looked like a Hollywood-produced masterpiece. It was like a Rembrandt or a Da Vinci. Jose Rizal is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece that has become a contemporary classic — a film that will soon be cemented in stone as one of the Philippines’ greatest movies and the most-awarded. It earned 70 awards from different award giving bodies.

The millions used to produce the film was well-spent. Direk Marilou enlisted the help of three UP professors (well known if I might add) as screenplay consultants, namely Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, Dr. Randy David and Danton Remoto. They made the film painstakingly accurate, from the wardrobe, the dialogue, to the events, to the actual historical locations during the Spanish era. It’s like a history book come to life.

Playing the lead role of Gat. Jose Rizal is Cesar Montano, whose tutorials involved languages that our hero spoke, fencing, painting, drawing, sculpture, and other skills the national hero excelled in. It’s uncanny how Rizal and Montano looked so similar. Montano’s performance is so good, you’ll soon forget you’re watching a performance and begin to think of yourself as a voyeur in Rizal’s life.

Other actors cast for the movie were also perfect for their respective roles but the one role that stands out (aside from that of Montano’s) is Joel Torre, also a veteran of Rizal films. He plays the role of Crisostomo Ibarra/Simoun, hero of Rizal’s two enduring novels Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (Subversion). Joel truly deserves his Best Supporting Actor trophy.

Actually there’s a touch of irony in this because Joel played those roles before in a TV serial also based and titled from Rizal’s two novels.

Adding emotion to the film is Nonong Buencamino’s haunting musical score and his very emotional Awit ni Maria Clara. After watching the film, the score including its theme song will still linger in your mind.

The editing also contributes to the beauty of the movie. Manet Dayrit and Jess Navarro fuse the Ibarra/Simoun sequences with the Rizal sequences that saw the similarities of Ibarra and Rizal.

Manolo Abaya and Rody Lacap’s cinematography is so artistically done, it’s like they painted using the camera — from the black and white Ibarra sequences, to Doña Teodora Alonzo telling the story of the moth and of course Rizal’s execution.

If Gone With the Wind’s climax was the Burning of Atlanta or Ben-Hur’s chariot race, Rizal’s execution was the highlight of the film. This, the filmmakers “executed” (no pun intended) by actually shooting the scene at 7 a.m. in Luneta. It was so brilliantly done I swear I heard audiences in the cinema crying.

I could rave on and on about the film. But it’s one movie you have to experience yourself. It runs for about three hours, but you’ll rarely notice the time as each sequence captures your attention from the start to finish.

This is a film students, teachers and plain moviegoers who are just tired of foreign movies, must see or own because it’s a proud addition to your home video library. I for one have worn-out old VHS copy I’ve watched probably a million times.