José Rizal (1998)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good movie but grossly overrated

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I need it for school, my teacher wants me to have a copy of this so we can watch it during our class.

José Rizal is a Filipino film biopic that depicts the life of the José Rizal,the national hero of the Philippines.It is touted as one of the biggest films ever made in the history of Philippine cinema with a record-breaking P80-million budget(close to $1.7 million) despite the fact that historical films in the Philippines are often notorious flops during that time. The movie features Cesar Montano on the title role as Jose Rizal,together with Joel Torre,Jaime Fabregas,Gloria Diaz,Gardo Versoza,Pen Medina and Mickey Ferriols.The movie was directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya.The film was told in flashbacks of Jose Rizal's life as he awaits execution in a Manila prison.Accused of treason,Rizal meets with his government-appointed counsel, Luis Taviel de Andrade.The two build the case and arguments for the defense as significant events in the central figure's life prior to his incarceration unfold. Upon hearing his life story, Taviel begins to realize that the accused is not only innocent but exhibits in fact all the qualities of an ordinary man. When the mock trial unreels, Taviel is all set to act as the prime advocate for his client as Rizal himself is about to give an earth-moving speech to defend his honor and address his countrymen.Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities have worked out the vast political machinery to ensure a guilty verdict. A revolution awaits in the wings. Blood is shed when the Katipunan, founded by Andres Bonifacio, attacks the Spaniards and Father Rodriguez who order the execution of Jose Rizal.Apart from that,parts of Rizal's novels,Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, were told in parallel with his life story.Jose Rizal is definitely a landmark in Philippine cinema.The movie is great in visuals and production design.The cinematography was superb.The acting was brilliant especially from Cesar Montano,who captured the personality of not only Jose Rizal himself but a person who is totally dedicated to providing freedom and great things for his country.Aside from that,the movie also made it a point be historically accurate with the events surrounding that have both happened in Rizal's life and the history of the Philippines as well.It also made it a point to completely capture Rizal's execution taken on December 30,1896 with the presence of the dog based on the photograph taken that day.Aside from that,the direction of Diaz-Abaya was excellent as she made it an effort not only to tell the story of the most famous Filipino freedom fighter but also to make this movie the greatest Filipino film ever made.

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.

Established Filipino director Marilou Diaz-Abaya apparently saw lots of promise in Cesar Montano and cast him as her José Rizal; I can think of better actors but otherwise her film is a visually dazzling, well-mounted biography of a Filipino hero. Cesar Montano enthusiastically bites into the quintessential role of José Rizal, with impressive Spanish lines and good affectations. He made Filipino viewers forget his beginnings as a vapid bold actor. 1969 Miss Universe Gloria Diaz is luminous as José Rizal's mom (winning a Best Supporting Actress MMFF award, her first in 29 years), yet her scenes are actually too brief to be considered memorable. Pen Medina, Subas Herrero, Ronnie Lazaro and (MMFF Supporting Actor winner) Jaime Fabregas lend okay support. Gardo Versoza, Tony Mabesa and Joel Torre (usually reliable thespians) are lacklustre here; Versoza's "Andres Bonifacio" is ludicrous. Chin Chin Gutierrez (as the complex character "Josephine Bracken"), acclaimed Broadway actress Monique Wilson (as fictional "Maria Clara") and starlet Mickey Ferriols are totally wasted here. We don't learn anything at all about Bracken, the love interest of Rizal. The effectively moody music of Nonong Buencamino won an award, and I also liked the lavish sets and costumes, starkly beautiful cinematography by Rody Lacap and the stunning visual effects by Mark Ambat. The Ricardo Lee-Jun Lana-Peter Ong Lim script is muddled and lacks a strong dramatic structure (conversations seeming to lead somewhere interesting are left suspended, and questions posed by the characters are never addressed at all) and the novelty of having the real-life José Rizal interact with the lead character of his novel is more confusing than engrossing. The script displays blatant biases, fallacies (a matter of opinion) and a ludicrous "deus ex machina;" it weighs down to actor Montano to carry the film with his insightful delineation of a favorite, if little-understood national hero. Marilou Diaz-Abaya has proven that women directors can come up with substantial gems in filmdom.