Thoughtfully Anticipating the Coming of Heneral Luna
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
John Arcilla in Jerrold Tarog's Heneral Luna
The inundation
of low-quality films in the Philippine movie industry has pushed a number of aficionados
away, and perhaps permanently, into the realm of foreign cinema. How many
Enteng Kabisotes does one need to watch in his lifetime anyway? Not to
disrespect our talented film directors and script writers, but it seems like the
words “revenue” and “trend” have overridden talent and skill. Philippine cinema
over the years has become a dismal venue for storytellers who rehash stories,
retell them over and over again for the pleasure of overenthusiastic audiences.
Mediocrity is a disease that has plagued the Philippine cinema over the years and
it is disconcerting to know that what the young generation of moviegoers consider
a “movie-to-die-for” is one with a senseless plot coupled with inept (but very
charming) actors.
And yes, sorry to say that there
is only one plot for 25 different movies.
When you know
that a movie like “Heneral Luna” is about to hit the theaters, you can’t help
but jump for joy because good Filipino movies come rarely these days. Heneral
Luna is promising in so many ways, starting with the fact that it stars brilliant
actors like John Arcilla, who plays the lead role, Mylene Dizon, Eppy Quizon, Nonie
Buencamino, Mon Confiado, Bing Pimentel, Joem Bascon, as well as Arron
Villaflor, Archie Alemania, Alex Medina, Paulo Avelino, Alvin Anson, Lorenz
Martinez, Leo Martinez and Ketchup Eusebio.
Heneral Luna is
a film by Jerrold Tarog, who garnered several awards for his film Sana Dati in
Cinemalaya 2013. I honestly have not seen any of his films, but knowing that
there’s a new historical fiction looming over our horizon...
It will be
shown on September 9, and yes, I am thoughtfully anticipating.
Here's a sneak peak.
Here's a sneak peak.
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