Thoughtfully Anticipating the Coming of Heneral Luna

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.