A Reaction to Heneral Luna Movie

Provocative, daring, and brave, these are the words that immediately came to my mind during and after watching the film entitled “Heneral Luna.” With the present film industry, who would have thought that such a masterpiece can come about? Excellent cinematography, one can feel the effort, time, and dedication, the team did to produce such as work of art. Funny, serious, and gore, the movie does not screen out the bad events the Filipinos experienced during the American colonization. I loved how the Filipino youth was introduced in the film through the eyes of a young boy named “Joven.” This shows how the youth of our nation has been wanting to know more, and how the colonizers have shot their ears and hands to prevent further knowledge that can lead to independence. The movie is a real eye opener. I felt sad, angry, and even almost hostile towards my fellow countrymen who betrayed Luna. It is true, “May malaki tayong kalaban sa mga Amerikano-ang ating sarili,” the real enemy of the Filipinos are their fellow Filipinos. Unless there is no unity among ourselves, how can we expect our country to be independent and win against the invader? It is such a pity that betrayal and corruption are evident before, which led to our defeat against the Americans. However, what’s truly saddening is that all these terrible things are present even now. True, it is hard to think of the country especially when your own interests have not been granted yet. Everyone has needs, a lot more if you have your own family. Some might choose their family and own interests over the good of the country, while some might give their all for their beloved nation. Heneral Antonio Luna is one of the latter. He is a certified nationalist, a great general, but his temperament caused him to have enemies, both local and foreign. It is devastating to lose one of the greatest generals, the Philippines ever had just because of petty internal fights. The film shows that aside from arms and weapons, education should also be used to fight the colonizers. Education is very important. Knowing the roots of our country, the important events that moulded the Filipinos to who they are now can help us further understand what the problems really are. Education can help open our minds, think selflessly, love our country, and unite with each other, and hopefully one day, we will finally escape from the grasp of our colonizers. Heneral Luna is a film that every Filipino should watch as it can help us understand the ongoing problems that we have now, make a solution, and plan for a better future.