In the late afternoon of September 21, 2015, it was announced that the Jerrold Tarog film, “Heneral Luna” is the Philippines’ official entry to the Oscars 2016, the 88th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category.
In a film review by Je Cabebe of LionheaTV, the treatment on how the director, Jerrold Tarog, has portrayed “Heneral Luna” is far from the glamorized depiction of a hero, but has precisely focused on the “human” characteristics of his imperfections and rawness that made it perfect and convincing, seemingly that the audience has found familiar traits of relatable people in the society, an escape from the typical sugar-coated norms of film-making.
“Heneral Luna” is one of the most prominent local heroes in the history of the Philippine-American war, known for being one of the sharpest military tacticians of his time, often seemingly interpreted as arrogant and quick-temper like of a time-bomb, but the film has justified these characteristics as tied with his patriotic ideals and responsibilities in his role in the country’s defense.
He is grasping consistently with his unbreakable beliefs opposing the corrupt, masked by his strong personality to effectively fulfill his duties and to impose the law as the highest oath.
The announcement was released officially on the Facebook page of the film, a few weeks before the deadline of submission of entries to the Oscars’ which is on October 1, 2015.
“Heneral Luna” was chosen by the 7-man committee over five other local films which were shown between October 2014 to September 2015 by the Film Academy of the Philippines. “Heneral Luna” started its commercial run last September 9, 2015.
The five other films reviewed by the committee were “Hari ng Tondo” by Carlitos Siguion-Reyna; starring Robert Arevalo; “Taklub” by Brillante Mendoza, starring Nora Aunor; “The Janitor” by Michael Tuvera, starring Dennis Trillo; “That Thing Called Tadhana” by Antoinette Jadaone, starring Angelica Panganiban and JM de Guzman; and “English Only, Please” by Dan Villegas, starring Jennylyn Mercado and Derek Ramsay.
It was produced by Artikulo Uno and directed by Jerrold Tarog from a screenplay of the late Henry Francia, E.A. Rocha and Jerrold Tarog. John Arcilla played the role of Gen. Antonio Luna. The film’s cast also included Mon Confiado (as Gen. Aguinaldo), Lorenz Martinez (as Gen. Tomas Mascardo), Epy Quizon (as Apolinario Mabini), Leo Martinez (as Pedro Paterno), Nonie Buencamino (as Felipe Buencamino), Bing Pimentel, Mylene Dizon, Perla Bautista with the special participation of Paulo Avelino (as Gen. Gregorio del Pilar).
In an opinionated note, the film “Heneral Luna”, draws a bigger picture in representing the Philippines globally. It does not require fictional concepts for foreign critics or audience to understand where the country is coming from, as the film’s story happened as part of the global history of World War II. In order for non-Filipinos to appreciate the culture better, it is proper to present first its history to the world. It is not far from recognizable as World War II is a common knowledge to majority, while aside from relevance, the film itself was also critically acclaimed by local film critics and audience for its breakthrough approach of film-making as a whole.
The history, culture, relevance and characterizations are the combined factors which maybe the deciding factor how “Heneral Luna” was chosen to be the entry to the 2016 Oscars’.
The 88th Academy Awards will be held on February 28, 2016 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
