Cesar Montano - José Rizal
Joel Torre - Crisostomo Ibarra/Simoun
Gloria Diaz - Teodora Alonso
Jaime Fabregas - Luis Taviel de Andrade
Gardo Versoza - Andrés Bonifacio
Monique Wilson - Maria Clara
Chin Chin Gutierrez - Josephine Bracken
Mickey Ferriols - Leonor Rivera
Pen Medina - Paciano Rizal
Peque Gallaga - Archbishop Bernardo Nozaleda, O.P.
Bon Vibar - Ramón Blanco
Subas Herrero - Alcocer
Tony Mabesa - Camilo de Polavieja
Alexis Santaren - Olive
Chiqui Xerxes-Burgos - Father Villaclara, S.J.
Jose Rizal is a three-hour epic on the life and struggles of poet and patriot Jose Rizal, the national hero and martyr of the Philippines, played byCesar Montano. Directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya, this is GMA Films' entry to the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival. It is considered as one of the biggest budgeted films in Philippine movie history with a record of P80-million.
The film was dubbed as the most spectacular and "controversial" Philippine film epic because of its record-breaking 80-million budget. It was also considered as one of the biggest, finest and most successful historical films, both commercially and artistically ever made in the history of Philippine cinema. The film won several prestigious awards and has also premiered at several well-known film festivals around the world including the Berlin International Film Festival in 1998 and has also won as the 2nd runner-up in the Audience Award of the Toronto Filmfest. –Wikipedia
A compressed overview of the key moments of Rizal’s life which greatly contributed in making him a hero. Major events of his life depicted in the movie included his childhood education, studies abroad, and his efforts to gain freedom through writing, his imprisonment and death.
An important movie to watch for all of us Filipinos, if you want to learn about Rizal in 3 hours’ time… This is the movie to see. The film was released during the Centennial Celebration of our Philippine freedom and it made us appreciate more on the sacrifices made by our heroes. It also served as a reminder for all of us on the significance of freedom and the importance of keeping it.
The problem with Jose Rizal is that it concentrates on historical accuracy rather than artistic contribution. The film, as mentioned, is basically a history book adapted to film. My problem with this Rizal film is that the depth of this film's Rizal is as much as the depth of Rizal you'd get from a high schooler's Filipino textbook. Compare that to Tikoy Aguiluz's Rizal sa Dapitan, or Mike de Leon's Bayaning Third World, all of which have their own historical inaccuracies, but the Rizals there are definitely deeper, probably less a hero, but more a human. Nonetheless, it is a splendid film that deserves much praise and acclaim.
Image source: Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment