Historical Movie Review: Heneral Luna
On September 9, 2015, a revolutionary film hit the theaters and was applauded by
everybody for standing out from the rest of the film industry in the last decade. That film is titled
Heneral Luna, which is a historical biopic film reliving the life of General Antonio Luna during
the Philippine-American War (1). It is not an exaggeration to call it revolutionary because it is
the most expensive Filipino historical film of all time while also being the most successful.
Critics praised the film's narrative, acting, and cinematography, which was directed by Jerrold
Tarog and produced by Artikulo Uno Productions. The cast includes top stars like John Arcilla,
Jom Bascon, Mon Confiado, and many others. This review will delve deeper into the film's
various parts, validating the accuracy of the historical events, military methods, and
technological breakthroughs depicted.
Before going over the main points of the review, it's a good idea to go over the events of
the movie to better grasp the following points. With the tension of the American colonizers, a
cabinet meeting took place, discussing whether to fight or make deals. The discussion was soon
interrupted by reports of Filipino fatalities and American infiltrations, triggering the
first Philippine-American war. With the Philippine side losing soldiers, Luna asked for
reinforcements from the Kawit Battalion only to see soldiers, even the commander, Captain
Pedro Janolino, slacking. Luna then proceeds to humiliate Janolino in front of his battalion and
dismisses the rest for refusing to comply with him. After the close encounter between the
Americans and the Filipinos, Luna went on a recruiting mission to neighboring areas to bolster
the Filipino army. While recruiting more forces, General Mascardo and Luna had a
disagreement, which resulted in the two generals and their men pointing weapons at each other.
Nearing the end of the film, General Luna received good news from the president and invited
him to come over to Cabanatuan. However, Captain Janolina and his men assassinated Antonio
Luna shortly after his arrival.
With a few exceptions to key moments in the film, the film largely follows the events
detailed in Vivencio Jose's biography of Antonio Luna, "The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna."
And despite being a biopic, Heneral Luna stayed somewhat faithful to the source material (2).
Scattered throughout the film are interviews with Joven Hernando. The scenes are all fictional,
but they play a big role in manifesting Luna’s ideals and nationalism in a calmer manner. This
gives Luna a different perspective on Luna as opposed to his aggressive side. Another scene to
look into is Luna’s resignation. In the source material, Luna's being out of combat for 3 weeks
took a huge toll on the Philippines’ forces (2-3). The final act is a little bit controversial as it is
the assassination of Antonio Luna. In the film, Buencamino, Janolino, and Aguinaldo all play
roles in Luna's death. Newspapers from the time period, however, claimed that Aguinaldo was to
blame for the crime (4).
Being a movie about war and the main character being a general, it is important that the
movie won’t leave out the intricate details of how a war plays out and the tactics that were used
during those times. The film did a really good job of showing the brilliance of General Luna
through the strategies he carries out (2, 5). One such strategy is the well-known Luna Defense
Line. This defense line is a series of bamboo trenches from Caloocan to Angeles. Its purpose is
to delay the battle as much as possible by slowly backing up to different points until it reaches
the last line of defense, which would be a guerrilla base up to the north. With only the use of
trench warfare alone, the Americans had a hard time advancing through (6). The order for
matching uniforms of different battalions was also noteworthy as it really has an impact in
unifying an army (5, 7). It also helps in identifying allies better during battle. Together with the
discipline that he enforces, Luna was really a force to be reckoned with, even receiving
acknowledgements from American generals.
Another thing to applaud about Heneral Luna are their costumes. Based around different
photographs of Filipino and American soldiers, their costumes in the film were spot on (8). This
is since the Philippine-American war was highly documented and they only needed to look at the
pictures as a basis. But even with the costumes for the civilians and normal citizens, it is not far
away from what they used to wear. Being set after the Spanish colonization, it can be inferred
that clothing during that time was influenced by Spanish culture. Baro’t Saya, Barong Tagalong,
and Camisa de Chino were the go-to clothes worn by the lower to middle class. While upperclass people from government officials wore western-inspired outfits like Americana.
Even outside of its historical basis, the film is great. From the acting, the cinematography,
and choreography, this film did great and even outperformed previous Filipino blockbusters. The
color grading complemented the movie very well and gave it an old-fashioned but cinematic
look. John Arcilla's portrayal of the lead character, General Luna, was remarkable. Many
emotions were captured by him, completely immersing the viewers in the character of Luna.
Arcilla does an excellent job of presenting the serious tone, the mischievous jokes, the
philosophy, and the strong impact of his words. Every student should have a chance to watch this
film for them to be exposed to our past and have a deeper understanding to the heroes of our
nation.
With the Philippine cinemas becoming oversaturated by love stories and comedies,
Heneral Luna was a breath of fresh air needed by the industry. The movie was unique from its
predecessor because it tackled a different topic during that time period, which we don’t often see
getting attention. Heneral Luna was a movie that was needed during this time. Not only inspiring
others but also educating them of the sacrifices our ancestors made for freedom.
References:
1. Heneral Luna. (2015, October 30). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4944352/
2. Jose, V. R. (1999). The Rise & Fall of Antonio Luna. Manila, Philippines: Trademark Pub.
3. Jimenez, Ruby Rosa A. (2015). Heneral Luna: The History Behind the Movie. Mandaluyong:
Anvil Publishing.
4. Luna assassination - philippine-american war, 1899-1902. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.filipinoamericanwar18991902.com/lunaassassination.htm
5. Artikulo Uno. (2015, July 16). HENERAL LUNA Behind The Scenes: Military History
Consultant [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKEXi-GPEZw
6. Marcos, Ferdinand (1968). The contemporary relevance of Antonio Luna's military doctrines.
7. Pfanner, T. (2004). Military uniforms and the Law of War. Revue Internationale De La CroixRouge/International Review of the Red Cross, 86(853), 93.
doi:10.1017/s1560775500180113
8. The Philippine Army - Philippine-American War, 1899-1902. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29,
2022, from https://www.filipinoamericanwar18991902.com/thephilippinearmy.htm