Barte, Chastity 2013 44897 Jose Rizal A Film Review

History 2/11/14

The film Jose Rizal directed by Diaz-Abaya is about the life and struggles of our national hero in the era where Spaniards still colonize the Philippines. It is about love, trust, camaraderie and revolution not only against the Spaniards but also against himself. Here, Rizal is faced with many difficulties and problems which molded him to the person he was. The film recounts about Rizals exile in prison. He was imprisoned by the Spaniards because of he has written two novels Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo together with the accusation that he had started a revolution. He was to be put under trial to determine if he was to be set free to put to death. As Rizal meets Taviel, a Spanish soldier in charge of Rizals case, Rizal encounters a series of flashbacks. Taviel found out that Rizal was innocent. But, the friars who were the main target of his books, wanted to end Rizals life. They had much influence even on the Spanish officials. And thus it was their will that was to be followed. Rizal was a son, a brother and a friend. He was taught and raised to be a responsible individual. He was taught a bit of Spanish by his mother and was later on sent to a local school. There, he first encountered Spanish abuse. Rizals mother was later sent to jail causing him to change his last name. He was sent to Europe to study medicine. His brother, Paciano, urged him to do so too since it was for his benefit.

Rizal was a lover. He had an affair with his cousin, Leonor, before he had left for Europe. When he had left, he was not able to say his goodbyes to Leonor. Later on, he had found out that Leonor was to be wed to another man causing him grief. But, this was not the last time Rizal had experienced love. As a writer, Rizal had written two novels: Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo each related to his life and each related about his views about love, Spains colonization, the Filipino youth and revolution. The main character of his novels was Crisostomo Ibarra. In Noli me Tangere, he was a man of pure nature. There he had encountered love for the first time. There he had hope that the Filipino youth could be molded into brilliant individuals. There, he had hope that if Spain saw this progress, Philippines will be granted freedom. In Noli me Tangere, Rizal placed all his hope for his country. Hewas Ibarra. It was his method of telling the Filipino what was truly happening in the Philippines. In El Filibusterismo, however, Ibarra had changed. Rizal himself had also changed. He had encountered various hardships in his life and so did Ibarra. Ibarra was forced to go into hiding and change his identity to Simon. Forced to go through all this, he now has cynical views on the Spanish officials and friars. He was more violent. He had less hope on the youth. He wanted the Youth to stop getting education from the colonizers for slowly, they had been losing their national identity. Here, it was clear that Simon had wanted revolution yet in the end, failed. Rizal met Andres Bonifacio, who was greatly moved by his books. Andres wanted to urge Rizal to join his revolution but Rizal denied. The books were Rizals way of saying that he had wanted a peaceful change and that even if there was a violent revolution, it would not succeed.

There were various factors that led Rizal to create his masterpieces Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. There was his love for Leonor and his family; there was the abuse on the Filipinos by the Spanish officials and friars. Rizal, like any other person, also experienced grief in his life. He had various propagandas to give Filipinos information yet he was surprised that one of his colleagues would privatize their work and not publicize it. He was hurt, that the love of his life had left him oh so suddenly to marry another man. He was also hurt when his first child had died. Even still, he had remained strong-willed. I guess we can say that he was the spark that urged the Filipinos to fight back. He made them realize that they were suffering and all these must end. To gain independence and recover nationalism, to get back our national identity which had seemed forgotten because of Spanish colonization these where his dreams. Although he did not approve of violence, it had seemed that there was no other way to fight back. It may seem that it was Bonifacios efforts which made change and impact. But, without Rizal without his works, Andres movement would also not occur. Like many peoples successes, there needs to be a dream, a goal, a hope of some kind. Andres ambitions were sparked by Rizal and, not only Andres was inspired by Rizals books, but all the Filipinos, inside and outside the country, had started to fight back. Rizal was a son, a writer, a lover, a propagandist and, the man who sparked a revolution.