Andres Bonifacio's colorful character is exciting material for cinema. A passionate and compulsive revolutionist who met a tragic end, a brave man who fought for the Filipino freedom but ultimately suffered from the hands of his own race, Bonifacio is a national hero whose history and legacy continue to captivate us.
After Richard Somes' visually pleasing but utterly passionless Bonifacio in 2012's Supremo (read my frustration here), we are, with great relief, presented with a passionate fighter in Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo, with action star Robin Padilla in the titular role.
Directed by Enzo Williams, and screenplay penned by him, Carlo Obispo, and Keiko Aquino, the film delivers a solid, clear, and compact retelling of the story of the founder of Katipunan, which would engage Filipinos of all ages and background—from the most hardcore historical nut down to your regular high school student.
With the opening scene of the horrific death sentence of the GOMBURZA (Mariano Gomez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, three Filipino priests who were executed in 1872 by Spanish colonial authorities), our anger against the Spanish colonizers is quickly ignited, and so we immediately feel Bonifacio's drive to free our beloved Motherland, and our sense of patriotism and Filipino pride are sustained until the end.
The film, however, has a conscious effort to please a large demographic of tweens who will only probably be motivated to watch a historical film if heartthrob Daniel Padilla is in the picture.
Here, Daniel Padilla is Joaquin, a present-day high school student who, along with schoolmates Andrea (Jasmine Curtis-Smith), and Gary (RJ Padilla), visit Museo ng Katipunan in San Juan City, where they receive real education from the museum’s curator (Eddie Garcia), whose gems of information on Bonifacio cannot be found in the kids’ textbook. Apart from targeting younger audience, this storytelling strategy also aims to reinforce its objective to enlighten us on what it claims to be the true story of Bonifacio.
This is Williams’ first full-length film, and he succeeds in delivering an absorbing historical film. The flashbacks are thoroughly engaging, evoking a strong sense of suspense, thrill, and patriotism. There is also dash of humor—and a lot of romance to spice up the movie. Vina Morales plays Bonifacio’s wife Oriang and she delivers a heartfelt performance, and her chemistry with Padilla is palpable. The film is generally well-acted, with Padilla giving his important role the necessary fervor to it.
The visuals are breathtaking, artful and poetic, thanks to Williams’ cinematic vision aided by multi-awarded Carlo Mendoza’s breathtaking cinematography, enhanced by Von de Guzman’s film score; the thrilling and soaring music heightens our emotions; our anger, pain, love, and pride. The battle and fight scenes are impressive—except for the Spaniards' movements when beating up the Filipinos with their guns; they look weak and phony, taking away the realism and greatly reducing these specific scenes to a classroom skit.
But this film is chiefly educational, delivered in an entertaining manner. Although lively, the Bonifacio character is still one-dimensional; not really revealing the man behind the hero. Beyond the cedula-tearing, the Katipunan, the Tejeros Convention, the Magdiwang and Magdalo Council, and his brutal death, we discover nothing new about the man that is Bonifacio. There is one scene, though, when Bonifacio is vulnerable, in great anguish, as he speaks to God, and you wish there’s more of this raw side of the character—a more intimate, personal portrayal of the human being and not just the revolutionary hero.
Bonificio: Ang Unang Pangulo is, once again, all about the Supremo, the "True First President of the Philippines," as the movie title says, and not exactly the man. Nevertheless, the movie is competent, emotionally engaging, and passionate, succeeding in sparking that patriotism in you.
3 out of 5 stars
Metro Manila East Film Festival 2014
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