HISTORICAL films are hard and costly to make, which explains the very slim output. Heneral Luna easily comes to mind. Not only did it become the sleeper hit of some years back, but the TBA-produced epic also succeeded in coming up with a big-screen historical offering that was accessible and yet not without artistic merit.
Acclaimed young filmmaker Jerrold Tarog managed to present viewers with a conflicted hero. In the film, Antonio Luna was portrayed as human with frailties and strengths. It was laudable to see a historical film that steered clear from merely being an homage to a revered figure.
Heneral Luna went on to become the first historical film to do good business and this was largely through positive word-of-mouth. It reaped awards from local award-giving groups and was the official entry of the Philippines in the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film Category the year after it was released locally.
Through much of the three years that followed, it was announced that the same film outfit was set to film another historical movie. It would center this time around on General Gregorio del Pilar, also known as “the boy general” in the war against Spanish and American colonizers. Paulo Avelino was to reprise his role in Heneral Luna as the young, good-looking general.
As a prelude to Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, Tarog made a short film called Angelito that bridges the events of Heneral Luna to Goyo. The short film was shown as an added feature to TBA’s well-received anti-romcom I Love You, Thank You which starred Maja Salvador and, yes, Paulo Avelino.
The excitement over Goyo is rising as the film nears its theatrical run in early-September. The big question on every film buff’s mind is whether Goyo will be another Heneral Luna—an acclaimed film that will gradually grow legs at the box office.
Many factors seem to work to Goyo’s favor. First off, we do not make historical love stories anymore. While Heneral Luna explored more the complex psyche of the blustery Antonio Luna, Goyo has a love story at its center. In fact, an early teaser for the film ends with a woman’s voice-over saying, in effect, that she would rather have “someone on her bed alive than a hero on a pedestal.”
The film also gives viewers the chance to see once more characters they loved from Heneral Luna, among them Mon Confiado’s Emilio Aguinaldo, Art Acuña’s Manuel Bernal and Epy Quizon’s Apolinario Mabini. In Heneral Luna, Confiado won praise for a nuanced performance that was a perfect foil to John Arcilla’s oftentimes overly intense portrayal of Antonio Luna. Everybody loves a winner, which Confiado is, having recently won as Best Supporting Actor in the revitalized Famas for Those Long-Haired Nights. Art Acuña’s resume is equally impressive. A sought-after TV, film and stage thespian, Acuña has won the Urian Best Supporting Actor prize for Niño and Posas, a back-to-back victory that only a few have claims to. Acuña finds the role of Manuel Bernal, one of Antonio Luna’s main allies, both physically and emotionally challenging. In Goyo, Bernal’s story expands, showing the audience his fate in the hands of Del Pilar after Luna’s assassination. “Basically, the historical characters we play are just people,” shared Acuña. “They can be from any century. Even if it’s modern times or old times, your heart is the same; your spirit is the same. You fight the same, you cry the same. So, really, I don’t get too academic about it. I just trust my instincts.”
With a project as ambitious and vast in scope as Goyo, that’s essentially what director Tarog and producers TBA Studios and Globe Studios are doing. They are following their hearts and trusting their inner voices. After all, there is more to film production and filmmaking than just profits and acclaim. The more dominant driving force is passion and the need to leave a legacy, as these so-called heroes did in their lifetime.
With Tarog’s trademark meticulous attention to detail, Goyo promises to be a movie event worth waiting for as the local film industry celebrates its yearlong centennial.