52 VITTO, Krisha Mae 2CMTBAYANING 3RD WORLD

1. Describe the development of the movie. Give your reaction to the way it was

developed.

Bayaning Third World is a movie within a movie. It revolves around the

story of two filmmakers trying to re-make the life story of Jose P. Rizal. It tried to

capture the cinematic moments of the Philippines' National Hero, Dr. Jose P.

Rizal. They investigated upon the reasons why some people worshipped him to

the point of idolatry and why his works are supported by the government yet

censored by the church. A quest into the reason of the national heroes influence,

which permeates into the Philippine social set up. It was basically a travel to the

past, history was deconstructed for the movie presented a different persona out

of Rizal and out of the significant people around him. Contrary to the movies,

which immortalized the hero in the silver screen, this movie sought questions,

which were never and will never be answered. The sort of questions where the

answers were also buried six feet below the ground along with the national hero.

It presented and created doubt in me about the real motive of the hero. The main

theme of the movie, which caught my interest, is about his retraction.

The development of the movie was astonishing for me. I did not expect the

movie to have some humor in its first few minutes. The movie slowly questioned

and answered some aspects of Rizal’s life through the interview of the directors

with Rizal’s family, Josephine Bracken, and finally, Rizal himself. I was a little bit

confused at first, but as the movie progresses, it all made sense. The

development of the story for me was fast. The viewers of this film should have

knowledge of the life of Jose Rizal first for them to understand it better.

2. How did the movie make you understand Rizal better?

The movie, despite of the controversies, had put me in becoming more

curious in the life of Rizal. Bayaning 3rd world made me know Rizal more thru the

interviews of his family and Josephine Bracken. It allowed me to see how his

family and lover view him as their loved one. The movie gave more depth to him

as a person and not only the fact that he’s our hero. It feels like I’ve known him

through the movie.

3. What previous information about Rizal were reversed in that movie?

In the movie, the directors tried to portray Jose Rizal as a coward that

doesn’t really want to be a hero, but an average Filipino person. It has been

established that Jose Rizal retracted his membership from the Masonry and gave

back his allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church in order for him to marry

Josephine Bracken. Josephine Bracken who was not able to get the trust of the

hero's immediate family was put to blame as the primary cause of Rizal's

repudiation which came out in the December 1986 Manifesto. His mother

astutely denied such claims pointing out that his son did not betray his country,

did not swerve in the event, and was staunch in his stance and opposition to the

colonizers. Together with Trining, Rizal's older sister they suspected Miss

Josephine Bracken as a traitor and a spy commissioned by the Spaniards to

hasten the trial and conviction of our national hero.

4. a. What is your position in the alleged retraction of Rizal?

Even if Jose Rizal has been found to retract from his religious beliefs (but

not still proven true) a number of materials prove that he did not retract from his

nationalist and patriotic goals. I believe that he did not change his strong

opposition stance overnight but instead continued to express his desires through

subtle writings with a humungous impact to the readers which until now

resonates in our society-- the overarching influence of his works and life. The

strong nationalist and patriotic character of Dr. Jose Rizal sets him apart from

others. He was firm and bold in his opposition to the colonizers that is why it is

hard to just believe that he retracted from his nationalist goals in just a blink of an

eye.

b. Would the truth about it make you regard less? Explain.

I personally believe that, whether our national hero retracted his

membership with the Masonry and embraced back the Roman Catholic Church

or not, that does not change anything about his goal of liberating the country. It

did not affect his nationalist ideals. It did not deter him from continuing to write

about the abuses of the Spaniards, and above all it did not stop him from offering

his life to the Philippines. If ever true that his retraction was motivated by his

personal reasons of marrying the person he loves, that did not completely

changed anything about him, why not give him a chance to pursue some

interests and desires for himself. Rizal’s retraction does not make my respect for

him as a hero less.

5. a. What do you think of the alleged marriage of Rizal to Josephine? Explain.

In my opinion, Rizal did not married Josephine Bracken because in the

first place, he was in the prison. How can he marry Josephine Bracken in the last

minute? They even lived together in Dapitan so what is the sense of getting

married at the church when they already felt like they were married in the eyes of

God? I firmly believe that they were not married, as I also believe that Rizal did

not sign those retraction papers.

b. Why do you supposed Rizal and Josephine ask to be married?

I guess Rizal and Josephine wanted to be married because they want to

be formally take their vows in the eyes of God and their family. Also, live-in

partners are not really respected that time. The society condemns people who

live together without getting married. I believe they wanted to have a peaceful life

without everyone judging them.

6. What other aspect of the movie do you consider significant?

Though the movie has a lot to point out about our national hero, these are

the aspects of the movie I consider the most significant; (1) Rizal, pro or against

the revolution (2) Retraction System (3) Speculation whether Josephine and

Rizal got married or not or if their relationship was authentic or not. In the movie,

those three were the most significant since those were the frequently asked

questions about Rizal.