Sounds like a chick flick (nothing wrong if you like that genre it's just that I'm not into that kind of movies in general). I say this not only to you but also to myself.Sweet Sixteen. I believe that we have reached a tipping point and will be overcoming more. I pray that this movie uplift the collective consciousness of the Filipinos to awaken to the truth of who we are. Let this movie guide you to what it means to be free. Let this movie be not just any passing movie that moved you. Let us stop pointing fingers at others and finding faults outside when we have failed to realize how we have been deceiving our selves into thinking that we are blameless and that ours is a valid excuse to do what is wrong. Let us stop being ignorant and take responsibility as Filipinos. We have seen our mistakes through this movie then let us end this cycle of frustration. I believe the movie is timely since next year, we as Filipinos will gain the power to change the course of how things will be for the Philippines. And as long as we maintain our regionalistic mentality then it is an indicator that we are not ready. To achieve change there must be a Radical move. True, our greatest battles are the ones we fight within ourselves, for those battles will mirror our relationships and decisions. He might not have seen how his passion to uplift the Filipinos’ mentality had become but he was crucial to the continuing Revolution. A life comfortable and ignorant of the heavier responsibility of uplifting the regionalistic mentality of a people so used, so twisted and confused. Heneral Luna could’ve chosen to live a completely different life. This life, this freedom, I owe to the many Heneral Lunas that risked and gave their lives for a greater cause, one beyond themselves, and their families. A part of the cell that stored the trauma of having a Filipino lineage. The movie healed a part of my wounded soul. The feeling of frustration of wanting to change, and wanting people to see the Vision of a better Philippines, of a better World despite the overwhelming barriers of intrigue, deceit, and manipulation. The feeling of resignation to life, to the corruption in our personal relations and even up to the National, to the state of the Philippines, and that of the World. I cannot tell you how most of the scenes were true for me. And how some of our strengths as a nation is also our own poison. I see, so clearly how one can succumb to their inner struggle and risk the Whole Nation’s freedom.
I see Luna’s struggles and I see my own and realize that everyone, every single one is not an exception to the inner struggles and the ego. I see myself in every character, the dark and the light. It is so powerful that even my body knew that I needed to let go of the wounded Filipino psyche and the hurt Filipino morale engrained within me from the years of oppression from the various oppressors. I can say that it changed a lot within me and how I see myself as a Filipino. I couldn’t help but cry every time with the exception of the lighter moments where I laughed and smiled while wiping away my tears. And reading the prologue I felt something deep within me relate to the narrative. And rewatched it with friends, my sister, and my mother in the evening.Įven before the actual film started I already had goosebumps all over for no reason at all. I watched it early in the afternoon together with the Senior Citizens, my mom, and my brother. I had movies I loved so much but never one that was Filipino (as far as I remember) and never did I watch any of those movies twice because it simply meant so much EXCEPT THIS MOVIE. I’ve been eyeing the premier but with the recent tidal waves in my personal life it slipped my mind, until today when my brother invited us to watch it. It’s the first time that I rewatched a movie in a movie theater.