Rizal: Superhuman?

Rizal: Superhuman?

Bayaning 3rd World is Mike de Leon’s movie featuring two filmmakers/historians trying to conceptualize a movie revolving around Jose Rizal. They try to do so by going back in time to interview people from Rizal’s life - Donya Teodora, Trinidad, Narcisa, Padre Balaguer, and Josephine Bracken. By these interviews, the two also dwelt on the authenticity of Rizal’s retraction letter. Overall, Bayaning 3rd World tries to show the life of Dr. Jose Rizal, while depicting the Filipinos’ perception of him as a national hero. As it was said in the beginning of the movie, “kung kasalanang pagdudahan ang pagkabayani ni Rizal, mukhang magkakasala kami sa pelikulang ito” (Bayaning 3rd World).

Our perception of Rizal as a national hero was established in the early part of the movie - “national hero, the great Malayan, the first Filipino, ang natatanging ‘Indio Bravo’” (Bayaning 3rd World). Him being a saint in Bishop Gregorio Aglipay’s religion, and his life being a used in two blockbuster movies by American directors were also mentioned. Indeed, we Filipinos think highly of Dr. Rizal.

The body of the film showed the different interviews of people associated with Rizal. The questions revolved on whether Rizal and Bracken really got married, whether Rizal died as a Catholic, the authenticity of the retraction letter, and Rizal’s stand regarding the revolution. Donya Teodora, Trinidad, Narcisa, Padre Balaguer, and Josephine Bracken each gave different answers regarding these topics. However, the film did not assume answers to unanswerable questions, due to lack of evidence. I find this aspect commendable because as a documentary, facts are expected to come out from it.

Mainly, the movie revolved around the legitimacy of Rizal’s retraction letter. What the film did is show how queries about the topic are interconnected and different possibilities about these. One example is, if Rizal and Bracken got married before the execution, there is a greater possibility that the retraction letter was indeed, true. This could lead to the conclusion that Rizal died as a Catholic. However, as it was mentioned in the early part of the movie, even Rizal experts could not settle this controversy due to lack of evidence.

At the latter part of the film, the two filmmakers questioned Rizal himself about these allegations. However, the hero does not seem to reach the filmmakers’ standards. In the end, they settle to the conclusion: to each his own Rizal. For me, this part shows how Filipinos’ perception of Rizal is too great that we look at our national hero as someone perfect. This is alarming because no matter how great his deeds were, Rizal will always be a human being who makes mistakes.

The film presented substantial statements about the questions regarding Rizal’s life. These the authenticities of these statements were fairly weighed, just like what they did to Trinidad’s interview. However, I think that lack of evidences to prove or disprove allegations suppresses the flow of knowledge regarding the topic.

On the other hand, the Filipinos’ perception of Rizal as a national hero was not very evident. However, when you analyze each scene, you can notice that the filmmakers try to force their ideals about Rizal. This is mostly seen in the latter part wherein Rizal (played by Joel Torre) reprimands the two for imposing their beliefs about the national hero on him, saying that he is just a figure of their perception about Rizal.

Overall, I think that the film has been successful in accomplishing its purpose. It achieved its goal to show Rizal’s life, and show the Filipinos’ ideals of a national hero.

The film Bayaning 3rd World is not just another Rizal biography. It is a timely documentary showing that Dr. Jose P. Rizal, our “national hero, the great Malayan, the first Filipino, ang natatanging ‘Indio Bravo’” (Bayaning 3rd World) is not superhuman at all. Like us, he is a normal human being who can make mistakes and wrong choices in life. However, like him, we can all be heroes in our own ways.

Works Cited
Bayaning 3rd World. Dir. Mike de Leon. Perf. Ricky Davao, Joel Torre, and Cris Villanueva. Solar Films, 2000. Film.

Cited: Bayaning 3rd World. Dir. Mike de Leon. Perf. Ricky Davao, Joel Torre, and Cris Villanueva. Solar Films, 2000. Film.