Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 71 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview of one of them.

In Philippine cinema, where romantic comedy, melodrama and action/adventure genres rule, Heneral Luna is an anomaly. Not only is it a rare Filipino historical film, about General Antonio Luna, commander of the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). But in a country where movies bank heavily on big-name stars in formulaic popcorn flicks, Heneral Luna bucked the trend and fared strongly at the box-office. Directed by Jerrold Tarog, the film recently became the highest grossing Philippine film with a historical theme. It is also now the highest grossing independent Filipino film of all time.

Tarog and co-writer E. A. Rocha struck a patriotic nerve with their story about the most brilliant Filipino general (played by John Arcilla) who dealt with an enemy more treacherous than the American invaders – his own countrymen. In addition to battling the American forces, the impatient, hotheaded general faced factions in the army who were loyal only to President Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado).

The cabinet, newly-formed after Spain sold the Philippines to the U.S. after three centuries of colonial rule, was split into pro-Americans and militant, nationalistic figures, including Apolinario Mabini (Epy Quezon), the wheelchair-bound, polio-stricken first prime minister of the country.

Amid this political bickering, General Luna and his loyal key soldiers – played by Alvin Anson, Archie Alemana, Joem Bascon, Art Acuna and Alex Medina – led the Philippine troops against the advancing American colonizers. “Our success brought back an audience that our Philippine cinema lost – those who stopped watching local films,” said Rocha, who also served as producer with Fernando Ortigas as executive producer. “Many said that ‘Heneral Luna’ was the first Filipino film they had seen in more than two decades.”

The period epic’s unprecedented success, critically and commercially, has emboldened Rocha and Ortigas to move on with the second part of what will become Tarog’s historical trilogy (yet another first in Filipino cinema). The second film will focus on another general in the Philippine Revolutionary Army, Gregorio del Pilar, with Paolo Avelino reprising his role in Heneral Luna. “Thorough research is underway,” Rocha said. “We expect to release the film in 2018.”

Ruben V. Nepales