This is both good and bad, because it already “preaches” to the audience that Gen. Gregorio del Pilar as well as criticism for his misplaced sense of loyalty in Gen. “There is sympathy for the character of Gen. There is a good balance of dreamy romanticism and war action scenes,” she said. “I like how the overhead sweeping vistas actually transported the audience to the battle scene and terrain of the Battle of Tirad Pass and the military maneuvers of both parties. She also cited the film’s cinematography, production design, costume, music and acting by the lead and ensemble actors and saying they were all excellent. “It stirred a sense of nationalism in me,” she added.
“I was curious about how Jerrold Tarog would treat the character and his place in history.” There was a buzz on “hero” worship that was predicated on this film,” Cueva told the Asian Journal. General Gregorio del Pilar has always been both a charismatic and enigmatic personality in Philippine history - a tragic hero. She has also seen Heneral Luna and a preview of the bridge short film Angelito. Lawyer Elizabeth Cueva has always supported Filipino films with historical significance. The film was shown in New York City and Elizabeth, New Jersey over the weekend and followers of Filipino films went out to watch. With multiple points of view and the same characteristic freedom to move between historical fact and fiction as in Heneral Luna, Goyo expounds on themes of maturity and responsibility, contrasts the naivete of youth with sobriety of adulthood, and attempts to ask questions about our readiness for a task of nation building. “For someone so young and popular to face death head on, Goyo, as del Pilar is known to his friends, deserves to be examined using both a wider and a more intimate lens.”Īs the second part in the envisioned ambitious historical trilogy that began with Heneral Luna, Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral continues an attempt to examine Filipinos’ faults as a people by using the past as a reflection of the present. Yet his willingness to give up his life reveals a level of determination and perhaps humility that cannot be easily dismissed,” director Jerrold Tarog said. “For many, Gregorio del Pilar was a true hero of the revolution, but for some, he was nothing more than an arrogant henchman of Revolutionary President Emilio Aguinaldo. It could very well be a study in contrast as both heroes’ characterizations are like night and day.
If at all, Goyo as portrayed in the film is anything but loud, but don’t be fooled by that because Avelino delivers a powerful yet nuanced and subdued performance. If you have seen Heneral Luna and expect a loud, hot-headed and boisterous lead character, you’d be disappointed. Army begins its final push to crush the Philippine army and capture Aguinaldo. Goyo faces the biggest challenge of his life as he oversees the large caravan of officers, soldiers and civilians making their perilous escape through the mountains of the Northern regions. Quickly, the film moves and after five months of relative peace, the U.S. This, added to Bernal’s taunts would haunt Goyo endlessly. There were scenes that reveal his personal battle against post traumatic stress disorder, one that he got after a near-death experience defending Kakarong de Sili in Bulacan. This and a few flashback scenes later would humanize Goyo’s character and reveal how he tries and copes with the questions that bother him and keep him up at night.
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To his critics though, he is nothing but Aguinaldo’s lapdog.Ī crucial scene, and one of my favorites, shows Manuel Bernal (masterfully played by Art Acuna) defying the authorities and getting into Goyo’s mind rent free as he asked the young general, “Are you a soldier or are you a dog?” before taunting him with “Tahol, Goyo, tahol!” (“Bark, Goyo, bark!”) Captain Juan del Pilar Goyo was the most trusted ally of Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippine President and Commander-in-Chief during the Revolution and War. A short film uploaded on YouTube entitled Angelito acts as a bridge to connect both films and provides a clearer transition by showcasing the story of Manuel and Jose Bernal after Luna’s death. Goyo picks up immediately right after Heneral Luna’s ending and it follows the young general’s life up to the point where he died at the battle of Tirad Pass. THREE years after the highly successful run (both commercial and critical) of Heneral Luna comes the much-awaited sequel, Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, a historical biopic that focuses on the last months in the life of Gregorio del Pilar (Paulo Avelino), one of the youngest generals of the Philippine Revolution (against Spain) and the Philippine-American War.