Thread by @jnery_newsstand

1. ’Goyo’ is brilliant filmmaking. It does not create the same immediate impact as ‘Heneral Luna,’ but it is the better movie, the more faithful history. Sadly, it continues the villainization of Aguinaldo, and elevates Mabini as secular saint. Well. It’s complicated. (A thread)

2. @JerroldTarog’s ‘Goyo’ is both a psychological portrait of the boy general who died in Tirad Pass and a sweeping historical epic; it forces us to reconsider our concept of the hero and the many meanings of patriotism. It is not only a must-watch, but a must-think.

3. It continues the daring exploration of our revolutionary history that Tarog’s “Luna” started, but now finds a path outside of the familiar binaries that that pioneering, provocative movie told (see below). This explains the difference in impact, but also the greater accuracy.

4. When ‘Luna’ charged out of cinemas in 2015 like the general himself on horseback, I was provoked to write 5 columns. “‘Heneral Luna’ is a masterpiece of filmmaking; we should all see it. But it is, primarily, art; only, secondarily, history."

johnnery.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/col…

5. ’Goyo’ is like ‘Luna’ in this same sense: primarily art, only secondarily history. But it is also different, because both the art (the visual language, the assured direction) and the history (incl the tedium, the unreal merrymaking, the missed chances) are of a higher quality.

6. I appreciate Mabini’s role in the 2nd phase of the Revolution and the first year of the Aguinaldo govt, but we must note that he changed his mind about events. Bonifacio’s survivors saw him as favoring, or even partly causing, Luna’s assassination.

johnnery.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/col…

7. Alejandrino knew Luna well from Europe, and saw him whole. In “Luna,” Mabini offers Luna advice as though the general were politically naive, but Alejandrino’s memoirs show that Luna, a member of the Malolos Congress, was quite the political adept.

johnnery.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/col…

8. It is curious that the school of thought popularized by the historian who did NOT view Luna as a hero finds its supreme expression in “Luna.” Agoncillo thought ill of Luna, but "class struggle" is the “message” many moviegoers take away from “Luna.”

johnnery.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/col…

9. Economic determinism alone cannot explain the twists and turns of 1896 to 1902. (See column on Constantino.) “Goyo” manages to show, with great skill and subtlety, that the “elite” was involved, or implicated, on both sides of the Phil-Am War.

johnnery.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/col…

10. For good measure, I added something about the fiction at the heart of Agoncillo’s massively influential history of the Katipunan, “The Revolt of the Masses.” We must apply Agoncillo’s own standard of “friendly hostility” even to Agoncillo’s own work.

johnnery.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/col…

11. But these five columns from 2015 were inspired by a movie that was revolutionary in both content and craft. @JerroldTarog and his producers deserve every accolade, and every peso, they’ve received.

johnnery.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/a-r…

12. “Goyo” raises the stakes; it brings us closer to the darkness in the hearts of even our beloved heroes, who are forced to kill and to plot in times of high danger. I did not expect the middle film in this essential trilogy to bring us to this point; it is an act of daring.

13. I’ve done a small bit of research on Mabini; he deserves his preeminence. Epy Quizon thoroughly inhabits the role and will make a lasting impact on how the next generations “see” Mabini. But Mabini was no political angel.
johnnery.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/col…

johnnery.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/col…

14. In “Goyo,” Mabini serves as the almost disembodied voice of wisdom. But before he blamed Aguinaldo, he was singing his praises. Even as we follow Tarog’s lead and reimagine our heroes in clearer light, we must also look at Mabini whole.

jstor.org/stable/2510493…

15. And, yes, Aguinaldo was a deeply flawed man. But without him, no Revolution, no War. Mon Confiado’s portrayal is dignified, but many may see only the villain of the piece. As I argued elsewhere, it takes all kinds of heroes to make a nation. (end)

johnnery.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/col…

PS! I meant to attach this screen cap to No. 8, above: Why, for many, the takeaway from "Heneral Luna" was Agoncillo's hypothesis of class conflict.