Page 149 - Key Words in Religion Media and Culture

132 Jolyon Mitchell

A few months back, there were local screenings of some films based on
the life and death of [Dr. Jose] Rizal. Despite the grandiose advertising
about the excellence of the film, we frankly think they are the most dismal
works that we have ever seen. Furthermore, we think that such films
should never be shown, much less allowed to be screened because they
are badly done and because they insult the sacred memory of the glorious
Martyr of Bagumbayan.
(Deocampo 2007: 244)

Elaborations of the founding tales of nations, or semi-sacred narratives,
commonly become sites of controversy. The stories are contested, with many
different voices claiming control over the authentic and original narrative.
Among a number of other more recent cinematic elaborations, including
The Life and Loves of Rizal (1956; Gerardo de Leon), Rizal in Dapitan (1997;
Amable Tikoy Aguiluz), it is Jose Rizal (1998; Marilou Diaz-Abaya), starring
Cesar Montano, which has received the greatest critical acclaim, winning
a large number of international awards. The most expensive Philippine
movie ever made, it also proved popular at the local box office. Two of
the producers of the film, Butch Jimenez and Jimmy Duavit, claimed that
their objective was to reinvigorate the traditional Rizal narrative: “We want
to bring Jose Rizal down from the monument and into people’s hearts…
Our desire is to humanize him, to give a new generation an opportunity to
be better acquainted with him.” This can be seen in a number of scenes in
this epic of three hours plus. For instance, Rizal’s execution is portrayed
in a dramatic though restrained fashion reminiscent of Francisco’s painting
and the “original” photograph referred to above. In many ways, this is a
comparatively cautious cinematic elaboration that draws on previous artistic
elaborations without sliding into an entirely hagiographic narrative.
More daring are the cinematic elaborations now easily found on YouTube.
There are several dramatic though not lavish music videos reflecting aspects
of his romantic involvements or his execution. For example, a group of
Filippino students were set a task of creating a short film about Rizal in the
2
autumn of 2006. They did this, putting the scenes to music and reenacting his
last hours. The result is a somewhat melodramatic but memorable rendition
of his final hours. It brings together many of the best known moments in
the Rizal passion narrative. To this point, more than 11,000 people have
visited this virtual narrative, which is set to local popular music. In his book
on Narration in the Fiction Film, David Bordwell examines the process of
narrative comprehension of film (1985). What he describes as “cognitive
schemata” allow viewers to create a narrative in their imaginations. Bordwell
is drawing on insights from cognitive science to outline how viewers are able
to put together, and perhaps also elaborate on, the story that they watch.