https://padlet.com/sabadorica800/8hm64irwo9z6vnra Rica Angel Sabado 12-Pisces en-us 2021-12-12 22:32:35 UTC 2025-11-19 14:46:15 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f430.png sabadorica800 https://padlet.com/sabadorica800/8hm64irwo9z6vnra/wish/1942735250 BONIFACIO, ANG UNANG PANGULO (2014)

Cast:  Starring  box-office names Robin Padilla, Daniel Padilla and Vina Morales 

Story by: Enzo Morales

Bearing the weight of social relevance that distinguished Romero’s classic, promises to outdistance in aesthetic worth the usual “MMFF offerings” of slapstick comedies, teenage love, and horror fantasies aimed at winning the “box-office blockbuster award.” The film takes up the Bonifacio story and asserts an approach to its subject matter eschewing popular textbook historical accounts of the hero’s leadership in the Katipunan revolt. 

The film opens with the garrotte execution of the three martyr priests of the Cavite Mutiny. A young Andres was among the crowd that witnessed the tumultuous public execution and we see him pick up on the lawn a soiled handkerchief presumably owned by one of the priests. The handkerchief will later figure as an affirmation of the mature Bonifacio’s revolutionary resolve. Later, at a meeting of ilustrados discussing the reformist La Liga Filipina, a youthful Bonifacio has a chance meeting with an elder Jose Rizal.

The film itself is (more or less) your standard historical biopic. Enzo Williams directs and helped cowrite the screenplay with Keiko Aquino and Carlo Obispo. Andres Bonifacio (Robin Padilla) is portrayed as a steadfast man with an iron will. The only bit we see of his childhood has him witnessing the brutal execution of three priests by the hands of Spanish rulers. This event will shape Bonifacio for the rest of his life. We flash forward to him as an adult, contemplating how he and his countrymen should approach their uprising. In an early scene, fellow revolutionary Jose Rizal (Jericho Rosales) pleads with Bonifacio to take a peaceful path, arguing that real change won’t occur without education and reform. Unfortunately, the atrocities Bonifacio sees forces him to pick up a sword and rifle.

I can appreciate what Enzo Williams tried to do with Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo. There is a lot of heartfelt earnestness here that can’t be denied. As a means to enlighten people of the significance of Bonifacio and this specific time and place, he hit the target dead center. But as a cinematic experience with multi-layered characters and an engaging narrative, it falters. It doesn’t separate itself from similar biopics, and got bogged down by questionable directing choices and soaking melodrama. The story of Andres Bonifacio is an important one and deserves to be shown on screen. I believe the definitive version of that has yet to be told.]]> 2021-12-12 14:17:44 UTC https://padlet.com/sabadorica800/8hm64irwo9z6vnra/wish/1942735250