Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jerrold Tarog
Produced by
  • Joe Alandy
  • Daphne O. Chiu
Written by
  • Jerrold Tarog
  • Rody Vera[1]
Starring
Music by Jerrold Tarog
Cinematography Pong Ignacio
Edited by Jerrold Tarog
Production
companies
Release date
  • September 5, 2018 (2018-09-05)
Country Philippines
Language Filipino

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (English: Goyo: The Boy General), also known simply as Goyo,[5] is a 2018 Philippine historical epic film starring Paulo Avelino as the titular Gregorio "Goyo" del Pilar, one of the youngest Generals during the Philippine–American War who died at the historic Battle of Tirad Pass. It is written, directed, edited, and scored by Jerrold Tarog, and is a sequel to the critically and commercially successful 2015 film Heneral Luna, which chronicled Antonio Luna's life.[3] Additional members of the ensemble cast include Carlo Aquino, Mon Confiado, Epy Quizon, Gwen Zamora, Empress Schuck, Alvin Anson, and Rafa Siguion-Reyna. It was released on September 5, 2018.

Plot

Following the assassination of General Antonio Luna, the task of purging Luna's loyalists in the Philippine Army falls to General Gregorio "Goyo" del Pilar, a young, brash general and a favorite of President Emilio Aguinaldo. During a five-month break from combat, del Pilar and his unit, including his older brother Julian and his best friend Vicente Enriquez, capture Angel Bernal, the younger brother of Luna's former aides-de-camp, Manuel and José. They soon locate Manuel hiding with merchant Don Mariano Nable José and torture him into joining del Pilar's military personnel. When Manuel refuses, they kill him. Meanwhile, Joven Hernando, who now works for his uncle, is assigned to be del Pilar's photographer.

While the Philippine Army relaxes and the American forces prepare for a second attack, General José Alejandrino, a Luna ally spared from the purge, meets with Apolinario Mabini, who has since resigned from Aguinaldo's cabinet after the death of Luna. Mabini implores Alejandrino to find out the real cause of Luna's death. Meanwhile, Aguinaldo joins del Pilar in Bulacan and promotes him to Major-General of Pangasinan, while del Pilar begins to court Remedios, the elusive daughter of Don Mariano. During his time, Aguinaldo meets Mabini and offers him the post of Chief Justice, to which Mabini reluctantly accepts.

Alejandrino travels to Manila to negotiate with General Elwell Otis and General Arthur MacArthur Jr., who reject his proposal. Soon after, hostilities resume and the Filipino side is caught off-guard. Aguinaldo orders the march of the Army to Pozorrubio to meet with General Manuel Tinio and organize a fighting force. However, Tinio was defeated by the Americans, forcing Aguinaldo to retreat further north. The hard march, coupled with daily American attacks, the pressure of having to escort Aguinaldo's family and tensions between soldiers of Luna's old unit take a toll on del Pilar, leading him to ignore an American attack that wipes out their rearguard and captures Aguinaldo's mother and son.

The group soon arrive at Mount Tirad, where del Pilar devises a delaying strategy to buy Aguinaldo time to escape. Together with former Luna Sharpshooter Lieutenant García, fortified trenches were dug along the route of the mountain. The following day, the Americans quickly capture a town at the foot of the mountain but are initially unable to penetrate the defenses. They soon find a route around the mountain, appearing behind the trenches, and the Filipinos are quickly overrun. Del Pilar, inspired by a vision induced by his PTSD, resolves to finish the fight, but is shot and killed by an American sniper. As a result, his army's morale breaks and the defenders quickly surrender, with Aguinaldo being forced to flee. Joven and Kiko, Garcia's son, also flee, but Joven falls off a cliff after an encounter with an American soldier. The Americans strip del Pilar of his uniform and belongings and crudely bury him at Mount Tirad.

Aguinaldo is captured by the Americans in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901, effectively ending the war. Held as a prisoner of war in Malacañang Palace, he is visited by his former aide-de-camp Manuel Quezon. Quezon surrendered to the Americans upon orders of his superior, General Tomás Mascardo, to be able to visit Aguinaldo to verify his capture and consult whether Mascardo should surrender. Aguinaldo instructed Quezon that the decision for Mascardo to surrender is up to Mascardo himself.

Mabini is also captured by the Americans and exiled to Guam where he pens his own narrative of the war entitled La Revolución Filipina (The Philippine Revolution). General Alejandrino's position is also overrun. Remedios receives a letter from del Pilar.

In a series of mid-credit scenes, Joven is rescued by Kiko and Eduardo Rusca, Luna's former aide; Aguinaldo in 1935 and his running mate, Raymundo Melliza, watch as his presidential campaign posters are replaced by those of Quezon.

Cast

Other members of the ensemble cast are Christopher Aronson, RK Bagatsing, Carlo Cruz, Jason Dewey, Bret Jackson, Ethan Salvador, Lorenz Martinez, Karl Medina, Stephanie Sol, and Markki Stroem.[3]

Production

Plans for a sequel to Jerrold Tarog's Heneral Luna went underway after its critical and commercial success.[10] Tarog envisioned the sequel as being about Gregorio del Pilar, a young General who, like Heneral Luna's titular protagonist Antonio Luna, was among the Filipino historical figures during the Philippine–American War. Accordingly, Paulo Avelino, who played Del Pilar in Luna, came aboard to reprise his role.[10]

Tarog's research for Goyo involved studying biographies authored by Teodoro Kalaw as well as crossing the Tirad Pass.[1] Tarog again incorporated several prominent Filipino figures including the likes of Apolinario Mabini and Emilio Aguinaldo, aiming for a scope larger than what was present in Heneral Luna. Tarog co-wrote the film's screenplay with Rody Vera, who has said he had thoroughly studied Luna "to understand the flow of the conversations and other details unique to each character".[1]

Goyo entered pre-production in January 2017.[11] To prepare his scenes, Avelino underwent horseback riding lessons in March 2017.[1] Tarog projected a 50-day film shoot,[12] which began in May 2017.[13] The complete ensemble cast was also revealed in a photo taken during the May shoot, including the likes of Mon Confiado as Emilio Aguinaldo, Epy Quizon as Apolinario Mabini, Benjamin Alves as Manuel L. Quezon, Leo Martinez as Pedro Paterno, and Alvin Anson as José Alejandrino, reprising their roles from Heneral Luna.[6] Filming wrapped on November 27, 2017, lasting 60 days.[14] The production cost for the film is said to be triple the budget of Luna.[7]

Release

On February 15, 2017, a 20-minute short film entitled Angelito was exclusively released during the theatrical premiere of I'm Drunk, I Love You to serve as a prelude to Goyo and to intertwine both the sequel and Heneral Luna.[15] The film's teaser trailer was released on September 9, 2017.[16] In May 2018, it was announced that the film would be released on September 5, 2018.[17]

Critical reception

The film received praise for its acting, cinematography, music, and set design,[7][18] which Zach Yonzon in Spot.PH highlighted as "some of the best in Philippine cinema".[8] Yonzon also gave it a score of 3 out of 5, considering Goyo to be "masterfully done" though somewhat preposterously made.[8] Writing for the Philippine edition of Esquire, Miguel Escobar called the film captivating: "It's a slow burn through the first half, but it's never boring and always beautiful."[18] Fred Hawson of ABS-CBN News called it "subdued but powerful" and gave a score of 9 out of 10.[7]

Sequel

It was reported that the sequel to Goyo would revolve around President Manuel L. Quezon; as such, Benjamin Alves is set to reprise his role as Quezon.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 San Diego Jr., Bayani (July 11, 2017). "Goyo begins". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  2. ↑ Adel, Rosette (August 5, 2018). "WATCH: Official 'Goyo' trailer out". The Philippine Star. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Who will join Paulo Avelino in Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral?". Philippine Entertainment Portal. May 18, 2017. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Meet the stars of Heneral Luna sequel Goyo". ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. May 18, 2017. Archived from the original on July 25, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  5. ↑ [3][4]
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dacanay, Aimee (May 18, 2017). "Meet the cast of the Paulo Avelino-starrer Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral". Spot.ph. Summit Media. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Hawson, Fred (August 31, 2018). "Movie review: Subdued but powerful 'Goyo' delivers timely message". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Yonzon, Zach (August 31, 2018). "Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral Is a Slow But Masterful Follow-Up to Heneral Luna". Spot.PH. Summit Media. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  9. ↑ Gabinete, Jojo (August 31, 2018). "Millennials, Hindi Kilala Kung Sino si Goyo?" [Millenials Unaware of Who Goyo Is]. Philippine Entertainment Portal (in Filipino). Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Watch: After Heneral Luna, a movie on Gregorio del Pilar is in the works, Paulo Avelino to star". Rappler. October 29, 2015. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Look: Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral is in pre-production". We The Pvblic. January 16, 2017. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  12. ↑ Cabato, Regine (May 11, 2017). "Bliss director hopes audiences reflect on abuse". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  13. ↑ Tarog, Jerrold [@JerroldTarog] (July 10, 2017). "'Goyo' begins entertainment.inquirer.net/233852/goyo-begins … @inquirerdotnet (Technically, we've been shooting since May but okay)" (Tweet). Retrieved August 22, 2017 – via Twitter.
  14. ↑ Jerrold Tarog [@JerroldTarog] (November 27, 2017). "I can honestly say that I never thought I'd experience something like that in my life. 60 shooting days over 7 months, huge sets, mountain battles through rain, sun, fog, mud. Holy crap. Immense gratitude & respect to the GOYO cast & crew. Proud of you guys. And that's a wrap!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 1, 2017 – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ "Gregorio del Pilar short film to hit theaters with I'm Drunk I Love You". ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. February 7, 2017. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  16. ↑ "WATCH: First teaser for Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral will give you goosebumps". ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  17. ↑ "'Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral' now has a release date". Rappler. May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  18. 1 2 Escobar, Miguel (August 31, 2018). "'Goyo' is a Somber Sequel That is a Spectacular Indictment of Idolatry". Esquire. Philippines. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  19. ↑ Deveza, Reyma (August 25, 2018). "Benjamin Alves to play Manuel L. Quezon in upcoming movie". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.