Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018) Review

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018)

Cast

Paulo Avelino as Gregorio del Pilar

Carlo Aquino as Vicente Enriquez

Arron Villaflor as Joven Hernando

Mon Confiado as Emilio Aguinaldo

Jeffrey Quizon as Apolinario Mabini (as Epy Quizon)

Alvin Anson as Jose Alejandro

Gwen Zamora as Remedios Nable Jose

Che Ramos as Hilaria Aguinaldo

Rafael Siguion-Reyna as Julian del Pilar (as Rafa Siguion-Reyna)

Benjamin Alves as Manuel L. Quezon

Arthur Acuña as Manuel Bernal

Director: Jerrold Tarog

Writers: Rody Vera (screenplay), Jerrold Tarog (screenplay)

Production Co: TBA Studios, Artikulo Uno Productions, Globe Studios

Genres: Action, Biography, History, War

Rated PG-13

The movie tells us the story of Gregorio 'Goyo' del Pilar, one of the youngest Generals during the Philippine-American War who fought in the historic Battle of Tirad Pass. Jerrold Tarog’s Goyo: The Boy General aims to offer a Lawrence of Arabia-esque portrait of Gregorio “Goyo” del Pilar (Paulo Avelino), a Filipino general who was a national hero in the Philippines for his actions in the Philippine-American War. In the early days of said war, the film introduces del Pilar as a young, strong-willed fighter who also happens to be a notorious womanizer. The film proceeds to chronicle del Pilar’s initial experiences in battle, and it eventually concludes with a sweeping re-enactment of the Battle of Tirad Pass, the last-stand battle in which del Pilar and 60 other Filipinos were killed by a contingent of 500 American troops.

The movie starts with a hilarious heavy atmosphere, where the characters develop into a direction that they cannot handle the death of Luna and set themselves into a state of mind which looks like they are being shocked. The happening feels real and heavy that there is an atmosphere that will give us an impression of being in a situation where there is no hope. The scene cuts between the past and present (from 1898-1899-1937) are kind of too fast and the plot connection between the times here are missing which is also caused by the screen book but also by the storytelling.

That kind of storytelling is also the reason why we will understand pretty much lately what the movie wants to the audience, which is a biopic of a national hero during the war between the US and the Philippines. But this becomes clear after the first 20 minutes of that 155 minutes marathon through war, love, betraying, passion, patriotism, and history, which is obvious already that the movie is way too long since the storytelling is too slow.

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral is a movie that offers many lessons a true Filipino should know by heart. The things you’ll learn in this movie will make you want to better yourself for your country. Just like Goyo, you’ll better understand the worth of what you’re fighting for if you fight with love and not with hate. Paulo Avelino is doing not an outstanding but convincing performance and all his experiences by war and love are being transported in a clear and logical way. Also, the influence of the war on your soul is acted pretty much well.

Mon Confiado plays a solid Emilio Aguinaldo. This actor has indeed come a long way in the Filipino film industry since beginning his career in the early ’90s.

Carlo Aquino and Rafael Siguion-Reyna also starred as young officers Vicente Enriquez and Julian del Pilar who’s regularly at the side of Goyo in his important moments and battles. They were effective supporting characters in bringing out more color into the movie.

Arron Villaflor plays Joven Hernando, an innocent assistant photographer to Miguel Laureano camera man played by Jojit Lorenzo. That character became my favorite one actually since his kind of being childish and innocent is well played. He has something that I would call greenish, which is not being familiar with and how to handle the situations he is pushed in during his young age.

Overall the performances are solid and okay. I wish there were more emotions and showing up your soul in that drama.

The technical component is a big loss in that movie. The scenes where the camera jumps from 16mm to 65mm do not work together. Especially at the beginning of the movie you can see when a cinemaphotographer put some edits and where not. I also do not understand why the aspect ratio was set to 2.35:1. I think if you do a biopic of a national hero and you include wide angel nature landscapes it is always better to shoot on a ratio which is about 1.85:1. For example, take Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg. I am not saying that a comparison between Hollywood studios and the studio of TBA is valid and a good example but when it is about the technical aspect you can learn a lot from Hollywood. A smaller ratio would also have been better since we are in a war and close up cuts from the characters would have been better at 1.85:1, also to transport the emotions of the characters in a better way. Here the movie can learn something from the "big ones".

Goyo: The Boy General does have two things working in its favor. For starters, Avelino does a decent job in his role, portraying del Pilar’s patriotism and obstinate idealism with admirable dedication. Additionally, for American viewers, the film will hopefully provide an incentive to learn more about the Philippine-American War, an important but frequently ignored chapter in American and Filipino history. But still: the heavy feeling of a heavy topic overweighted after watching that movie.