Bonifacio: Ang unang pangulo

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with the execution of GOMBURZA in 1872. The story then flashes forward to the present day where high school students Joaquin (Daniel Padilla), Andrea (Jasmine Curtis-Smith), and Gary (RJ Padilla) visit Museo ng Katipunan.
Flashback: On July 3, 1892, Dr. Jose Rizal (Jericho Rosales) brings together La Liga Filipina, a peaceful reform movement that aims to unite all Filipinos and give them one voice. One of its members is Andres Bonifacio (Robin Padilla), who is currently supporting his siblings, as both their parents died due to illness. Rizal is later arrested after the Spanish authorities uncover the organization. Bonifacio then decides to form the Katipunan to lead a revolution against the Spanish colonizers.
With the help of his friend Teodoro Plata, he meets Gregoria de Jesús (Vina Morales), who is also known as Oriang. Bonifacio visits the church, meeting Oriang again. She knows that he joined a group of Masons and is not religious. Bonifacio denies the accusations, saying that those are just inventions of the friars. Later that day, while walking on the street, they encounter a friend of Oriang (Pepe Herrera), begging a friar to give his salary in the polo. However, the friar refuses and instead makes derogatory remarks towards the man. Then he is shot by one of the Spanish soldiers.
Bonifacio and Oriang's relationship develops and they finally marry after Oriang’s parents gave their approval. Then while recruiting additional katipuneros, Bonifacio finds out that Teodoro and Nonay Bonifacio are lovers. On the following day, a mayor named Emilio Aguinaldo becomes one of the new recruits of the Katipunan.
In the present, the museum curator decides to guide the students towards the truth about Bonifacio to enlighten them amidst the wrong historical information in their textbooks.
Back in the past, the Katipunan starts publishing the newspaper “Ang Kalayaan” through the printing press of Diario de Manila. They distribute the papers to their fellow countrymen to further expand the organization. A man named Teodoro Patino goes out of the printing press and tells his wife, a nun, about the revolution. Eventually he tells the gobernadorcillo on what he has discovered. After hearing this, the Spanish authorities raids the press wherein the gobernadorcillo discovers "Ang Kalayaan". Because of this discovery, they begin to grow wary of anti-government activities.
Afterwards, a man who is one of the people that published the paper is tortured. Upon seeing the man's dead body, Bonifacio calls all the Katipuneros to gather in Tandang Sora's home. Tandang Sora gives a sword to Bonifacio for him to use during their fights against the Spaniards. Later on, Bonifacio declares the start of the revolution on April 29,1897. All men tear their Cedulas and they scream, "Mabuhay ang Piipinas! Mabuhay ang Katipunan! Mabuhay ang Supremo!"
On the day of the revolution, they cross a river and secretly pull a foot of one of the Spanish soldiers while the other one is shot by Bonifacio. In the entrance of one of the Officials' houses, Bonifacio throws a torch that is lit up in the trolley loaded with canisters and shoots it, letting them get inside the gate. A fight ensues. Eventually, Bonifacio is able to kill the Gobernador Heneral by stabbing. After the battle, the Katipuneros replace the flag of Spain with the KKK flag.
Aguinaldo’s comrades are concerned that the revolution might die under Bonifacio’s leadership. They advise Aguinaldo to urge Bonifacio to come to Cavite to reunify the factions of the Magdiwang and Magdalo and hold an election for it. Aguinaldo is elected as the president, while Bonifacio is only elected as the interior minister. A Magdalo member named Daniel Tirona objects to his election and insults him, angering Bonifacio who then challenges Tirona to a duel. Feeling discriminated, Bonifacio, as Supremo of the Katipunan, voids the election results. The newly formed, Aguinaldo-led revolutionary group is concerned about the unity of Katipunan after failing to persuade Bonifacio to join them. Aguinaldo then orders the capture of Bonifacio, during which Bonifacio is stabbed at the neck and suffers a gun shot at his arm. His brother Ciriaco is shot dead, while his other brother Procopio is beaten, and his wife Oriang possibly raped by Col. Agapito Bonzón. Suffering from his untreated wounds, Bonifacio tells his wife Oriang of his dream of finally achieving his wish of the country’s independence against Spain. Later on, Andres Bonifacio and Procopio Bonifacio are sentenced to death.
Back to the present, the students finally learn the truth about Bonifacio. Joaquin decides to share what he has learned with his classmates: the “true” story of Bonifacio, the First President of the Philippines.
At the end of the film, Bonifacio is shown holding his personal flag aloft while leading his troops in a charge against Spanish forces. His personal flag slowly turns into the present Philippine Flag. In the post-credits scene, Antonio Luna does a cameo appearance (This is an actual part as a preparation for the film entitled Heneral Luna).

Tags: storytelling

Review:
Glossy biopic has no happy ending but film has polish and style.. A sweeping chronicle of the life of Andres Bonifacio, this ambitious biopic skips any elongated childhood segment (except for a young Andres watching from a crowd the garrote deaths of the three martyr priests, Fathers Gómez, Burgos and Zamora) and presents to us, without further ado, an idealistic Filipino who came to be called the "Father of the Philippine Revolution." Born in November 1863, Bonifacio led the movement called "Katipunan" (where he was called "Supremo" or supreme leader) and also a founding member of Dr José Rizal's "La Liga Filipina," an organization calling for political reforms from the Spanish colonial regime. There may be dispute about certain statements the movie makes, but Williams doesn't care and sturdily paints a narrative arc that jumps back and forth from the 1890s to the present day, where students Daniel Padilla, Anne Curtis-Smith and RJ Padilla spend time in the Museum of Philippine Political History and discuss the life of Bonifacio -- while the observant museum curator (Eddie Garcia) listens on and gives them his two cents' worth on the hero. The movie skips the first wife (who died of leprosy) and goes straight to the well-known (second) wife, Gregoria de Jesus, 18-years-old at the time of Andres' courtship. Vina Morales gives a spirited performance as Oryang, as the movie shows Oryang ready to lay her life for country, held in check only by the worried Andres. (Later, which the movie barely tackles, Oryang would be the founder and vice-president of the women's chapter of the Katipunan). Robin Padilla, despite his habitual swagger and sometimes self-conscious mugging, tries for an earnest performance of Bonifacio, making us root for the character despite the blatant future failure (of an expected leadership) staring him in the face. Williams' movie makes no bones about who the enemies are; two, in particular. The Spanish colonizers, and a rather traitorous Emilio Aguinaldo (Jun Nayra) and his underlings (Mon Confiado, et al). The movie is engrossing, if you can overlook Padilla's shticks and swagger, but certain key roles are frustratingly brief (Joem Bascon as Emilio Jacinto, Junjun Quintana and Cholo Barretto and Procopio Bonifacio and Ciriaco Bonifacio, Ping Medina as Diwa, Isabel Oli as Nonay, Lou Veloso as Tatang), while the cameo roles are amusing (Isko Moreno as Burgos, Rommel Padilla, Daniel Padilla's father, as Gómez, Dennis Marasigan as Zamora). Richard Quan lends solid support as Plata, who falls in love with Andres' sister Nonay. Shining in his brief role as Dr José Rizal is Jericho Rosales, but this very famous hero disappears all too soon from the movie (maybe just as well, for Rizal and his life has been tackled, examined and chronicled to death, excuse the pun). Also, teen sensation Daniel Padilla, arguably one of the hottest young stars today, feels like an afterthought (as does Ms Jasmine Curtis- Smith); perhaps the planned Gregorio del Pilar biopic will give the young Padilla a better spotlight). The overall respectful tenor of this glossy biography film, scripted by Williams, Carlo Obispo and Keiko Aquino, makes it work as a political biopic. This particular biography has no happy ending, for sadly, Bonifacio was betrayed and ganged upon. Carlo Mendoza (MMFF winner) moodily photographs the film, with beautiful shots of Pagsanjan and the houses of Las Casas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan. This film also also won Best Festival Sound Engineer, Best Musical Scoring by Juan De Guzman and Best Original Theme Song by Von De Guzman (as well as the MMFF FPJ Memorial Award for Film Excellence, the Youth Choice Award and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award). (During the Float Parade, this film also won Best Float). Let's leave the historical quibbles and disputes to people like Ambeth Ocampo, Guillermo Gómez Rivera and other historians; just enjoy Williams and Padilla's joint effort (they plan to also make a movie about Gregorio del Pilar). Kudos, Robin and Enzo!. Well Made, Well Acted Lesson in Filipino History. Andres Bonifacio was a hero of and martyr to the Filipino struggle for freedom from Spain. Founder and leader of the Katipunan, a 19th-century Filipino independence group, Bonifacio can be considered the first president of an independent Philippines.The relatively short film biography, "Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangula," was shot in the Philippines with Filipino actors. Earnest and reverent to the subject, the film will likely appeal most to students and to those interested in Filipino history. Directed by Enzo Williams, the film begins with the brutal execution of three priests, then cuts to the present and presents three Filipino high school students, who visit the Katipunan Museum, and, with the aid of a museum curator, discover and research Bonifacio and the Katipunan. The film cuts back and forth between the present day and the 19th-century historic events, while the youths look at letters, documents, and photographs in the museum, and the curator provides background and poses questions for the students to ponder.The subject is serious, and there are few light moments. However, the historical sequences are well staged and well acted, especially by Robin Padilla, who makes a handsome and intense Bonifacio. Director Williams provides enough combat action and moments of harsh Spanish oppression to maintain interest. However, the film, despite a world-class sheen, is perhaps too ponderous for general audiences; characters intone well formulated lines and pose in tableau, rather than come alive as flesh and blood. However, the film was obviously intended to be a history lesson and, as such, excels; "Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo" should be shown at Manila's Katipunan Museum on a continuous basis.. superb movie. this movie really uncovers hidden pages of philippines history books. if you really try to read and do research it's so true that the tragic ending of bonifacio life is done by his fellow filipino leader aguinaldo the murderer of heroes like bonifacio and antonio luna. aguinaldo doesn't deserve to be in the 5 peso coin.this is a great movie and yes it's purely documentary movie of andres bonifacio. the acting skills of robin padilla is superb. the director, the editing staffs and those who are involved to the making of this movie. i salute you all. thank you for bringing something new in the table.. The Life And Tragic Death Of Bonifacio. Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo a.k.a Bonifacio: The First President is a film about Andres Bonifacio,one of the most popular historical figures of the Philippines who was considered to be the first President of the country when it gained its country's independence for the first time after more than three hundred years Spanish rule.It stars Robin Padilla in the title role.The story started with killing of the martyrdom of Gomburza - the trio of Fr.Mariano Gomez,Fr. Jose Burgos and Fr. Jacinto Zamora,who were all charged for rebelling against the Spanish colonist.Then the story moves forward at present day when there are three students who are assigned to go to visit the Museum of Katipunan.During their visit,they get to learn more about Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan. The movie takes us back at the time when when La Liga Filipina,a league of Filipino statesmen that was established by the Philippines' national hero,Dr. Jose Rizal who are opposed to the Spanish colonists with Andres Bonifacio as one of its members.When Rizal was imprisoned,the story progresses when Bonifacio started to establish the Katipunan,a movement made during the Philippine revolution against the Spanish rule.Despite lacking armaments of gun and canyons and relying mainly on a cutlass-like weapon better known as bolos,the Katipunan succeeded in starting the revolution against the Spaniards.Then the formation of the revolutionary government was made at the Tejeros Convention.It resulted with Bonifacio getting mad at the how many of General Emilio Aguinaldo and his men conspired to move disallow him to occupy any government position despite his extra- ordinary efforts in leading the revolutionary movement.It concludes when it narrates with the killing of Bonifacio by Filipino soldiers when he was accused of treason and sentenced to death by the Aguinaldo government.This is was a wonderful historical drama.First,it definitely did not avoid controversy in Philippine history.After the release of "El Presidente" which is based on the memoirs of Emilio Aguinaldo that provided justification to the tragic death of Bonifacio to provide unity for the Philippine revolutionary group that year before,we get to witness the side of Andres Bonifacio about how his life ended tragically.It was evident that the film never wavered on the historical controversies arising about his death and established that General Emilio Aguinaldo was indeed responsible for his death.Added to that,it portrayed him as a truly villainous character who was threatened by Bonifacio and his Katipunan movement as they battle continue to battle the Spaniards separately.The General decided to put them under a mock trial in his government to sentence him to death and his brother,Procopio Bonifacio. It also provided a hint that his wife, Gregoria De Jesus was indeed raped by one of Aguinaldo's men during his arrest. The film tries to paint the evils of Aguinaldo and leaves the viewers the impression that he is indeed far from being a Philippine hero and that Bonifacio was indeed the first President of the Philippines.Secondly,we get to witness great acting from cast especially Robin Padilla gives a great performance as Bonifacio. Finally,we get to see the Katipunan as really a vital movement in the Philippine revolution and providing the country its freedom.Controversies aside,I felt that the movie maybe too short to provide other more interesting details about Bonifacio aside from him being the founder and inspiration of the Katipunan.I felt that Filipino historians have other things on him.But nevertheless,Filipinos will definitely appreciate Bonifacio more and they even relish him as the Filipino national hero at par with Dr. Jose Rizal and love him more especially when his efforts for the country's independence were unappreciated.