Goyo: The Boy General
Goyo: The Young General (), also known simply as Goyo, is a 2018 Philippine historical epic film starring Paulo Avelino as the titular "Young General", Gregorio del Pilar, who died during the historic Battle of Tirad Pass in the Philippine–American War. It was written, directed, edited, and scored by Jerrold Tarog, and is a sequel to the 2015 film "Heneral Luna", which chronicled Antonio Luna's life. 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 on General Gregorio "Goyo" del Pilar, a young, brash general and a favorite of President Emilio Aguinaldo. During a five-month respite 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 unit. 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 this 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's defeat by the American forces Aguinaldo to retreat further north. The arduous march escorting Aguinaldo and his family through the western mountainous terrain of  the Cordilleras, daily American attacks and ongoing tensions between soldiers of Luna's old unit take a toll on del Pilar, weakens their defenses against American forces attacking their rearguard; the Americans are also successful in capturing Aguinaldo's mother and son. The army soon arrives at Mount Tirad and del Pilar devises a delaying action 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. With the aid of a local guide, Januario Galut, the American troops, mostly from the 33rd Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Major Peyton C. March, find the secret path leading to the top of the mountain behind the trenches and flank the Filipinos who 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. 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 surrenders to the Americans upon orders of his superior, General Tomás Mascardo, and visits Aguinaldo to verify his capture and consults Aguinaldo whether Mascardo should surrender. Aguinaldo tells Quezon that the decision for Mascardo to surrender is up to  Mascardo himself. Mabini is captured by the Americans and exiled to Guam where he pens his own narrative of the war entitled "La Revolución Filipina" (The Philippine Revolution). His writings point to Aguinaldo's failure as an ineffective leader of the Philippines. 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, while an older Eduardo  Rusca and Joven Hernando drive by in a car, only slightly acknowledging Aguinaldo with a small salute. 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. Production. Plans for a sequel to Jerrold Tarog's "Heneral Luna" went underway after its critical and commercial success. 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. Tarog's research for "Goyo" involved studying biographies authored by Teodoro Kalaw as well as crossing the Tirad Pass. 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". "Goyo" entered pre-production in January 2017. To prepare  his scenes, Avelino underwent horseback riding lessons in March 2017. Tarog projected a 50-day film shoot, which began in May 2017. 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". Filming was completed on November 27, 2017, lasting 60 days. The production cost for the film is said to be triple the budget of "Luna". 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". The film's teaser trailer was released on September 9, 2017. In May 2018, it was announced that the film would be released on September 5, 2018. The film was made available on DVD on December 16, 2018. It also began streaming on Netflix starting January 26, 2019. Reception. Critical reception. The film received praise for its acting, cinematography , music, and set design, which Zach Yonzon in Spot.PH highlighted as "some of the best in Philippine cinema". Yonzon also gave it a score of 3 out of 5, considering "Goyo" to be "masterfully done" though somewhat preposterously made. 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." Fred Hawson of ABS-CBN News called it "subdued but powerful" and gave a score of 9 out of 10. Sequel. It was reported that the sequel to "Goyo" would  be about President Manuel L. Quezon, with Benjamin Alves and TJ Trinidad set to reprise their roles as younger and older versions of Quezon respectively. However, director Jerrold Tarog's work on the sequel was postponed after Star Cinema hired him in 2018 to direct "Darna". Tarog has said he would proceed with writing the script for the Quezon film by the time filming for "Darna" is completed.