September 22, 2015

Some Questions After Watching Heneral Luna



I was able to watch Heneral Luna last week and I have had some questions in my mind that I hope some people can help me answer:


  1. The train line was an integral part of the story and subsequently the war as it shuffled the troops and I imagine war supplies between towns. What is the name of this train line and does it still exist today?
  2. The movie understandably focused on Luzon, particularly Central Luzon. But because one of the central themes of the movie is how we Filipinos tend to associate ourselves first with our provinces/home towns before our country, it would be interesting to find out what was happening during this time in other parts of the country, especially in Visayas and Mindanao.
  3. Did Americans use locals as part of their attacking force against the Philippine army? If they did, from which provinces/clans did they come from? They must have had some form of support from locals  to be able to navigate a foreign country filled with jungles and rice fields.

I apologize in advance if my questions are common knowledge to others. Watching Heneral Luna stoked a fire in me to suddenly want to revisit and refresh my knowledge of Philippine history. I am hoping that the success of this film will enable more films to be produced so that we never forget the stories and sacrifices of our heroes.