Baler

"This is dragging too long", one of the character said referring to the Baler siege, the same is true of the movie. The movie started fairly well with the story of Celso (Jericho Rosales) and Feliza (Anne Curtis) meeting and falling in love, until the Baler siege happened. The whole middle part of the movie chronicled how the Spaniards sat inside the church waiting for reinforcement to come from Manila, not knowing that Spain is already defeated.

In between, there are small stories like Gabriel, the brother of Feliza who wants to be a priest ( this story did not materialize any further after Gabriel went out of the church), the story of the other Filipino/Spanish soldier, Lopa, who fell in love with Luming (Feliza's friend) and the political turmoil of the Spanish Filipino war.

Some have criticized the bad Spanish but I appreciate the effort the filmmakers made in making Spaniards speak Spanish. The make up, costume, cinematography are good and the details of the historical context seemed to be well researched. If the facts are true, I must say this is proof that Filipinos are really forgiving people. Even up to now, Filipinos are quick to forgive the sins of their leaders.

The filmmakers are laudable for the effort they gave in making a period movie. There was controversy in the source of the funding of this movie but I don't think money was wasted in this movie.