Spoiler alert! A Spanish film that reads 1898. The Last Men in the Philippines in English translation.
Needless it is to say, the film revolves around the last Spanish militia to surrender in the Philippine Islands. Historically speaking, Spain was the first colony to circumnavigate the world during the 15th century. These colonizers had brought themselves to a natural resources rich island in the far east and named it Philippines after King Philip I of Spain. What was supposed to be their search for Spice Island became a 400 year occupation of the island. With the fall of Baler in 1898, the Spanish era also marked its end with the surrender of its last colony.
In the pre-credits scene, the movie informed the viewers beforehand that most of the characters and plot were fictionalized. I wondered to what extent the movie would be fictionalized since I am a Filipina myself and quite knowledgeable in that aspect. Halfway into watching the film, I figured the similarities and differences myself. The film is actually amazing despite some plot deviation. They showed the plight of the Spaniards who dedicated themselves to defending the territory of Spain even though unbeknownst to them, their rulers already seceded the Philippine Islands . I believe the actors gave a tremendous performance of their respective characters. One might even develop crushes to the guapo soldiers in the garrison. However, I have few comments that I believe must be clarified to the viewers.
Barely a week before surrendering the country to the Americans in the Spanish-American war, the 50 men Spanish reinforcement headed by Capitan Enrique de las Morenas arrived on the beaches of Baler. Their goal was to reclaim the small town from the Filipino insurgents who just massacred the Spanish militia initially stationed there. The group was composed mostly of young, unskilled and naive men armed with ammunition and an unfazed loyalty to the king of Spain. Aboard the ship en route to Baler, people especially the ladies will already notice Carlos, a handsome young artist alongside his young enlisted friends Juan, Jose and Carvajal. The story will center mostly to Carlos and their 11 month ordeal inside the fortified church of Baler.
Even though the location was not shot in Baler, Aurora, Philippines, one could not tell the difference from Canary Islands with its lush rainforest, crystal clear waterfalls, and unforgiving waves that also made Baler a famous surfing destination to date. On the beach they were welcomed by Bro Carmelo, a Spanish serving in the local church. Upon arriving in their garrison, the soldiers led by Lt. Martin Cerezo met Lt. Jimeno, a scarred and embittered Spanish who survived the last massacre. He told them about what happened there and warned everyone to be prepared for the insurgents will come back again from the mountains. He also told them to be wary of Teresa, a beautiful yet daring Spanish-speaking Filipina whore whom Cerezo referred to as a spy feeding his revolutionist brother information about Spaniards. Teresa seductively welcomed the new Spaniard troops and treated them to a song cut short retorting she was only paid a dime to sing.
I have a lot of comment on this character. Clearly, the woman's portrayal of Filipinas was a far cry from what barrio lass Filipinas truly were during that time. She was an Indio whore and worse, whores were never accepted. Also, Indios were never taught how to speak or even plainly understand Spanish; only the privileged and rich meztizos or meztizas had the opportunity to learn Spanish. Whores also do not play major roles in wars yet this film was an exception. Truth be told, whores back then were too afraid to even come out in the public for fear that they will be stoned to death. However, Teresa in the film was too vulgar of her actions and choice of clothes. Even though the Filipina actress' acting is amazing and surreal, hers is really an erroneous interpretation of Filipinas in the film that could leave bad impression to the viewers.
The film was set at a time when women do not play any key role in politics or governance. With this, I was surprised when Teresa and her group gave crates of oranges to Lts. Cerezo and Jimeno. She even tried to negotiate their surrender albeit in subtle yet seductive way. Some points to consider here also is that number one, for a fact, oranges do not grow in the Philippines which is a humid country. Mangoes or avocados could have been the better choice. Second, women were rarely a given a big part in politics let alone convincing enemies to surrender. Although some women participated in wars, many opted to stay at home, tend to their children, and leave politics to their men.
Moreover in another lamentable scene, Teresa lured the Spaniards to surrender by serenading them with a romantic and provocative song wearing only the red KKK flag draped around her body thus exposing her bare breasts. I was embarrassed watching this. No sane Filipina, whore or not, would do humiliating actions just to make her enemies surrender. In fact, it was the Spaniards who instilled Christianity and conservative views to the Filipino natives and their people alike. They greatly influenced the Filipinos that a woman's virginity should be preserved for marriage, and even speaking the slightest mention of a lewd language was easily frowned upon. Lastly, the public sex scene of Teresa and an insurgent across the church for the Spaniards to see was extremely deplarable. It was too scandalous even for the revolutionists or natives to watch that not even war could exempt any couple from doing the deed in public. In reality, they could have been hanged or shot by the revolutionists themselves for performing coitus in public.
I understand that Teresa's provocative and sexual portrayal of Filipinas was meant to add burden and dilemma to the Spaniards in order for them to surrender. She represented the sexual fantasies they were missing and depriving themselves of. However, this historical inaccuracy could leave a wrong and lasting impression on Filipinas that we are nothing but a bunch of animals and whores.
However there is one thing that I really appreciated about Teresa. It was when she happily and proudly embraced her inevitable demise even sharing a brief yet chilling eye to eye contact with Lt. Cerezo, her death dealer, before being shot. No words were heard. She did not bother running away but stood firmly on the ground making herself an easy target and waited for the gunshot to take her life away.
"You saved my life.", she told Lt. Cerezo one time. But it was also he who took it from her.
The other characters played their parts commendably. Capitan Moreno, a noble yet incompetent dog- loving leader is the only rational superior in the squad. He wanted to verify the news of Spain's surrender and ordered Carlos to venture on a 200km/150mile journey to Manila but not long before Moreno surrendered to beri beri. Had his successor, Lt. Cerezo let Carlos carry out this mission, more of the men could have gone home safely.
Conflict of authority is also visibly seen between Lt. Cerezo and Lt. Jimeno. The latter, filled with spite, always wanted the Spanish armada to launch an offensive fight against the Filipino insurgents, whereas the former believed and implemented for them to remain inside the church fortress thus giving them an upper hand. Based on history, the Spaniards actually launched offensive attacks on the villagers by burning their houses at night to clear their view of advancing insurgents. The two men's dedication to their cause can never be questioned. No amount of propaganda or truce would falter their loyalty to Spain or would move them to surrender. Not even at the cost of losing their lives.
Something noteworthy in the film also is the friendship that developed between Carlos and Bro Carmelo and Carlos with his fellow comrades, Juan, Carvajal and Jose. It gave the viewers an insightful view of how friendships are forged in times of war. Prior to the start of Baler siege, Bro Carmelo noticed Carlos' artistic skills thus commissioned him to paint murals on the church walls. This relieved Carlos of duties to participate in strenuous combat training. Bro Carmelo shared his secret to Carlos in order to survive. The limited opium they smoke every night gave the two new friends an unparalleled strength of suppressing both pain and hunger. Opium addiction enabled them remain strong enough to carry out their tasks. However, when Bro Carmelo suddenly died of beri beri, Carlos was left to fight his demons alone and slowly regained his sanity from opium addiction.
Carlos, a handsome yet naive, artistic yet humble soldier has comrades that were very much like him. They were all inexperienced in war and in life as some never even experienced sleeping with a woman. Juan is a God-fearing boy who believed his lucky crucifix would deliver him from death while Carvajal is gentle to women. Despite their gentle demeanor, war had not been forgiving to both of them. On the other hand, Juan left an impression to the audience when he deserted his comrades after his first taste of battle. He may be dubbed a coward yet he is practical and correct for choosing to life over brutal and inevitable death for a lost cause. "History will remember you as idiots." Juan shouted in tears while convincing his former comrades to surrender.
Mix these characters together one gets a better insight of how the real Spanish soldiers who secluded themselves in Baler worked together to survive. Watching their mechanics and daily routine will allow yourself to feel emphatic of them, admire them or even loathe some of them. Eleven months after defending their fortress and remaining territory against all odds, one will feel so much respect to these soldiers.
This movie was dedicated to the original 33 men who survived the siege of Baler.
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