00:00I'm sad because Marilu is not here with us today.
00:11After Marilu and I finished our trilogy on women, Brutal, Moral, Carnal,
00:17she wanted to make a trilogy on men.
00:20And she wanted Cesar Montano to be in the three.
00:25So that's how we were able to make Cesar Rizal first,
00:29and then Muro Ami, and then Magong Buan.
00:33Jose Rizal's life is very broad,
00:37so when we met to discuss how to give focus,
00:40we decided, as Dennis said earlier,
00:43to focus on Jose Rizal's life as an artist,
00:48as a playwright.
00:50And then, when we instructed,
00:52we decided that we would do a trial of an artist.
00:57We would put Jose Rizal on trial.
01:01And so, in the film,
01:04he was put on trial by the Spanish government,
01:08by his counsel, Taviel Ver,
01:12by his family,
01:15by the people around him,
01:17by the incidents that happened to him in the past,
01:20and eventually, by the person,
01:22by Simon, that he loved.
01:25He was the only fictional character in the entire film,
01:28the prison servant.
01:30We decided to make such a fictional character
01:34so that there would be a retribution to him,
01:38to the common people.
01:40He would be retributed if he became a taxi driver in the city or not,
01:44if he committed a crime in his city.
01:47It took us three months of research
01:50to prepare,
01:52to write the script.
01:54Marilu forced us,
01:56not really.
01:58She made us read scary books,
02:01titles that I don't remember,
02:03documents, writings,
02:05everything that can be read,
02:07including Spanish versions of novels
02:09that we couldn't understand.
02:11She made us read them
02:13so that we could get the rhythm
02:15of the writing of Jose Rizal.
02:17It took us three months to do research
02:19and another three months to finish the script.
02:22By the way, I wrote the script with
02:24Jun Poblaslana
02:26and Peter Ong Lim.
02:29That's all.
02:31When I joined the Sabadilapeng Festival,
02:33which was held earlier this year,
02:35there were 18 nominations that night.
02:40Of those 18,
02:4217 were won by Jose Rizal.
02:49He didn't win Best Actress,
02:51even though there was no female lead
02:53in the movie.
02:56After that, he won several Best Picture,
02:58Best Actor at César,
03:00and several other awards
03:02here in the Philippines.
03:04Eventually,
03:06he went to the Berlin International Film Festival
03:08to compete there.
03:10I hope you enjoy watching this movie.
03:12Thank you very much for coming here.
03:14It's an honor to be here
03:16this afternoon.
03:19It's a great opportunity for me
03:23to make this movie
03:25and for Jose Rizal to understand me.
03:28At that time,
03:30in 1998,
03:32I was thinking of making action films.
03:35I was making action films at that time.
03:38Our beloved director,
03:42Jose Rizal,
03:46he was the dream of almost all actors
03:50in the Philippines
03:52who were able to work.
03:54He was the best director in the country.
03:57Suddenly, Jose Rizal contacted me.
04:01I said,
04:03this is the only movie that I can remember.
04:06If I'm gone,
04:08why won't I accept this?
04:10I accepted it.
04:12I said,
04:14this is easy to make.
04:16I was accompanied by national artists.
04:20I made it.
04:23I didn't know that
04:25my mother was a perfectionist.
04:31I studied Spanish for 7 months.
04:36I said,
04:38in school,
04:40I couldn't even speak Spanish.
04:42I didn't know how to use it.
04:44I only learned it in grade school.
04:47I was forced to study Spanish.
04:50I made all the pictures of Jose Rizal
04:54in Mati Tison 2.
04:56I printed them out
04:58and pasted them on the walls of our house.
05:01My house?
05:03Thank God,
05:05I didn't tell anyone.
05:07The TV in my house
05:09was on the Spanish Channel
05:11while I was there.
05:13Even if I learned it,
05:15my father would change it
05:17when I left the house.
05:19That's how I processed it
05:21so that I could learn it.
05:23And I learned it.
05:25Our national artist,
05:27Ricky Lee, said
05:29the League Group is real.
05:31We would go to the house
05:33of Director Mario Diaz.
05:36His table for dining
05:38was full of books
05:40from Ateneo,
05:42USC, and Madrid.
05:44There were so many.
05:46The books were almost out of stock.
05:48We would go and sit down
05:50and read.
05:52We would share what we read.
05:54From morning to night,
05:56that's all we would do.
05:58These books are about our history,
06:00not only about Jose Rizal.
06:03It was a difficult time
06:05before Jose Rizal came
06:07and we were still studying.
06:09That's how deep
06:11we studied
06:13with Director Mario.
06:17I have no regrets.
06:19Actually,
06:21it's a great honor
06:23and I'm thankful
06:25that I was able to rise
06:27as an actor
06:29after working here
06:31and give my opinion.
06:33That's why I became
06:35a director
06:37and I also wrote
06:39and I was eager to write
06:41for the movie.
06:43I am also happy
06:45and sad at the same time
06:47like Ricky
06:49because my beloved
06:51director is no longer here.
06:53I hope she is also here.
06:55I am happy and thankful
06:57to GMA Films
07:00I'm so curious
07:02about this movie,
07:04just like you.
07:06Maybe in this movie,
07:08Jose Rizal is alive
07:10and executed.
07:12We don't know, right?
07:14Thank you very much.
07:20Good evening.
07:22My name is Mario Rodriguez Amaya.
07:24We are thankful to his family
07:26for restoring
07:28GMA Films
07:30as one of the masterpieces
07:32of Director Mario.
07:36A good story is a good story.
07:42A good story
07:44can become a great story
07:46depending on how
07:48you tell the story.
07:50In this case,
07:52in the movie,
07:54driven by the passion,
07:56the devotion,
07:58the hard work of the filmmakers,
08:00the actors, everybody
08:04that is part of the filmmaking process
08:06and technology.
08:08So, as we said,
08:10I am very curious to see
08:12what GMA Films has done.
08:16But I know and I'm grateful
08:18to GMA Films
08:20for making
08:22one of my mother's greatest films
08:24accessible
08:26to this generation
08:28and to future generations.
08:30Thank you very much.
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