Bayaning 3rd World 2000

Two filmmakers Ricky Davao and Cris Villanueva become absorbed with the idea of creating a film about the life of presumptive Philippine national hero José Rizal, Joel Torre. Their project centers on the controversial question of whether Rizal truly retracted his anti-Catholic sentiments before his execution, a mystery that haunts both history and legend.

To probe this mystery, they attempt to reconstruct Rizal’s life not through a single authoritative account, but by staging scenes and combing through his historical correspondence and other documents. The filmmakers stage conversations with the people who knew him or shaped his story: his mother Doña Teodora Alonso, Daria Ramirez; his sister Trinidad, nicknamed Trining, Rio Locsin; Narcisa Rizal, Cherry Pie Picache; Paciano Rizal, Joonee Gamboa; and his close associate and love interest Josephine Bracken, Lara Fabregas. They also seek insights from the Jesuit priest said to have witnessed the retraction, Padre Balaguer, Ed Rocha. Through these performances, the film pieces together a tapestry of memories, rumors, and personal biases.

As the sessions unfold, the filmmakers confront stubborn conflicts among testimonies, their own preconceptions, and the murky uncertainties that surround Rizal’s writings, beliefs, and the very idea of who he was. The investigation never yields a conclusive verdict, and the project gradually shifts from chasing a singular truth to examining how history is interpreted by different people. In the end, they abandon the notion of a definitive Rizal and acknowledge a fragmenting truth: there is no one kanya-kanyang Rizal, but rather many versions of the national hero, each formed by perspective, memory, and desire.

The result is a quiet meditation on memory, myth, and the uneasy task of portraying a figure who looms over a nation. What remains is less a factual record and more a meditation on how history is told, who gets to tell it, and how personal beliefs shape the legends we pass down.