Movie Review: 'El Presidente' is a historical disappointment

When the trailers for “El Presidente” were released, it seemed entirely possible that an entertaining historical epic could be made depicting the life and times of Emilio Aguinaldo. Fortunately for future filmmakers, that epic has yet to be made, as Jeorge ‘ER’ Estregan and his team have come nowhere close to creating it. 

 

Based partly on Emilio Aguinaldo’s memoirs, “El Presidente” details the life of the future president from his days as a 17-year old cabeza de barangay in Binakayan, Cavite, through his time as a key figure in the Philippine Revolution, the American period, the Second World War and his death.

Right ingredients, bad stew  

While marketed as an historical epic, “El Presidente” is anything but. Don’t misunderstand–all the right ingredients are in place: big-name stars, extravagant production design, extensive use of real-life locations and no shortage of large-scale battles. Furthermore, the director, Mark Meily is no stranger to cinematic period pieces, having previously directed “Baler.”  

   

The production was not lacking, but the film suffers in the handling of its subject matter; specifically, a complete lack of emotion and drama in its interpretation of some of the most tumultuous decades in our nation’s past. As we awkwardly shuffle from one broadly-depicted historical vignette to the next, the reason for this lack of engagement becomes painfully obvious: the film’s complete refusal to take a stand–-substantiated or otherwise-–on the events being portrayed. 

 

Bereft of any sort of context or commentary, the depth of “El Presidente’s” narrative goes about as far as: “Spaniards stupid, Americans evil, Aguinaldo good.” 

 

As a direct result of these deficiencies, the audience is left to accept (over a protracted running time they will never, ever be able to get back) that Emilio Aguinaldo was the bravest, most incorruptible super-warrior ever to participate in the fight for Philippine independence... and that’s about it.

La Aunor in cameo  

How much of the blame belongs to director Mark Meily is, of course, debatable. Where his “Baler” worked overtime to wrench every ounce of drama and emotion from his story (with mixed results), “El Presidente” is content to be nothing more than an overly elaborate historical re-enactment, albeit one populated with recognizable faces.

 

The supporting cast is a who’s who of local performers, including Cesar Montano as Andres Bonifacio (initially stoic, he quickly degenerates into a petulant, teary-eyed brat once he’s not elected president at the 1897 Tejeros Convention), Christopher de Leon as Antonio Luna (by way of a hammy soap opera villain), Cristine Reyes (in an extended cameo as Hilaria Aguinaldo y Del Rosario) and the incomparable Nora Aunor as Maria Aguinaldo y Agoncillo (mostly wasted in a literal cameo). 

 

Compounding Meily’s noncommittal depiction of events is Jeorge ‘ER’ Estregan in the title role. Surprising no one, the former “Kingpin” once again proves himself to be a trite performer who-– aside from being entirely too old and out of shape for the part-–seems to be spending the entire movie squinting and posing for a five peso bill. 

A victimized Aguinaldo   

Estregan’s Aguinaldo is an ineffectual non-entity who was notable (apparently) only for his superhuman ability to charge onto a battlefield with just a pistol in each hand and a tendency to awkwardly stare into the distance as his lieutenants made all the (controversial) decisions (i.e. history) around him. 

 

Of course, this begs the question that, if Aguinaldo was as big a patsy and victim of circumstances as “El Presidente” makes him out to be, why would anyone in his right mind make a film about him at all? 

 

Given the resources at hand, there must have been a better way to tell this story. It’s a shame, really; regardless of which side of the Aguinaldo-Bonifacio debate one finds oneself on. Perhaps then, we wouldn’t have to put up with an Aguinaldo who wore only one immaculately white shirt (to work, to bed and to KKK meetings!) for roughly twenty years or a poorly made-up Alicia Mayer as a ghost whose identity rocked the theater with laughter at the screening.

 

Easy as it would be to end this review by saying that Aguinaldo would be appalled by the cinematic aberration of his life that is “El Presidente”, the fact of the matter is, I don’t know enough about the man to make that statement.

 

Unfortunately, neither did anyone who worked on this movie. – KDM, GMA News 

All photos courtesy of Viva Films

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Mikhail Lecaros is a professional magazine editor and freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are solely his own.