Cinema
Sakay
Raymond Red · 1993
Synopsis
After the capture of Aguinaldo and the official end of the war, Macario Sakay, a former barber and veteran of the revolution, refuses to surrender and proclaims a Tagalog Republic from the mountains of southern Luzon. The American administration declares him a bandit, a law bans even the insurgents' flags, and the Manila elite, rallied to the occupier, looks for a way to bring him down from his mountains.
Context
This first feature film of 1993 retraces the life of Macario Sakay, leader of the resistance to the Americans, lured out of his refuge by a promise of amnesty and then hanged as a bandit in 1907: the film questions the making of heroes and traitors, showing how the same story can be told in two ways. The director handled the camera and the editing with Lauro Rene Manda, on a screenplay by Ian Victoriano. Leopoldo Salcedo, who had played Sakay in a 1939 film, plays the hero's father, in his last role.
Who it is for
A subtitled film in Tagalog. Some background on the war between the United States and the Philippine insurgents helps, as this episode is little known outside the country.
Prizes and reception
The film was shown at Asian festivals and remains little seen in the Philippines, where copies from this period are poorly preserved.