
Christianity Is Catholic: Played straight and justified. Chewing the Scenery: John Arcilla played Luna as a Hot-Blooded man with No Indoor Voice. Chekhov's Gunman: The cowardly captain that Luna humiliated early in the film returns near the end as one of the assassins that ended up killing him. The Chains of Commanding: Luna is painfully aware of the burdens and responsibilities that come with leading an army. By and large, Luna's observations about the Filipino people are thishe laments that the Filipinos value themselves and their families over their country, but he is ultimately powerless to change this mindset. Luna dismisses her concerns, rationalizing that such an act would be too bold and illogical even for Aguinaldo. Cassandra Truth: Luna's mother warns him near the end that Aguinaldo will betray him much in the same way he did Andrés Bonifacio. Luna, however, quickly apologized when he sobered up (he was drunk at that time). Bros Before Hoes: Luna recounts with Rusca (his adjutant) an incident when he was still a student in Europe, when he and his friend José Rizal almost fought a duel to the death over a woman's affections. Breaking the Fourth Wall: When the Americans are privately mocking the Filipinos for killing Luna, they directly address the audience. Black Comedy: Mixed in throughout with some Self-Deprecation. Heneral luna movie ratings how to#
The entire film is littered with foreign languages if you know how to speak any combination of two languages from Tagalog, English, Spanish, and French, you get bonuses for understanding them unsubtitled, depending on which version you watch. Bilingual Bonus: José Rizal in Luna's Dream Sequence is shown reciting the last parts of Mi Último Ádios in Tagalog, over the original Spanish words spoken in the background. Big Eater: Rusca, who appears in almost all of his scenes chewing on some food. Big Damn Heroes: How Luna saves Gregorio del Pilar. Bayonet Ya: The Americans have bayonets. Burning the Flag: Finale shot after Joven said the words of Luna and over the words appeared about what happened next. Banana Republic: The Malolos Republic is basically this: a heavily Hispanic or Latin American-esque, tropical, postcolonial republic with oligarchic and/or militarised leadership, locked in open conflict with a loomingand inevitably victorious American colonial empire. The Bad Guy Wins: The movie's Foregone Conclusion, although who the real bad guy is depends on the viewer. It was intended by the film's crew that Luna's mustache is natural and the thickest to emphasize his masculinity, while Mascardo's mustache is meant to be unnoticeable. Badass Mustache: Just look at any Heneral Luna poster for a starter, then it's Up to Eleven in the film.
Audience Surrogate: Joven, who is entirely ficticious and serves as a narrative device throughout the film.Luna is shown to be more knowledgeable in French than in speaking English to a train conductor from England, who ironically can speak good Tagalog. Asian Speekee Engrish: Played for Laughs.Luna: NEGOSYO O KALAYAAN? BAYAN O SARILI? PUMILI KA! note "Business or freedom? Country or self? MAKE YOUR CHOICE!" Antonio Luna himself was apparently one of the less mixed ones (a point of contention with his older brother, Juan, the artist, who was acquitted of the murders of his wife and mother-in-law in Paris on effectively racist groundsi.e., that his indio (native) race was predisposed to such anyway).
Ambiguously Brown: Many characters are some form of mestizo, which is Truth in Television, given how Filipinos generally tend to be mixed to various degrees.
Alone in a Crowd: Apolinario Mabini's Oh, Crap! moment during the funeral scene when he sees the blood on the bolo of a Kawit Brigade soldier who is part of the entourage, leading him to realize that Aguinaldo really did order Luna and his subordinates' deaths. This helps convey that Paterno isn't that different, and in real life, after the film's events, he became a turncoat for the Americans. Actor Allusion: Comedy actor Leo Martinez plays Pedro Paterno as smarmy comic relief, but with the same thick accent as his character Congressman Manhik-Manaog, a corrupt self-serving politician. Heneral Luna contains examples of the following tropes: