A masterpiece remastered: Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s ‘José Rizal’ now streaming
More than a filmmaker, Marilou Diaz-Abaya was a cherished mentor to many students and hopefuls whose talents she nurtured.
And if she were still with us today, her protégé Jun Robles Lana said, the late National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts would be “so, so thrilled” that one of her career-defining masterpieces, “José Rizal,” will now be readily accessible to a new generation of audiences and creatives through online streaming.
Starting Dec. 30, in time for the commemoration of Rizal Day, the digitally restored and remastered version of the 1998 historical drama will be available on Netflix Philippines.
“She was a teacher more than anything. That’s her biggest legacy for me and many others. She taught so many students about the art of filmmaking. And I think that she will be very happy that more people will now be able to watch ‘José Rizal,’” Lana told Lifestyle.
Regarded as one of the country’s cinematic gems and the definitive biopic on Rizal, the three-hour movie was directed by Diaz-Abaya and cowritten by Lana, together with Peter Ong Lim and National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee. With Cesar Montano as lead actor, the film depicts Rizal in his final days, revisiting pivotal moments in his life—with scenes from his novels deftly interwoven into the narrative—through a series of flashbacks.
The movie, both a critical and commercial success, was produced by GMA Films (now GMA Pictures) and was first shown on June 12, 1998, as part of the Philippine Centennial celebrations. Later that year, “José Rizal” became the winningest entry in the history of the Metro Manila Film Festival, taking home all but one of the 18 trophies up for grabs.
“I still clearly remember the experience of watching it in the theaters back in the day, and seeing moviegoers standing up and applauding at the end of every screening. Nakakakilabot,” Lana recalled.
‘Stillness in chaos’
And his memories of working on the film alongside his beloved mentor—his “beacon of light” who espoused “stillness in the face of chaos”—were just as vivid.
In 1997, Lana was about to begin shooting his first movie with Diaz-Abaya—and the second of his career, “Sa Pusod ng Dagat”—when the acclaimed director told the then 24-year-old newbie that she wanted him to be part of the writing team for “José Rizal.”
“It feels like only yesterday that Direk Marilou said she wanted me to write the film with Lee and Lim. The movie was intended to be released in time for the Centennial celebrations, and I couldn’t believe she would entrust me with a project of such magnitude,” he said of Diaz-Abaya, who died in 2012 after living with breast cancer for five years.
The preparation took months. It was tough, “bloody,” and involved painstaking legwork. In fact, the research he did on Rizal was so extensive he ended up being knowledgeable enough to give talks and lectures about the Philippine hero a year or two after the film’s theatrical run.
“Things have become easier because you have the internet and now, AI, as you write,” Lana said. “But back then, you really had no choice but to go out there.”
The writing itself took just as long, but was relatively smoother sailing, thanks to the seamless creative collaboration among the three writers.
“After all the research, we managed to finish the film treatment in like 30 minutes. We worked in Sir Ricky’s home and everything just flowed. I wrote the first draft, gave it to Lee for the second, and then it was returned to me—with his revisions—for the third. It all came together easily,” he said.
Movie trivia
And through it all, Diaz-Abaya was nothing but supportive and amenable to ideas, even from younger, less experienced colleagues like Lana. A little trivia: Apparently, Diaz-Abaya “wasn’t a fan” of Josephine Bracken, Rizal’s common-law wife during his exile in Dapitan, and as such, wasn’t too keen on having her in the movie at first.
But Lana made his case—an impassioned one, at that—for the said character’s inclusion. Much to his surprise, Diaz-Abaya relented. Bracken made it onscreen, played by Chin-Chin Gutierrez. “The first draft didn’t include Bracken. I had to write Direk Marilou a long letter, pleading and explaining why I thought Bracken had to be in the film. And she did end up allowing a few scenes with the character,” Lana related.
Diaz-Abaya—the genius behind the trailblazing feminist trilogy “Brutal” (1980), “Moral” (1982), and “Karnal” (1983)—was known to be exacting about her vision and where she stood on the creative process. That she made any sort of compromise after Lana’s plea almost felt like an achievement.
“I couldn’t believe that someone like her would listen to the suggestions of someone like me. I couldn’t believe that she trusted me—and she trusted me with a lot of things,” said Lana, who would go on to work with Diaz-Abaya on two more acclaimed movies: “Muro Ami” (1999) and “Bagong Buwan” (2001), completing a trio of films top-billed by Montano.
“I learned a lot. Working with her was like going to film school,” added Lana, now an accomplished director himself, whose works like “Bwakaw,” “Barber’s Tales,” “Die Beautiful,” and “Anino sa Likod ng Buwan” reaped awards not only in the country, but also in the international festival circuit.
Plans to restore the movie came up sometime during the pandemic. Finding a good copy was a challenge, GMA Pictures senior vice president Nessa Valdellon told Lifestyle. But thanks to the efforts of Manet Dayrit—“José Rizal” editor and now head of the postproduction company Central Digital Lab—they managed to get hold of one in suitable condition.
According to the executive, Dayrit and her team—at a time when most GMA 7 employees still worked from home—were given access to one of the network’s storerooms, where they combed through stacks upon stacks of movie film cans gathering dust.
They ended up with three different prints of “José Rizal”—one of which came from Tetra, a lab in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where the movie was subtitled. That copy was deemed best for scanning and restoration.
Cinematic history
The process, carried out by Central Digital Lab and GMA Post-Production, took 1,600 hours (spread across a year) to complete. It addressed various picture issues and impurities like missing frames, and dirt and burn marks. Subtitles were enhanced. The audio was up-mixed to 5.1 format, while eliminating clicks and distortions.
Last August, 26 years after its original premiere, the film was shown anew on the silver screen, in its full glory, at the Manila Metropolitan Theater, as part of the 20th Cinemalaya film festival.
While Lana was unable to attend the event, he said he will make sure to watch “José Rizal” online. And that’s saying a lot, because he rarely revisits his past projects.
The last time he saw the film in its entirety was during its initial run. “I don’t really like watching my films. The moment I’m done with them, I’m done—mostly because I end up seeing a lot of things I think I could have executed differently. But this one, I will watch with my kids. I believe it’s important for them to see the film and understand its message,” Lana said.
“José Rizal is an important piece of our cinematic history … of our history as a people,” he added.
