In a country where box-office success is more often expected when a film falls under more popular genres like romance, comedy, or drama, it is a rare feat to achieve the same result with an autobiographical film. Director Jerrold Tarog broke the mold with Heneral Luna in 2015, which ended up becoming the highest grossing Filipino historical film of all time. He followed it up with Gregorio Del Pilar’s biopic Goyo in 2018 and Quezon which was released last year.
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Looking back on his national hero trilogy, the multi-awarded director shares his thoughts with PUSH ABS-CBN on why he would not change a single thing when looking back on his work.
“The films are what they are. The vision for the entire trilogy remained largely intact, with some compromises here and there for each film. But that's the nature of the medium. If I started thinking about things I'd like to change, we'd have an infinitely long list. So I don't really think about it. At every point during the whole journey, from Heneral Luna to Goyo to Quezon, we were doing our best with what we had and what we knew. Once a film is out there and the noise has died down, I often just look at the landscape and think oh, this is interesting, that one's fascinating, this part is annoying, I can tune that out, I can learn from this. And then I move on — a little more tired each time, but always filled with immense gratitude,” he explained.
Having worked behind the camera for almost two decades now, Jerrold shared how he has grown not just as a director, but also as a screenwriter, editor, and composer.
“Maybe I just have an improved sense of what I can and can't control? I used to think part of my job was to engage the audience once the work was out there, but seeing how wide the distance is between good faith critique and bad faith attacks, and how unbreakable our echo chambers online have become, I realize there is no point in extensive engagement. I can only stay true to the vision and ensure the rigor and honesty of the work. If enough people get what we're trying to do, that's all that matters. Everything else belongs to the audience, history, and the noise of the times,” he explained.
“Before shooting Quezon, I revisited my first film Confessional (2007) and acknowledged that somehow I was returning to where I started, if not by scale, by spirit. Then I realized that some creative processes had become easier while the physical labor remained just as hard. Looking back at the trilogy, at my origins, and the uncertain future of movies as a primary cultural force, I've been constantly thinking about new directions I can take myself to, if there are new forms worth exploring inside and outside the medium,” he said.
Apart from Antonio Luna, Gregorio Del Pilar, and Manuel Quezon, Direk Jerrold also revealed which national figure he would love to bring to life onscreen in the future if given the chance to add to his trilogy.
“I’ll stick with the one in the mid-credits teaser in Quezon, which was about Ramon Magsaysay, because that would be a perfect encore to the story of our compromised independence. There's also one deceased female senator that would be entertaining to watch on screen. But I have no solid plans for them, just what ifs. Unless I really have to, I'd like to take a very long break from historical films,” he added.
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For the younger generation of film audiences who have not yet seen his historical films, Direk Jerrold hopes they learn more not just from what they watch onscreen, but also from the accompanying material provided about it available online.
“Each film is a conversation with the Filipino audience more than a straightforward biopic. They are invitations to reflect on nationhood and an encouragement to foster a new and humbler kind of heroism. But we stop short of being prescriptive. It's easy for audiences to approach the trilogy through very different lenses, leading to different interpretations. Again, that's the nature of the medium. So I just hope more people meet the trilogy where it stands and take off from there. We have study guides online, the companion books, the director's commentary blog posts, and interviews, if they want to do a deep dive,” he explained to PUSH ABS-CBN.
The multi-talented director is currently busy working on the horror film Knock Three Times, starring Charo Santos Christopher de Leon, Julia Barretto and Tony Labrusca. He is also slated to direct a disaster film as well as a fresh adaptation of one of Jose Rizal’s most famous novels.