Dekada 70

Dekada 70
This movie is about a family, whose lives are changed by the declaration of martial law in the Philippines during the 1970’s. Martial law was declared by then president Ferdinand Marcos. The family consisted of five boys a mother and father, they are from an upper middle class neighborhood. The five boys are openly raised by their father, that males are superior to women. In this sense the mother is continuously being put down or degraded by the father, at one point in the movie the mother shows an interest in obtaining a job, not because they are struggling but because she wants to feel that her life is useful. All throughout the movie/ decade 1970 there are turning points in each of their lives. One of the five boys joins the U.S. military, while another son joins in with the protestors of martial law. It is not until one of the younger of the five brothers is killed that things begin to take shape. Each son, although raised to believe that they are superior to women, help shape and give hope to their mother for becoming an individual and working for what she desires. The family must also face being conspirers to overthrowing the government or help their brother with his cause against the Marcos Regime. The term “family” and what it stands for give us hope for something to strive for and emulate as individuals of our own personal families.
To me the main point of this movie was the importance of family and striving for something that you believe in. I find that in nearly every culture family is the basis of livelihood. Without family a society or culture cannot survive. In our day and age, family is something that people seem to so easily dismiss. They lose sight of what kind of importance they hold in shaping who we become as individuals. In the movie the family is raised as a tight knit group that seems to overcome obstacles together. With the loss of one brother they all seem to help cope with the situation. There was a point in the movie that the family had to hide one of the son and his comrade because they were hiding from government officials who were after them. At this time the son that they were trying to hide was already a high ranking official in the regime against Marcos. The family was faced with the dilemma of keeping their son safe from the government or turn him in, they chose to keep his location secret knowing well that they too could be imprisoned or killed. In this scene I think they really showed what family and unconditional love is about. No matter the situation of any family member, they still cared about each other and helped out.
What I also found in the movie was the representation of the one brother who was a soldier for the U.S. while another brother was a leader/ soldier in the guerilla group against Marcos. To me they both represented the U.S. and the Philippines. The father and mother represented the two sides of the Philippines, the father was the dictator, Marcos while the mother represented, the people/ community. At this time the U.S. and the Philippines had a mutual relationship as did the brothers. However, they were both still brothers and that bond couldn’t separate them apart. The two in their respective occupation may have represented many Filipino servicemen and Filipino activist still in the Philippines. In refrence to the father as the dictator, he ruled the family and didn’t allow the mother to do what she wanted to pursue. He held her down and didn’t allow her to expand. The mother was against all this and wanted a way out, she wanted her freedom just like the people of the Philippines. She was taught by her sons that you could achieve anything that you wanted to, you just had to fight for what you want. In the end I think she was able to achieve her goal by breaking away from her husband, the dictator and live her dream.
I thought that this move was good, although I didn’t live in that era I think I got a good picture of what it was like. The movie seemed to reflect the decriptions from readings in class about this time period. Unlike the many movies we watched about suppression of the peasant class, the movie portrayed the upper middle classed community and how they were also harassed and mistreated during the Martial Law era in the Philippines. This showed us the effects on people and their livelihood even if they had money. I think they should have done a follow-up film like Dekada 80 to let us know what it was like. But if they did do a Dekada 80 they should keep with the same family so we know where they wind up and what the future holds for them. For me this movie has got to be one of the better quality films, all around great. The editing, graphics, acting were good. Everything in the film was good, something that lacks in Philippine film. Either the film is aesthetically good with a sub-par theme or great theme but sub-par aesthetic quality. In all I recommend this film to others who need a look into what martial law in the Philippines was like. We read it but we don’t see it, this movie would really make a good impression on the younger generation Filipinos such as myself who look for quality films.

James Funtanilla