All we can say is good luck to the project. It’s common knowledge that historical movies do not perform well at the local box office. Moviegoers just don’t seem to enjoy watching them. We all know the fate of the two movies on Bonifacio, “Supremo” with Alfred Vargas and “Bonifacio, Ang Unang Pangulo” with Robin Padilla. Before that, there’s Lito Lapid’s “Lapu Lapu” and Jeorge Estregan’s “El Presidente” on Emilio Aguinaldo. These period films are well produced and offer a slice of our history, but the viewers avoided them.
The only local film about a National Hero that did quite well is “Jose Rizal” with Cesar Montano, but GMA Films also had a hard time recovering their investment because of the big cost of its production. Even costume films, not necessarily about heroes, usually flop at the tills, like “Rosario” with Jennylyn Mercado, “Baler” with Anne Curtis and the classic “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon”, all entries to the Metro-Manila Filmfest.
So, what can we say to Lovi and those who are making “Lakambini” but good luck. We hope you’ll defy tradition and come up with a real winner not only artistically but also at the box office with this very risky project.
Actually, there’s another historical film that has already finished filming and will be shown soon, “Heneral Luna”, about the life of Gen. Antonio Luna. This stars John Arcilla and is directed by Jerrold Tarog. We’ve seen the trailer in theatres and it certainly looks promising. Knowing the calibre of Tarog, we won’t be surpised if he’d come up with a really good film. But then again, what are the chances of his movie at the box office? Once more, we can only wish him good luck when his film is shown.
