A Synopsis of the Movie Bontoc Eulogy

Fiction is Necessary The film "Bontoc Eulogy" is about an American-Filipino man searching for his roots. He looked for confirmation and facts through the mountain province where he got actual footages of how the igorots are living and through different museums and records in the United States. He edited all his clips and re-enactments and made a whole narrative out of it. He made the film a story of how his igorot ancestor Marko was peacefully living in the Mounatin provinces and how he was just simply separated from his own family to be displayed for the civilized men to see in the St. Lous' World Fair in 1904. At the end he showed himself looking for artefacts and relics in different museums and end the story of himself wondering whether he will find his lost igorot ancestor or not. This film was a combination of facts and fiction. The actual footages were all real but the narrative that he made was all fiction. He may have an igorot ancestor but no one knows if this igorot ancestor of him is really part of the St. Louis' World Fair in 1904. Though the igorot ancestor story of him is just a fiction, we all know that fiction is sometimes necessary to light up the national consciousness in us. Rizal also used fiction in his time to uplift our desire for the better of our country. His novels were a great factor in building up the national consciousness of his fellow countrymen and lead them to fight for what is right for themselves and for their country. I was amazed how Marlon Fuentes made this kind of film/documentary. I love how he touched our human emotions to nourish the nationalist dream inside us by using a documentary and creating a story of how the ifugaos, our natives suffered in the St. Louis World Fair in 1904.