The Spirit of the Flag

Alas, wrong flag! (from a Filipino point of view) Considering the grim realities of the brutal US colonisation of the Philippines, to which the events in this film are supposed to be a prelude,this is a very unpleasant piece of patriotic flummery. The US treachery that robbed the Philippines of its independence after the defeat and dignified withdrawal of the Spanish is of course not mentioned. Manila would become its centre for operations in the Pacific and the China Seas. Nothing could better illustrate the fact that the US had joined the club of the imperialist powers than the ease with which it here adopts their hypocritical and patronising rhetoric. The caricature of the Spanish was typical of US propaganda that filled the US yellow press at the time and prepared the way for the later demonisation of the Kaiser once the US condescended to join the war against him.

Note the neat double-edged compliment in the contemporary review that points out that the film was quite obviously shot anywhere near the Philippines. In fact it is not much of an improvement over the "re-enactments" that Sigmund Lubin used to turn out in his backyard in Chicago at the tie of the war itself.

Power to your elbow, manly citizen Duterte!