In 1898, a band of Spanish soldiers heroically defended Baler against Filipino forces for 337 long and grueling days. The battle, now referred to as the Siege of Baler, is the setting of a forbidden love between a Mestizo soldier and a Filipina lass who lived at the end of the 19th century.
Production
Painstaking 1898 period detail on indie budget.
Acting
Curtis and Rosales sell impossible chemistry.
Cinematography
Claustrophobic church siege becomes romantic prison.
Director
Mark Meily
Anne Curtis
Feliza Reyes
Jericho Rosales
Celso Resurreccion
Phillip Salvador
Daniel Reyes
Joel Torre
Commandante Teodorico Luna Novicio
Carlo Aquino
Gabriel Reyes
DJ Durano
Pablo
Rio Locsin
Azon Reyes
Nikki Bacolod
Luming
Mark Bautista
Lope
Ryan Eigenmann
2nd Lt. Saturnino Martin Cerezo
Baron Geisler
Capt. Enrique Fossi de las Morenas
Michael De Mesa
Fr. Candido Gomez Carreno
Leo Martinez
Col. Calixto Villacorte
Alvin Anson
Gregorio Catalan Valero
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The actual siege lasted 337 days; Spain had already sold Philippines to America in the Treaty of Paris, making their sacrifice completely pointless.
Baler remains contentious in Filipino cinema — some critics call it romanticized colonial nostalgia, others praise its subversion of the 'last stand' hero myth.
US
