About the Movie
Death, violence, blood, desperation, fear and starvation.
This is the plight of the last fifty men of the Spanish Empire
as they defend the last of its colonies to the death: the Philippines.
These Spaniards, drifters rather than soldiers, barricade themselves
inside the church in the small village of Baler against the incessant
offensive by the country’s native Tagalogs.
Over 300 days go by, and day in and day out, they suffer all
kinds of illness and miseries. Between the arrows they receive and
their own return fire, these Spaniards, far from home, take on the
adventure of their lives in an inhospitable jungle crawling with
crocodiles and other dangers.
They battle onslaught after onslaught from the natives; they
sneak out at night to steal food and they smoke opium to drown their
sorrows. And above all, they entrust themselves to a God and Country who,
to their disbelief, abandoned them long ago...
The Movie Plot
In 1898, Spain sends a military squad to the town of Baler, the Philippines,
to protect one of the last colonies of the Spanish Empire, to prevent rebellious
natives from recovering their ancient territories.
Lead by Captain Enrique de las Morenas and Lieutenant Cerezo, proud military men,
the soldiers are stalked at night by the rebels, and are forced to seek refuge in
the church run by Fray Carmelo, Baler's priest. Turning the church into a military
fort, the unrelenting heat and malaria starts to sweep across the men.
After the Captain's death by a disease called beriberi, Cerezo steps in as the new
leader of the squad, faced with a constant power struggle with Jimeno, a soldier from
the previous squad annihilated by the rebels. Becoming more and more paranoid and
obsessive with the victory and the glory of the Spanish Empire, the rebels close to
Cerezo explain that Spain has already sold the Philippine Islands to the United States,
ceding all the colonies of the Spanish Empire, and that the war is over.
But Cerezo does not believe in the newspapers given by the rebels and is still
obsessed to win at all cost. He makes a last stand in the church with his men,
prolonging the battle for several months where one of the soldiers, Carlos, falling
victim to opium use, searches a way to end the conflict, suspecting that all is lost,
and wanting to prevent the death of his comrades.—Chockys
