Jesus the Revolutionary

2002 ‘Hesus, rebolusyunaryo’ Directed by Lav Diaz

Philippines is in need of a newborn hero.

A man named Jesus takes on the ruling military junta.

Mark Anthony Fernandez Donita Rose Joel Lamangan Ronnie Lazaro Pinky Amador Orestes Ojeda Ricardo Cepeda Tado Marianne dela Riva Dido De La Paz

112 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Marcissus ★★★

aka Everybody Hates Hesus.
The intrinsic aura of futility when looking at a film like this can strike fear in the eye of any non-filipino cinephile, for observations of philippine despotism and socio-political strife could be wry or authentic and it's an arduous experience attempting to calculate which way the hammer is swinging. There's few worse feelings than the voice that says maybe you aren't getting the most out of this experience, though in totality Diaz doesn't want you to fall behind and instead it makes the dread of not catching everything look a little silly, but whilst Hesus is relatively easy going the frustrations of that little voice are always there. Hesus depicts a so called sci-fi universe but…
Review by gabriel guimarães? ★★★

Pretty much the weirdest Diaz, meaning it's a 2-hour futuristic action movie. Hesus seems to be bulletproof as he goes around the city after murdering his revolutionary squad for suspecting one of them is a mole. Sometimes it looks and feels very amateurish, mostly because of the acting, but Diaz does direct compelling shoot-outs and the noirish feel (yeah, it's kind of a noir too) is okay. Interesting to see his first movies and how he perfected his political, pessimistic style.
Review by Armando Dela Cruz ★★★★

"Hesus Rebolusyonaryo" is far as dystopian Lav Diaz goes, setting his socio-political noir in an immediate future where no forward change is yielded; the damp, frothy, neon-lit city of Brocka's "Maynila" indeed remains -- still and somewhat timeless, decrepit and a tap close to collapsing. Recalling rather explicitly the Marcos regime, the film's depiction of 2011 Philippines is once more pinned down by the Martial Law, somehow bringing the idea of an inescapable cycle, with only enough fascism a nation can waterboard itself into.
The film is in cursed times indeed -- the was, the will and the now. Its [new] hero is played by Mark Anthony Fernandez who turns in with admirable restraint and intensity. Both a poet and…
Review by Vadim Rizov ★★★

“The Philippine apocalypse is approaching!” screams a military commander, the in-a-nutshell warning of every Diaz film I've seen. This one's under two hours (!) and yes, dwelling on duration or lack thereof is Philistine territory (is it? At least two of the brightest viewers I know find it hard to barrel past two hours), but it's weird to watch Diaz try (?) to at least look like he's checking off the components of a standard action movie. The opening shots — night street, blue light, moody shadows — are pretty representative in terms of his images and pacing; ditto black-and-white imagery of a non-sexual woman in the Filipino countryside, more irritable but still as near-angelic as Jessica Chastain in Tree…
Review by Noel Vera ★★★★

Set in 2011, nine years into the future (Editor's note: that's how it is with dystopias, always in danger of going out of date), when the Philippines has been taken over by a military junta; the leader, a General Racellos, wields tight control over the country’s single TV station, radio station, and newspaper.
More: criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2014/10/hesus-rebolusyonaryo-jesus.html
Review by GrimsChild ★★★

#70HoursOfDiaz
Hours 11-12
A somewhat good movie that I desperately wanted to be better. Loved the first 20 minutes of this as Diaz interweaves a revolutionary call to arms with an action set piece based on a betrayal within a human rights groups combined with cinematography that make me think that this was Diaz's attempt at remaking Assault On Precinct 13. Unfortunately the movie loses a lot of steam after the initial coup as Diaz retreats into shot after shot after shot of leaders talking to each other about nothing in particular, with none of the same care that was given in Batang West Side.
The movie does start to pick up again in the second half, mostly as Diaz…

Recent reviews

Review by boinda Lee ★★★½

다가온 미래를 지나갔고 현재가 그 미래일 것입니다
군인들 세상에 살아남을 꿀팁 애국가를 외워야 겠습니다 4절까지 아니 5절인가
Review by Tyst ★★★½

Un più che discreto film action (sì, action. E lo ha diretto LAV DIAZ) che si rifà molto ai maestri di Hong Kong. Anticipando già temi e, a tratti, estetica che verranno poi approfonditi nelle sue opere mature, Hesus Rebolusyunaryo è un ottimo modo per passare tranquillamente un paio di ore, senza però spegnere necessariamente il cervello.
E so perfettamente che quanto scritto può apparire una burla. Ma non lo è.
Review by Noel Vera ★★★★

Set in 2011, nine years into the future (Editor's note: that's how it is with dystopias, always in danger of going out of date), when the Philippines has been taken over by a military junta; the leader, a General Racellos, wields tight control over the country’s single TV station, radio station, and newspaper.
More: criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2014/10/hesus-rebolusyonaryo-jesus.html
Review by luisdecoss ★★★

A country is condemned to repeat its history if it doesn't learn from its mistakes from the past.
Review by Nate Legaspi ★★½

Nais ko din magising na isang Rebolusyonaryo.
I long to emerge from a deep slumber—a Revolutionist.
______________________________________________
I wonder what this film could have been if Lav Diaz was given complete freedom.
Review by Panig ★★★

Isa
Sarili
Tangi
Review by george the beast ★★★★

ειναι 2 ωρες σχεδον μηδενικου μπατζετ , πολιτικο χορορ(;), με αρκετα καλες σκηνες , σιγουρα μετα το πρωτο μισαωρο αναρωτιεσαι γιατι το εβαλες να το δεις, δεν αναφερω καν την ιστορια γιατι πραγματικα ψιλοαντιγραφει γιαπωνεζικα z-horror, αλλα ανετα το προσπερνας και σκεφτεσε "αν το κανουν αυτοι , εδω γιατι ειναι τοσο αχρηστοι;"
επισης αργο του κερατα, αρα ειναι απολυτα στο δικο σας χερι για το αν το δειτε!
Review by gabriel guimarães? ★★★

Pretty much the weirdest Diaz, meaning it's a 2-hour futuristic action movie. Hesus seems to be bulletproof as he goes around the city after murdering his revolutionary squad for suspecting one of them is a mole. Sometimes it looks and feels very amateurish, mostly because of the acting, but Diaz does direct compelling shoot-outs and the noirish feel (yeah, it's kind of a noir too) is okay. Interesting to see his first movies and how he perfected his political, pessimistic style.
Review by GrimsChild ★★★

#70HoursOfDiaz
Hours 11-12
A somewhat good movie that I desperately wanted to be better. Loved the first 20 minutes of this as Diaz interweaves a revolutionary call to arms with an action set piece based on a betrayal within a human rights groups combined with cinematography that make me think that this was Diaz's attempt at remaking Assault On Precinct 13. Unfortunately the movie loses a lot of steam after the initial coup as Diaz retreats into shot after shot after shot of leaders talking to each other about nothing in particular, with none of the same care that was given in Batang West Side.
The movie does start to pick up again in the second half, mostly as Diaz…
Review by Armando Dela Cruz ★★★★

"Hesus Rebolusyonaryo" is far as dystopian Lav Diaz goes, setting his socio-political noir in an immediate future where no forward change is yielded; the damp, frothy, neon-lit city of Brocka's "Maynila" indeed remains -- still and somewhat timeless, decrepit and a tap close to collapsing. Recalling rather explicitly the Marcos regime, the film's depiction of 2011 Philippines is once more pinned down by the Martial Law, somehow bringing the idea of an inescapable cycle, with only enough fascism a nation can waterboard itself into.
The film is in cursed times indeed -- the was, the will and the now. Its [new] hero is played by Mark Anthony Fernandez who turns in with admirable restraint and intensity. Both a poet and…
Review by Vadim Rizov ★★★

“The Philippine apocalypse is approaching!” screams a military commander, the in-a-nutshell warning of every Diaz film I've seen. This one's under two hours (!) and yes, dwelling on duration or lack thereof is Philistine territory (is it? At least two of the brightest viewers I know find it hard to barrel past two hours), but it's weird to watch Diaz try (?) to at least look like he's checking off the components of a standard action movie. The opening shots — night street, blue light, moody shadows — are pretty representative in terms of his images and pacing; ditto black-and-white imagery of a non-sexual woman in the Filipino countryside, more irritable but still as near-angelic as Jessica Chastain in Tree…
Review by Marcissus ★★★

aka Everybody Hates Hesus.
The intrinsic aura of futility when looking at a film like this can strike fear in the eye of any non-filipino cinephile, for observations of philippine despotism and socio-political strife could be wry or authentic and it's an arduous experience attempting to calculate which way the hammer is swinging. There's few worse feelings than the voice that says maybe you aren't getting the most out of this experience, though in totality Diaz doesn't want you to fall behind and instead it makes the dread of not catching everything look a little silly, but whilst Hesus is relatively easy going the frustrations of that little voice are always there. Hesus depicts a so called sci-fi universe but…