Noli me Tángere (1961) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Michael Haneke Paneke ★★

  A faithful adaptation of the *plot* of Rizal's great novel, but it badly misses the mark on the *tone*. Despite the dark storylines, Rizal's prose is satiric and frequently very funny; the humor is almost entirely absent from the film, which makes the Romantic plot elements (so many coincidences!) just seem far-fetched.

  It's.....it reminds me of the movies I'd watch in English class in high school, movies that have no real purpose beyond giving you the Cliff's Notes version of the book you only pretended to read. Really did not enjoy this one.

• Review by vernon ★★★★

  There's much to be said about the sensibilities that director Gerardo de Leon reserved for each of the most memorable points in the novel. The claustrophobic low-angle shots against a looming dark background in the introduction of brothers Crispin and Basilio in the belfry portends a misfortune--that is, the sacristan who barges in menacingly bringing terror in the two child actors' eyes. I think de Leon's camera skills were his greatest strength. His multi-angled fast cuts in the part where Elias wrestles with the crocodile is effectively intense. His shot of Sisa and the leper foregrounding a group of Guardia Civil and the immense Church seen through the eyes of Ibarra is an excellent portrait of the times Jose Rizal…

• Review by Emil ★★★

  Really torn about this. It's clear Gerardo de Leon has given this more than a fair shot (he's not arguably our greatest classic film director for nothing), but this adaptation only reinforces what I already believe: that Noli is un-filmable. It's just such a sophisticated piece of work seething with anger, and it takes a great teacher to really unpack its satire. (Shout-out to Mr. Apo, who single-handedly made it fun and exciting to get through this novel in high school.) And I'm not saying that cinema isn't capable of doing that, or that de Leon wasn't still moderately successful in capturing the tragedy of the book's latter sections. But Noli has always seemed to me like a work that…

• Review by ejay ★★★★

  A very detailed adaptation of Rizal’s work of the same name. Noli me Tángere (1961) was so informative and interesting right at every plot point and the smallest of details.

• Review by thea ★★★

  di ko akalain na darating ang araw na magseselos ako sa buwaya :') sana all na lang nakikipagbuno kay leopoldo salcedo

• Review by Marlu Calderon ★★★★

  Wow that was a long film for a long ass book.

  Sucks that some parts of the prints are beyond repair. FDCP should really work on archiving and restoring more works by National Artists. And showing it to the public!

• Review by Louie ★★★★

  QCinema International Film Festival 2019
  Film #23

  I’m just happy I got to experience this on the big screen.

• Review by Jay ★★★½

  Leopoldo Salcedo is ALWAYS a scene stealer.

• Review by jayclops ★★★★

  Endured 3 hours of air-conditioned cold in my short shorts Jose Rizal wld be proud of me.

• Review by robin ★★★★

  Jose Rizal's message is largely dependent on characters and their relationships and Gerardo de Leon did a fine job translating them to screen. The production was evidently well-made. The unfortunate state of its existing print cannot hide the beauty of its cinematography and compositions. This is a definitive adaptation of a timeless novel, a faithful work that captured the spirit of its source material.

  I always see calls for series or films based on Noli me Tángere and El Filibusterismo, and I wonder if these people are aware of this film and its sequel's existence. I wonder if the government and the Film Development Council of the Philippines have any plans to introduce further these films especially to students, and to make them widely available.

• Review by Rox 🇵🇭 ★★★★

  Philippine Cinema's best black and white film. Reminds me so much of The Night of the Hunter (1955).

• Review by pradsjoaquin ★★★★

  Most days we assume that the problems of the old times are never our problems again, that they have been solved long ago when the truth is, Noli shows to our faces that the problems faced before are problems we face until now. Noli wasn’t a warning to not repeat it’s footsteps in culture, it’s a mirror to the Philippine people to see that without action there will be no reaction in the end if we continue to feel the need to bind ourselves for our comfort we refuse to have the self-respect and dignity we should know we deserve.

  I had acted in the theater version of Noli Me Tangere, I played Elias the farmer, and though he had…