A cleverly indicting portrayal of the injustices that Filipinos suffered at the hands of Spanish priests and statesmen in 19th century Philippines.
Fresh from a European education, the young intellectual Crisostomo Ibarra returns to the town of San Diego to start a school for young boys and marry his childhood sweetheart, the beautiful Maria Clara. However, he is opposed at every turn by the priests Damaso and Salvi for his subversive ideas. When Ibarra becomes implicated in a fake insurrection and is forced to leave town, he begins to question whether or not his dream of a more progressive Philippines can be achieved through peaceful reforms or bloody revolution.
Through Ibarra's struggle to uplift his countrymen, Jose Rizal reveals the sufferings of Filipinos against the oppressive hand of the Spanish regime—which ultimately led to Rizal's execution and the birth of the Philippine nation.