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| DIRECTOR JOEL LAMANGAN with Ricky Lee, Tony Labrusca, Lovi Poe, Marco Gumabao in 'HINDI TAYO PWEDE' |
DIRECTOR JOEL LAMANGAN is definitely our busiest director today.
He has three new movies in the ca. First is “Hindi Tayo Pwede” for Viva Films starring Lovi Poe, Marco Gumabao and Tony Labrusca to be shown on March 4, followed by “Isa Pang Bahagari” for Heaven’s Best Entertainment with Nora Aunor, Phillip Salvador and Michael de Mesa that’s an entry in the summer Metro filmfest in April.
Last is “In the Name of the Mother” starring Snooky Serna and Rita Daniela that’s now an official entry in the ongoing Fantasporto International Filmfest in Portugal and will be released locally as a special Mother’s Day presentation in May.
On top of this, Direk Joel has also finished a 6-episode mini-series for iWant, “Beauty Queens”, starring Gloria Diaz, Winwyn Marquez, Maxine Medina and Lotlot de Leon to be released soon. How about doing another teleserye?
“Naku, rest muna ako diyan,” he says. “Ang hirap gumawa ng soap kasi matatali ka diyan. Mas gusto ko nang magpelikula at itong mini-series like ‘Beauty Queens’. Abangan nyo yang ‘Beauty Queens’ kasi sobrang galing ni Gloria Diaz as a very controlling mother na galit sa anak niyang bakla, yung pala, may affair din siya with her girl friday, played by Lotlot na sobrang galing din dito.”
How is it doing a unique love triangle movie like “Hindi Tayo Pwede” with a touch of whimsy as one of the parties involved is a ghost?
“Kakaiba siya, parang yung ‘Ghost’ noon ni Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. Magaling ang pagkakasulat ni Ricky Lee sa script nito. Ang original title niyan is ‘In Between Goodbyes’, kaso pinalitan ng Viva para magamit yung kanta ng The Juans’ na ‘Hindi Tayo Pwede’, na okay rin naman. But I insisted gamitin rin yung ‘Never Say Goodbye’ for Tony as the ghost.”
He praises his three cast members.
“I’m just lucky na puro magagaling yung tatlong leads ko, Lovi Poe, with Marco and Tony. They never gave me any headache or problem kasi puro sila professionals. Marami na kong nadirek na love scenes pero silang tatlo, ang lakas ng chemistry nila, pati na geometry, calculus and algebra nila.
"Mahirap gumawa ng love scene na hindi maiinsulto ang sensitivity ng viewers. Dito, lahat sila, magaganda on screen at maganda rin ang attitude nila sa trabaho. They’re intelligent actors, they understand my vision at hindi sila nag-inarte, kaya tiyak kong magtatagal sila sa industry.”
He’s very thankful that Lovi, Marco and Tony are not “pasaway” and are all obedient on the set.
“They’re all very cooperative at lahat ng pinagagawa ko sa kanila sa love scenes, ginagawa nila without any complaints. May mga pasabog sila rito, lalo na si Marco. We watched the rushes of their love scenes at nagustuhan naman nila ang execution.
"I love it na nagtatanong sila about their roles kasi ibig sabihin noon, gusto nila talagang matuto. I also listen to their suggestions. Kung maganda, I accept it, but siempre, as the director, nasa akin pa rin ang final say,” concludes Direk Joel who gained a lot of fans for being a champion of press freedom in the senate hearing for the case regarding ABS-CBN's franchise renewal.
