AS A DIRECTOR, YAM LARANAS is better known for the horror films he made like “Sigaw”, “The Road” and “Aurora”.
Now, he does a romantic drama about a May-December romance, “Paraluman”, which is not a tribute to the late actress who has the same name.
“Paraluman means muse, siya ang pinakamagandang babae sa lahat,” he says at the zoom presscon for his new movie.
“As a filmmaker, I want to try doing different genres. Masarap kasing mag-experiment. I started with ‘Death of a Girlfriend’ na love story rin but tragic.
"Itong ‘Paraluman’ is also a love story, but it’s not tragic. It’s a very sexy love story about an older guy and his love affair with a much younger woman.”
He’s very pleased with his actors, Jao Mapa and Rhen Escano, who he says are both very cooperative.
“Their relationship starts with sexual attraction, na naging flirtation then blossomed into a full blown forbidden love affair kasi si Jao has a live in partner, si Gwen Garci.
"Maganda yung naging journey nila. About the love scenes, depende na yun sa viewer kung maapektuhan sila at mae-L sila. Ang importante makita nila yung buong journey nung lovers in the film.”
How did he cast the movie?
“Rhen Escano was suggested by Viva’s Boss Vic del Rosario. For the male lead, he said, why don’t you try Jao? Sabi ko, sige let’s try.
"They’re asking, bagay ba sila? Nang magsama sila sa intimacy workshop, nakita ko on screen, this will really work.
"But I have to rewrite the script para ibagay sa kanilang dalawa. And they became perfect for the characters they play.”
Does the film have any moral lesson?
“I don’t do films with moral lessons. Ang mapi-pick up ng viewers dito is: who are we to judge kung ma-in love ang isang tao with someone na mas bata o mas matanda sa kanya?
"Di ba ang mas mahalaga, yung mahal nila talaga ang isa’t isa?”
As a filmmaker, how does he feel now that movies are not shown in theaters but on streaming channels?
“Sa totoo lang, because of streaming, we filmmakers now have more freedom to do different stories na out of the box.
"I am now more adventurous with the stories I want to do kasi there are no more censorship constraints. Hindi mo agad iniisip na, baka putulin lang ito.
"And with Viva giving me a lot of artistic freedom, mas naging challenging ang filmmaking today.
"Lagi kong iniisip, anong next kuwento na gagawin ko para maiba naman sa mata ng viewers. My next film have a lot of blood."
The last romantic movie Direk Yam did is “Ikaw Lamang Hanggang Ngayon” in 2002 with Regine Velasquez and Richard Gomez.
It’s very wholesome compared to the romantic films he does now with its torrid and graphic bedscenes.
And this is what you should look forward to on September 24 when “Paraluman” starts streaming on Vivamax.
