TWO OF THE NEW sexy stars of Vivamax co-star in a movie about Sapphic love, “Palitan”, to start streaming on December 10: Jela Cuenca and Cara Gonzales.
Jela was introduced in “Taya” as one of the girls who got involved with Sean de Guzman. Cara is being introduced in “Pornstar 2: Pangalawang Putok”.
“Palitan” is the first of three movies made for Vivamax by Cannes Filmfest best director Brillante Mendoza who got international acclaim for such films as “Kinatay” and “Ma Rosa”. How did they feel when they learned it’s Mendoza who’d direct them?
“Sabi ko, wow,” says Jela. “Namangha ako kasi alam ko ang galing niya. At hindi ako nagkamali, talagang kaya ka niyang paaktingin. I'm thankful to be given the chance to work with him.”
“Napanood ko yung ibang movies niya and he’s really good,” says Cara. “So nakaka-proud to be in this movie with him as our director.”
In “Palitan”, Cara plays Jen, who’s bisexual. She has a male boyfriend, James (Luis Hontiveros), and they have a stormy kind of relationship as he’s battling some mental health issues.
They go on a visit to Jen’s hometown and Jen meets again the previous love of her life, Marie (Jela Cuenca), who is about to be married to their friend, Al (Rash Flores.)
As they reconnect, their reunion turns into a wild and sizzling orgical night of foursome romance, all of them driven by passion and unspoken hidden desires as the night rages on and consumes everything in its fiery path. So how daring is “Palitan”?
“Kung sa daring, sobrang daring ito, more daring than ‘Taya’,” says Jela.
“Grabe love scenes, boy and girl, girl and girl, foursome, but with the help of Direk Brillante, nagawa namin nang maayos. Pero hindi lang love scenes at hubaran ang dapat abangan dito. Kasi may lesson talaga ang movie tungkol sa pakikipagrelasyon.”
“It’s very daring,” says Cara. “I come from a religious and conservative family.
"Ako lang ang girl sa anim na magkakapatid kaya yung mga ipinagawa sa’kin dito, di ko pa talaga nagawa in real life. Simple lang naman, kasi madali maghubad. Araw-araw nating ginagawa yan.
"Pero mahirap maghubad sa harap ng kamera. But I’m proud na nagawa ko ang movie kasi hindi lang naman puro hubaran ang movie. May moral ang story na dapat nyong abangan.”
So what did they show?
"We showed everything, char,” says Jela, laughing. “Hindi naman, joke lang. Siempre, may limitasyon pa rin. Breast exposure and butt exposure lang.”
“Yes, butt and breast exposure but may plaster kami sa mga ari namin,” says Cara.
“Ang mahirap, pareho kami ni Jela na walang experience makipag-sex sa kapwa babae, so nagtanong kami kay Direk Brillante kung anong gagawin namin at tinuruan niya kami.”
How did they do their lesbian scenes?
“Nag-usap muna kami ni Cara kung anong mga gagawin namin, para pagdating sa harap ng kamera, hindi kami mataranta,” says Jela. “Nakakailang nung una kasi pareho kaming babae, pero naitawid naman namin.”
“Mahirap siyang gawin kasi nakakailang na nakakatawa,” says Cara. “Basta ang bilin ng father ko, huwag akong magpapahawak sa boobs ko. So nagawa naman namin. Yung foursome kami, naganap yun sa isang waterfall.
"Kami lang ni Jela ang nagpalitan, yung mga lalaki, hindi. Mahirap, kasi nakatirik ang araw, tapos, drone shot pa, so go with the flow na lang ako sa mga pinagawa sa amin para maganda ang kalabasan ng movie.”
They both feel that they’re just using all the baring they do as a stepping stone.
“Eventually, I want to do comedy, kasi in real life, mahilig ako magpatawa,” says Jela. “Also, I want to try action films.”
“Ako rin, I want to try to explore other kinds of movies, like comedy,” says Cara. “But I really want to try serious drama na pipiga talaga sa akin. I think dun ako mas babagay.”
