The Weekly LitWit Challenge 8.2: Pitch a film adaptation
In last week’s LitWit Challenge we asked you for something Picture of Dorian Gray-ish. Given the subject matter we were looking for something bizarre and theatrical. Fortunately one of the entries featured arch characters, posturing and overacting, and guest appearances by Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Princess Diana. So the winner is kimedes007.
Congratulations, kimedes007! Please post your full name in Comments (It won’t be published) and we’ll alert you when your prize has been delivered to National Bookstore at Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati.
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While reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens it occurred to us that it would work as a Filipino movie or telenovela (After all it was serialized in a magazine). It’s a melodrama full of brilliantly-realized characters, dramatic plot turns and memorable set pieces. It’s got horror, action, romance, comedy, drama, the works. Great Expectations has been adapted for the screen many times in the UK and the US. We think it would appeal to the Pinoy movie audience as well.
The dining hall at Satis House, from the BBC series Great Expectations (2011).
Consider the story. You’ve got a young orphan boy living in a small town. The poor child is maltreated by his much older sister. One day he is threatened by an escaped convict. Later, he is hired by an eccentric old woman to visit her in her decaying mansion and play with her beautiful niece, who insults him constantly. Of course he falls in love and yearns to become worthy of her. In his teens he is adopted by an unknown benefactor who sends him to the city, where he becomes a young gentleman of means. There he meets the beautiful girl from the decaying mansion. He woos her, but she has been trained to break men’s hearts. And then he discovers who his real benefactor is…
The setting could be Lucban, Quezon in 2012. Martin Escudero could be Pip. Celia Rodriguez could play Miss Havisham in her sleep.
We would watch that movie.
Your assignment for the Weekly LitWit Challenge 8.2 is to pitch us a foreign novel to adapt for a Filipino movie. Describe the plot (See example above.) Include the time frame, setting, and proposed cast. Post your entries in Comments by noon on Sunday, 15 January 2012.
The winner will receive a signed* copy of The Known World by Edward P. Jones.
* We have two signed copies of the book. You have the option to erase “To Jessica”. It will not diminish the value of a signed copy of a great book.
The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore.
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January 13th, 2012 at 15:13
william shakespeare’s romeo and juliet, directed by baz luhrmann, is one of my favorite movies. (yes, i know, jessica, you don’t like the movie. or am i mistaken there?) this movie induced me to read the book and memorize some memorable lines. (it’s impossible, every other page has memorable stanzas in them. i managed to memorize maybe four long lines, including the chorus at the beginning.) we could adapt that to philippine setting. (it’s already been adapted. a u.p. diliman theatre group created a ance-musical muslim version of romeo and juliet. my idea is along this line.)
the setting is spanish colonial-era zamboanga. the setting has to be a place where we could showcase both our spanish colonial and asian muslim heritage. there are probably other places where these aspects of our culture are present. zamboanga is what i’m most familiar with.
zamboanga has plenty of bahay na bato, spanish colonial houses like the ones seen in intramuros and vigan. this should be highlighted. bahay na bato is very filipino, despite the superficial european trimmings. it is derived from the bahay kubo. (romeo could have a newly married uncle or aunt and their bahay na bato house is under construction.) our spanish-filipino culture, including its cuisine, adherence to catholic rituals, barong tagalog and the spanish language itself, should be highlighted. romeo, a filipino catholic with spanish, malay, chinese and portuguese blood (something like jose rizal), is from a clan of open-minded ilustrados and catholic bigots who hold negative views of muslims. so besides romeo’s parents, he should have uncles and aunts and more cousins than what is in the original play. at some point in the movie, the catholics should be shown expressing their bigoted views and the open-minded ones taking the opposing opinion. one of the ilustrados could mention ‘florante at laura’, a poem where a muslim saves a christian. one of the ilustrados should mention, or be seen carrying, a copy of noli, fili and la loba negra.
i’m not sure which ethnic group the muslims in zamboanga belong to. since this is a movie, we are entitled to some artistic license. i recommend that the muslims should be maranaos. they are the most artistic of all the muslim ethnic groups in mindanao. their artistry should be highlighted, especially the okkil design. almost everything a maranao owns has some artistry in it, from the sword to their malong. their houses, torogan, with their panalongs and their mosques should be prominently seen. there should be dance sequences, including one that features the many uses of the malong. (i believe that dance is actually called malong.) we could have a janggay dance (extended fingernail decoration) and other dances that are not necessarily maranao but still mindanao-based folk dances. most important of all, the sarimanok should be there.
i haven’t quite figured out how we could work the maranao epics ‘bantugan’ and ‘indarapatra at sulayman’ but it should be mentioned. perhaps juliet is reading or reciting them.
during the party, there should be a singkil dance sequence, which is a flirtation dance. romeo , who has gate-crashed and pretended to be muslim, should be the warrior-prince in the singkil and of course juliet, who is a real maranao princess, should be the princess.
instead of tybalt killing mercutio and romeo killing tybalt, there should be a muslim prince to whom juliet was promised by his father. the insulted prince have to avenge the dishonor.
in addition to the sword fights, there should be violent and gory clashes between the filipino muslims and catholics. hopefully the viewers of the movie would realize fighting is stupid.
i recommend that the lovers do not commit suicide. instead, they realize their love is doomed. their respective religions would never let them be together, and so they decide to commit suicide together, by jumping from the belfry of the church. the two families and their respective communities, should be witness the suicide.
my favorite filipino movie is oro, plata, mata. i want peque gallaga to direct the movie. for the actors, i don’t know whom to recommend but romeo should be played by a mestizo, like a young albert martinez, and juliet should be very ethnic-looking but beautiful, like a young tetchie agbayani.
January 13th, 2012 at 16:17
What about an adaptation of “Brideshead Revisited”? Carlos (ex-Charles Ryder) is an officer in the US-sponsored Philippine armed forces (guerillas) who finds himself assigned to Iloilo (or Negros) province, within spitting distance of “Villa Montenegro” (ex-Brideshead). This stirs up memories of his lengthy and profound association with the dysfunctional Montenegro (ex-Flyte) family, particularly the son Sebastian (whom he first met at university) and daughter Julia (we’ll keep their names).
Cambridge University would now be the 1930’s Ateneo de Manila in Padre Faura (or Intramuros); Villa Montenegro would be a grand ancestral home in Iloilo or Negros; downtown London could be pre-war Escolta or Santa Cruz or Binondo.
I’m not very familiar with all the available talents in the Philippines, but I’m certain Martin Escudero could play Sebastian Flyte very easily. Who could do Charles Ryder without being too upstaged — perhaps Dennis Trillo or TJ Trinidad? Julia Flyte would be easier to cast — lots of good and pretty young actresses around: Marian Rivera, Angel Locsin, etc.
January 13th, 2012 at 16:49
Since I like stories built around grand old houses, why not also an adaptation of “Howards End” — a fast-paced, funny, but also tragic three-way conflict among the capitalists (the Wilcoxes), the enlightened bourgeoisie (the Schlegels), and the working class (the Basts).
We could move the setting forward from Edwardian England to Manila of the 1970’s or even the 2010’s — anyway these conflicts are still being played out here today.
The Schlegel sisters could be living in a former genteel neighborhood in Malate, now being developed and turned into high-rise condominiums. The Wilcox home (Howards End) could be a grand old mansion in New Manila (still several of those).
Again, I don’t know enough to do casting properly — are Christopher de Leon and Lorna Tolentino too young for Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth (the real owner of the house)? Their son Charles Wilcox should be played by an intense young actor like Raymond Bagatsing or Coco Martin.
Casting the Schlegels should be fun — Margaret Schlegel could be an opportunity for Eugene Domingo to demonstrate that she’s not just a comedian but our own Emma Thompson. Helen Schlegel should go to a good young actress not intimidated by Eugene — Marian Rivera and Angel Locsin come to mind again.
And since the outstanding Martin Escudero had really been underutilized all this time, let’s reserve the role of Leonard Bast for him.
January 13th, 2012 at 17:06
Addendum: I’d like to see Jade Castro direct this Filipino Howards End — and his usual creative writing team and colleagues write and produce it. I’m sure it will be outstanding.
January 15th, 2012 at 11:54
Ang gusto ko’y adaptation ng Valley of the Dolls ni Jacqueline Susann pero mga bading ang mga bida sa halip na mga babae. Ang kwento’y sa kasalukuyang panahon at sumasaklaw sa mundo ng pelikula, telebisyon, at stand up comedy bar. Halo-halo ang pelikula na syang gusto ng masang Pinoy kaya may drama, comedy at siempre sex na hindi naman garapal para hindi ma-X ng MTRCB. Ang Anne Welles ay si Eugenio Reyes, isang buking na bakla pero mautak kaya nagkaroon sya ng sariling talent agency. Pero hindi sya matalino pagdating sa usaping puso dahil lagi syang biktima ng mga mapagsamantala. Binabata nya kasi ang mga hunks na talent nya kaya mailap sa kanya ang hinahanap na true love. Si John Carl Norte ang counterpart ni Jennifer North. Siya’y isang closet queen na may magandang katawan kaya laging kasali sa mga Bikini Open at Superbody contests. Naka-penetrate sya sa pelikula kahit walang acting talent dahil sa mga baklang direktor na natanso nya. Dahil sadyang walang talent, hindi sya sumikat at hanggang kaibigan lang ng bida ang kanyang naabot, gaya nina Nori Dalisay at Meldy Corrales noon sa Sampaguita Pictures. Nagpasalin-salin sya sa kamay ng mga baklang producer, direktor at production designer. Kinalaunan, napasabak na sya sa mga M2M independent films kung saan nabigyang laya nya ang tinitimping kabadingan. Si Neely O’Hara ay si Arnel Bautista, ang kasalukuyang namamayagpag sa tv at pelikula. Siya’y bading na galing sa pagiging karaoke sing-along master at stand up comedian. Bigla ang kanyang pagsikat kaya’t hindi nya nakayang dalhin ang tagumpay. Ang nadala lang nya ay ang kanyang likas na kaangasan at bisyo sa alak. Kaya’t sya’y walang kaibigan at iniiwasan ng mga kasamahan. Si Helen Lawson ay si Pitoy Lacson, ang dating diva ng mga bading na ngayo’y isa ng laos pero nagpupumilit pa ring kumapit sa nagdaang kinang ng kasikatan. Ang mga tauhang ito’y natutong gumamit ng shabu sa tuwing hindi na makayanan ang mga kinahaharap na mga problema. Hindi naman sila mga hard addicts maliban kay John Carl na tuluyang nalulong sa droga. Ang pelikula’y iikot sa nagkasanga-sangang buhay ng apat na bakla.
Dapat i-pitch ito kay Mother Lily as an independent film para low budget ang production at super tipid sa talent fee ng mga artista. Pagkatapos, bibigyan nya ng big release sa maraming sinehan gamit siempre ang influence ni Mother sa mga theater owners. Dapat ding matino at maganda ang pelikula para graded A (o kahit na B) ng Cinema Evaluation Board para makakuha ng rebate sa amusement tax. Kaya nararapat lang na magaling ang direktor, screenplay writer at casting ng pelikula! First choice ko si Chris Martinez bilang direktor. Very impressive ang kanyang 100 at Here Comes the Bribe. Bukod pa sa pagiging mahusay ring script writer. Isa pa, nakapag-direct na sya sa bakuran ng Regal Films ni Mother. Isa pang gusto ko’y si Jade Castro at ang ka-team nyang sina Raymond Lee at Michiko Yamamoto. Paborito ko ang kanilang Endo at Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington.
Sa casting naman, sa papel na Pitoy Lacson, wala akong ibang choice kung hindi si Roderick Paulate. Walang tututol sa pagiging “reyna” ni Kuya Dick! Si Dennis Trillo sa papel ni Eugenio Reyes. Ang galing-galing nya sa Aishte Imasu 1941 bilang bading na spy at talaga namang ang ganda ng love scene nila ni Jay Manalo! Si Sid Lucero ang choice kong gumanap na John Carl Norte. Dalawang beses na syang nanalo sa Urian sa Selda at Muli, mga pelikulang tumatalakay sa masalimuot na buhay ng mga bading. Magaling si Sid bukod pa sa matapang at mapangahas sya sa kanyang mga papel sa pelikula. Si Vice Ganda sana sa papel na Arnel Bautista. May kakaibang angas at sanay mangutya si Vice kaya bagay sa kanya. Palagay ko’y luluhod ang mga tala sa tindi ng confrontation scenes nila ni Kuya Dick. Marahil, walang binatbat ang sagupaan nina Susan Hayward at Patty Duke sa dalawang Petrang Kabayo! Idagdag pa ang maanghang na pahayag ni Vice Ganda na ayaw na ayaw nyang maikumpara kay Kuya Dick! Sayang, dahil under contract si Vice sa Viva Films ni Boss Vic at masyadong tumaas na raw ang talent fee nito. Mahihirapang mahiram ni Mother Lily ang isang ito. Ang gusto kong kapalit ni Vice ay si Baron Geisler na napakagaling sa pelikulang Jay. Isa pang dagdag na punto para kay Baron ay ang halos katatapos lang nyang magpa-rehab para sa kanyang problema sa alak. Swak na swak sa karakter ni Arnel Bautista. Ano kaya kapag nalasing si Baron, hihipuan nya rin kaya ang berdaderong hombreng sina Dennis at Sid?
January 15th, 2012 at 12:04
JJ Gatbising is a poor Chinoy living in Dumaguete’s poshest subdivision, a one-lane affair the city calls millionaire’s row. On self-exile from the troubles of his native Mindanao, JJ supports himself as a working student while lodged in as a poor relation to distant relatives engaged in the copra trade. Daisy Bulaklak, a flighty, wispy Spanish mestiza with roots from Bais, also lives on this lane.
The single-lane subdivision also serves as the neighborhood kids’ playground, especially on moonlit nights when chalk marks etched on the capacious cul-de-sac remain visible for extended games of tubig-tubig (using chalk instead of water for demarcations), piko and sudsud. JJ and Daisy’s friendship blossoms here, under the watchful eyes of Daisy’s yaya, who likes JJ. On certain school days when their schedules matched, Daisy, with yaya and driver in tow, would chance on JJ at the corner and save him a pedicab ride to school (state university for him, the coed St. Paul college for her).
Love eventually blooms for these two, and this time yaya is no longer amused. Daisy’s conservative parents are informed, and some ultimatums are bandied around. “JJ, rich girls don’t marry poor Chinoys,” invokes Daisy, and she is shipped off to Manila, where the St. Paul college is exclusively for girls.
Years later JJ is comfortable ensconced in a palatial mansion in Siquijor, the island directly facing Dumaguete’s boulevard. His house is always available for fiestas, mitings de avance and weddings, and while he hardly makes an appearance at his parties, he regularly foots the bills. He practically owns the island, having made a killing in copra by allying himself with the right people during the Marcos/Cojuangco years. There is also talk that he actually killed a man once…
Every evening JJ sees the boulevard’s greenish lights from his island, and he hatches a plan to get Daisy to see him now. He sees his opportunity in his neighbor Nick Joaquin, a decent, unassuming man whom JJ thinks (incorrectly) is a closet gay. Nick, it turns out is a (poor) relation of Daisy; like JJ he is smitten by her. Inevitably, Daisy and her boorish husband Tomas find themselves in one of JJ’s parties. They bring along Jordan, Daisy’s rich, effete best friend, whom Daisy is eager to pair off with Nick.
We all know how this all ends for JJ. He is eventually shot by a barangay tanod who felt he was robbed of his party’s support at the barangay elections, purportedly upon the instigation of JJ.
And so we beat on, bancas against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
January 15th, 2012 at 12:27
Proposed cast: Heart Evangelista or Anne Curtis (they can’t act, but that is not a requirement here as both strike me as flighty and vapid, which spell Daisy) as Daisy. Bebe Gandanghari as Jordan. Joko Diaz as Tomas Bautista–he plays boors so well. Cogie Domingo as Nick Joaquin. I can’t think of any local actor who looks Chinito with the acting chops to play JJ, so let’s go with an unknown…