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BY prof. Ed H. Pangilinan
The city of Daet in Camarines Norte will pay
homage to Ricky Lee, perhaps the country’s most prized
screenwriter. A film festival will be organized in his hometown from
February 4 to 10 to feature some of his timeless films.
From the late 70s onwards, Lee’s masterpiece
scripts have been transformed into award-winning films by our
country’s most esteemed directors like Lino Brocka, Laurice
Guillen and Ishmael Bernal. Six of these will be featured in the
festival: Guillen’s Salome, Olive Lamasan’s Anak, Marilou
Abaya’s Muro Ami, Brocka’s Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak, Memories of Old
Manila, and Bernal’s Himala.
“I am very happy to go back to my hometown
Daet for this event. I thank the organizers for giving me importance
as an artist, “ muses Lee, who have accumulated countless trophies
for his many works on television, stage and film.
The event is part of the World Arts Festival
organized by the City of Daet under the initiative of Mayor Tito
Sarion. “The entire city of Daet is proud to welcome home its son,
Ricky Lee, who have shaped the second golden age of Philippine
cinema in the 80s by way of his illustrious scripts from which some
timeless classic films have been masterfully crafted by our best
directors. This film festival is our little way of paying Lee a
tribute, he has long deserved,” enthuses Mayor Sarion.
As his own way of saying thank you for this
tribute, Lee will also conduct a three-day scriptwriting workshop
for beginning writers for his Bicolano kababayans. Lee has invited
Gina Alajar, who will not only grace the screening of her film
Salome, but will also conduct a one-day acting
workshop with another prized actress and good friend of Lee, Chanda
Romero.
“It’s high time that screen writers also get
their share of tributes. It’s always the directors and the actors
who get the VIP treatment when a film wins or is recognized in
international film festivals. But the seed of every masterpiece film
is the story and the script, which are products of the brilliant
minds of scriptwriters like Ricky Lee,” says Alajar.
Japanese actor-director attempts to resurrect
local action films
A few have tried over the past few years to
revive the public’s interest in action-themed movies, but most of
them failed to bring back the glory of action films which this genre
enjoyed during the late 80s and early 90s.
Even the last batch of young action stars like
Robin Padilla, Ian Veneracion, and Jestoni Alarcon have forayed into
drama, romance and fantasy projects.
Lately, we learned that Japanese actor-director
Jacky Woo (his name sounds more Chinese than Japanese) have mustered
enough guts to produce an action flick titled Half-Blood Samurai,
shot entirely in the Philippines. Woo speaks no English so we needed
an interpreter. When asked why he decided to produce, he answered,
“I wanted to come up with a good production, a movie not done in a
hurry and of course, I wanted to act again.”
Woo, who has recently been granted honorary
membership to the Director’s Guild by the Film Academy of the
Philippines, handpicked Jennylyn Mercado to be his leading lady.
Mercado has recently admitted that she is pregnant, carrying the
child of actor Patrick Garcia. We reckon it’s good timing that Woo
decided to show the movie soon since Mercado is still a hot item
because of her unplanned pregnancy.
For those who haven’t heard of Woo, he has
produced, directed or appearred in a number of Philippine-made
productions since he came to Manila in 2001: Total Aikido with John
Regala and Aya Medel, Alab ng Lahi with Robin Padilla, Panaghoy sa
Suba with Cesar Montano, and the horror-comedy blockbuster
Ispiritista: Itay, May Moomoo with Vic Sotto.
In this new movie, Woo essays the role of a
street-smart half-Japanese, half-Filipino who falls in love with the
daughter of his rich Filipino boss, played by Mercado. Their
relationship is hindered by the big difference in their social
status and the persistent mockery and discrimination he endures from
his girlfriend’s arrogant brother, played by Gabby Eigenmann.
Scheduled for commercial showing on March 5,
Half-Blood Samurai also stars Paolo Paraiso, Nina Jose, Pocholo
Montes, and Japanese actors Yoshuke Natsuki and Rena Komine. Woo’s
good friend Cesar Montano appears in a cameo role.
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