A SHOWER, FEATHERS AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF ARTISTS
(Otherwise known as PJ is nice, Sam is shy, no wonder Mark is a Prince
& damn the cameraman is HOT!)
As a former closeted fan of indie films, I have always been infinitely curious about what happens in front of the camera. As much as these films kept on winning international film festival, this was not the reason why I watched them. I have had countless dreams of subconsciously made-up scenarios; awake and otherwise, of young “up and coming” actors parading in front of me in various stages of undress. Those were the days (and nights) of visions of Antonio (he still is my forever crush), Mateo and even Tito Jo! I knew that it was every PLU’s longing to be a witness of this most mysterious and intriguing of rituals – the making of an indie gay film.
And lo and behold, I had a chance to see the first day shoot of Jay Altarejos’ “LARUANG LALAKI”. First time producer and writer par excellence Lex Bonife gave an ALL ACCESS pass to a number of loyal followers of LEXUALITY, his blog. And with the excitement, apprehension and the giddiness of someone about to lose his cheery for the first time, I rode a cab armed with an artillery of expectations and a barrage of unspoken questions.
I literally counted the minutes, munching on a burger at the corner joint where I’m supposed to meet Lex. My heart was doing cartwheels; butterflies were having a field day in my stomach and for some unknown reason my pants were a little tight. And there he was, strolling outside Tropical Hut, his eyes wandering about; probably looking for an overeager, voyeuristic, crazed fan – in this case, me! I raised my hand in deference while he was talking to two others right outside, I’m sure they are people like me, overly glad and excited to be given this chance at seeing our fantasies being made.
I had a lot of preconceived notions of what to expect, I daydreamed of what I wanted to see. And boy did I shatter those expectations! What I had was even better!
I walked a few minutes to the set, and with each buoyant step, my heart was doing its thing; like a live fish was twitching inside the cavity of my chest. And I found myself inside a gaybar, half filled with people of all preferences and a lot of nameless faces that otherwise looked good – especially young guys in tight looking pants and meticulously styled hair which I later found out were “auditionees”.
OMG!
I’m in a gaybar with yummy looking young men and all I could do was continuously drag on my cigarette and take quick sips from a bottle of mineral water. I accidentally swallowed my tongue from the moment I stepped in. I was deaf-mute and thinking nobody probably could understand sign language.
“What am I doing here?” I asked myself and immediately answered back “You’re here because you’re a prick!”
I looked around me and everybody was oblivious to everybody else, they were busy with their own stuff; everyone was doing things that looked familiar to me yet, unbelievably did not register. Until I saw that the guy beside me was just sitting there with a shy look on his face and after awhile he just lied down on the sofa. Cool, there is at least somebody else who feels awkward here. That’s when the Production Assistant called him...”Arjay”. Oppss, I was right beside Arjay Carreon! Talk about awkwardness.
Since the director and some of the other actors were somewhere else doing “day” scenes, I got up and strolled around. That’s when I decided to observe what all the rest of the crew were doing. I realized a movie set is a complex system of specialties. From the staff members, to the camera men (one of them is definitely hot by the way), to the bit players, to the production, to the actors etc. etc. I became conscious that I was in a roomful of very special artists. It was then that I lost the “malice” that I was thinking about, considering im in an indie set with a very interesting and thought provoking title. I thought I was an artist myself until I saw the dedication and the almost static energy of creativity around me. My respects and admiration flowed to each and everyone.
The shoot was a memorable experience. To wrap it up without putting in spoilers for the benefit of the thousands of audiences that this movie will generate, I will sum it up that it would be one of the most talked about film in months to come (not that I know anything much about the story other than the bits and pieces that I was able to pierce together) .
All I can say right now is; Marco Morales is a nice guy with a very magnetic presence, Arjay Carreon is shy with an intense personality and tremendous angst (and very cute), Mark Xander Fabillar deserves to be called (vegan)prince being able to look like an angel after toiling it off the whole day, Direk Jay did it once again by stirring my innards with the right amount of tingling (bet you tremble when you hear him call out: “SAAN KO ILALAGAY YAN? DITO SA HARAP? GANDA NG PROPS NYO AH, (pertaining to a gold cd) PRODUCTION NASAAN NA ANG PROPS NA BINILI NYO KANINA?”) (I really felt like I’m in the movie like I did watching Ang LARO NG BUHA Y NI JUAN, only this time its literally: “Jusko, ang pera natin sa dalawang presscon inubos mo sa iisang lalaki lang?” – hahahaha) and Lex Bonife is my idol in all sense of the word. Mon Confiado, Richard Quan and the rest of the cast were superb to watch; you can almost see them shift from real life to character. And I should not forget those 3 appealing dancers.
In summary, all I want you to really know is watch out for the bath scene, the feathers and the product of a whole bunch of artists. LARUANG LALAKI is something I can’t almost wait to see.
Thank you Lex for the life-changing experience and to the other bloggers (Joey, Joeman and my “scene”mate) I now consider my friends, see you all around again and I hope soon!
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