It suddenly struck him, how would the woman look like if she’s Filipina?
That did it. His award-winning script, Cut, which won for him a whopping P400,000 (with director Mario O’ Hara) in this year’s Cinemanila International Film Festival, was born. Little did he know that it would bring him home to his native Antipolo sooner than he thought.
After advancing his deadlines, packing his bags and instructing his staff to email him in Manila for any problems, he went home. A gathering of independent filmmakers from all over the world was waiting to welcome him. They wanted to meet the guy who topped the hotly-contested tilt on his first try. After all, it’s not everyday that you come up with a script that will form the backbone of a movie to be exported in major film capitals of the world, and funded by foreign money at that.
Now, Ladioray, having been away long enough to miss the emergence of many young talents in the field, has to reacquaint himself with local showbiz. And he has come up with his initial dream cast: dermatologist Vicki Belo, Rosanna Roces and Gloria Diaz in a cameo role.
Why them?
Easy. Ladioray’s movie is a black comedy that revolves around three people trying to find the answer to questions on love and beauty and the price they’re willing to pay for it.
The first one wants to become a Miss Universe. So she cuts photos of dream personalities like Cindy Crawford from magazines. The second is a former child star who has deteriorated into an ugly has-been. The child of former MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) members, he loves to cut his old magazine photos and reminisce the good old glory days. The third is a plastic surgeon who cannot fall in love because he wants to change the looks of every girl he meets through the magic of science.
Each of the three characters delivers humorous monologues that Ladioray believes belongs, not to some commercial venue, but to a stage play.
"I like Baz Luhrmann’s style," he says. So brace yourselves for ala-Moulin Rouge scenes in Cut, if Ladioray decides to direct it himself.
But won’t the Filipino masses, used to seeing films that tell it like it is, find his style too eclectic?
A member of the screening committee who chose Cut over a long list of 150 entries, shakes his head.
First of all, he reasons out, the topic is about beauty contests. And you know how crazy Filipinos are over this parade of women in swimsuits.
Whatever the outcome is, lovers of film have much reason to rejoice. Here is an ambitious project that will bring Filipino talent to the world. And, in a Third World country that needs all the financial push for its creative output, nothing can be more exciting.