The incurable romantic in Bb. Joyce

It all started in the ‘70s, at the height of the Nora Aunor-Tirso Cruz III loveteam. Director Joyce Bernal would sit, spellbound, in front of the movie screen. Time stood still, and all that mattered were the songs Guy and Pip sang to each other, and the sweet nothings they murmured in each other’s ears.

Then came Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion. Bb. Joyce found another outlet for her all-out devotion. She cried when Sharon locked horns with Gabby; rejoiced when they kissed and made up.

Fastforward to the present. The movie fan is now a director. And she’s giving instructions to yet another lovey dovey pair on screen. Bb. Joyce, as she is now called, is still a movie fan at heart. And her devotion has shifted to Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual.

The fan in her still makes Bb. Joyce gape at her actors and follow their every move. That’s how she behaved the first time she saw Sharon.

Then, Bb. Joyce pinches herself and realizes she’s not there to admire, but to direct them. Reality sets in like a lightning bolt that brings her back to earth with a thud. And she buckles down to the work at hand. Now, she’s not the fan but the captain of the ship.

Star Cinema assigned her to direct the award-winning actors in local cinema’s first offering for the year, the romantic flick Don’t Give Up On Us (yes, also the title of that well-loved song). And because she’s the director, Bb. Joyce must remind herself that she should learn to draw the line between friendship and work. She should set that fan mentality aside for awhile and call the shots.

So what she does is translate her fantasies about Piolo in the romantic scenes of the movie. When he looks longingly into Judy Ann’s eyes with the breathtaking Sagada in the background, Bb. Joyce imagines it is she standing right there, her body tingling not only from the cool mountain air, but from giddy thoughts of romance.

The thrill may be vicarious, but what the heck. Bb. Joyce enjoys the moment to the hilt. It brings out the incurable romantic in her.

"How I love Sagada!" she says of the setting of her choice. "It’s nirvana. It hasn’t changed a bit since the time I’ve been there in ’89. I love its peacefulness, its mystery."

It is here where the love story between an unlikely pair – domineering, cranky Abby (Judy Ann) and long-haired folk singer Vince (Piolo) develops. It is also here where Bb. Joyce would choose to be if she’ll fall in love with all the intensity she can muster.

But since she cannot, she has decided to pour all her fantasies into the scenes Judy Ann and Piolo shot in that idyllic place up north.

"It helps that I like my actors. That’s important to me. I have so many ideas about what they can do. You see, I’ve turned down offers to make films with actors I don’t feel like working with. I just don’t know what to do with them!" she admits.

Bb. Joyce’s bond with Judy Ann and Piolo started on the set of Star Cinema’s Till There Was You, released almost three years ago. Since then, Judy Ann and Piolo have bloomed into mature performers, the kind any director will have no trouble working with.

The chemistry is built-in. A mere glance, a simple gesture, and they know what to say and do. Words are superfluous. And work, needless to say, is smooth and fast.

After working together in Kahit Isang Saglit, Bakit Di Pa Totohanin and the TV soap Sa Puso Ko Iingatan Ka, Judy Ann and Piolo know each other’s working habits like the palm of their hands.

No wonder they can tease each other behind the cameras, then get down to serious work the minute Bb. Joyce shouts, "Action!"

Work is a breeze, and moviegoers will see this feel-good effect on screen from the moment opening credits roll to the time the last scene fades away.

Besides, who can contest the fact that falling in love amidst the grandeur that is Sagada is nothing short of a dream come true?