It’s dying even more beautifully

A gay who is terminally ill fakes his own death and wake to see how his friends will react and what they will say about him. The casket is closed. When he attends the wake disguised as a woman, nobody recognizes him. He gets what he wants — hear his friends eulogize him and more, much to the relief and amusement of his closet-gay friend who is in on the charade.

Die Beautiful all over again? Are we going to see Paolo Ballesteros rise from the dead (his character really dies in the story) to accept another Best Actor award from a film festival abroad? Is direk Jun Lana coming up with a sequel so soon?

The answer to all of the above is a big no.

A new movie called Deadma Walking (a title inspired by the Hollywood movie Dead Man Walking) is now in production, intended for the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) in December. Produced by Rex Tiri’s T-Rex Productions (which was behind Elwood Perez’s Esoterika, Gil Portes’ Ang Hapis at Himagsik ni Hermano Puli and Moonlight Over Baler, and the comedy Patay Na Si Hesus which won Audience Award at the 2016 QCinema Film Festival), Deadma Walking is directed by Julius Alfonso from Eric Cabahug’s screenplay that won second prize at the 2016 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.

There would be comparison for sure but very clearly, to avoid being accused of being a copycat, Eric informed media guys at the movie’s story conference the other night at Limbaga 77 (a restaurant on Scout Limbaga, Quezon City, also owned by Rex) that he began writing Deadma Walking in 2014, predating Die Beautiful by two years.

Palanca juror (actor-director) Soxie Topacio was quoted as saying, “It’s a comedy after comedy with a surprise ending.” Fellow juror Ed Lejano, a film writer and director, raved, “In this age of fake news, Deadma Walking promises to be this year’s Die Beautiful in a rollicking comedy about fabulous, fake death.”

Said Rex, “I fell in love with the story as soon as I read it.”

Deadma Walking marks the graduation of Julius to a full-fledged director. In 1996, he started working with Joel Lamangan initially as script-continuity guy, then as assistant director (also to Chris Martinez) and as associate director of Felix Manalo, the epic movie Joel directed about the head of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC). Julius was also second-unit director of the TV5 drama Bakit Manipis ang Ulap which Joel also directed.

“Mas may puso,” was how Julius described Deadma Walking vis-à-vis Die Beautiful. “In Deadma Walking, the character doesn’t really die, unlike in Die Beautiful where Paolo’s character really dies.”

Tapped to play the two friends were Joross Gamboa (as John, the closet gay) and Edgar Allan “EA” Guzman (the loud gay who fakes his death). Unlike some actors who are deathly afraid of being “self-incriminated” and therefore won’t touch a gay role with a 10-foot pole, Joross and Edgar Allan are not homophobic on and off screen.

“When I started playing gay,” said EA, “I admitted that I have a gay brother whom I love and respect so much. I am proud of him. Through him, I’ve known how a gay person feels. Alam ko kung paano tanggapin at mahalin ang isang gay.” (EA won Best Actor for Ligo Na U, Lapit Na Me at the 7th Cinemalaya Filmfest, the German Moreno Youth Award at the 2012 FAMAS and Best Actor in a Comedy at the 2012 Golden Screen Awards, the Gawad Buhay Best Actor, and the Aliw Awards Best Actor for his performance in the staging of the Lino Brocka classic Bona.)

“I haven’t seen Die Beautiful,” said Joross, “so I can’t be accused of copying anybody in that film. Long before a shoot, I would start immersing myself in the character. For this movie, wala akong mahuhugutan from my own experience,” meaning that he is straight, “So I’m actually creating a new person inside me.”

During the storycon, Joross was giving signs of being his character John in the way he talked and gestured. Asked if he was already “in character” or just being himself, Joross laughed. “Sometimes, I do get carried away. But at home, there’s always my wife who makes me a real man again.”

Incidentally, did you know that EA and Gerald Anderson, together with three other guys (who have quit showbiz), started in the business as back-up dancers for Joross in a boyband called Fab Boys?

“EA was only 14 at that time,” recalled Joross who was discovered by the ABS-CBN star search Star Circle Quest. “Of course, Gerald is now a bigger star than me. I’m happy for them. And I’m glad that they remember where they came from. Binabanggit nila na nagsimula sila sa akin.”

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