Laurice Guillen: The Exit Interview

In the beginning, my first shot sa ‘Kasal,’ hindi ko masabi ’yung ‘action,’” says Laurice Guillen-Feleo. It’s difficult to imagine, given that, even with her tiny stature, she has always exuded a presence beyond that of giants.

To the uninitiated, Guillen has been called a pillar of the industry, and for good reason. She was protégé to Lino Brocka, having transitioned from acting for film and TV to directing in the late 1970s. She’s helmed some important classics entrenched in Philippine film history, from the extremely stunning Salome (1981) to Tanging Yaman (2001), the benchmark of every Filipino family drama that followed in its wake. She is the first director in the local industry to have embraced digital filmmaking from its inception, first starting with audio, up until she dove in fully from principal photography to post-production in making 2004’s Santa Santita. She boasts working with those more technically proficient than she is, to elevate the quality of her work. (“Hindi ako takot sa bago; I embrace it,” she says.)

We have as many brilliant directors as we do now, particularly brilliant female directors, because Guillen dug out a pathway where there wasn’t one before. But in order to do so, she first had to find her own voice. “During my time, kaming dalawa lang ni Marilou (Diaz-Abaya). Hindi kami nakiki-pare, hindi kami nakikipag-inuman sa kanila. Hindi kami nakikisama ng ganun. They knew me as an actress in film and television. They didn’t know about my theater background, that I had gone to school for it, that I was pursuing an MA — you never, never discussed that. Mayroon silang patronizing attitude about me, about what they assumed I didn’t know. Mayroon akong gustong ilaw, tapos hindi nila gagawin, mga ganun,” Guillen says with a knowing shrug. “I had to learn to be firm, to use my long-throw theatrical voice. I had to learn to command. It’s a different kind of woman that comes out. I had no pattern; I had no one to follow.”

Even at this stage in her career, Guillen tells tales of having to contend with men light years less accomplished and entirely lackluster, who still feel the need to assert their superiority because she’s a female director. “There are times when you meet some really hard-headed machismo guys na tatawa-tawa tapos mang-aaway tungkol sa line of vision. When it comes to line of vision, there are rules, but there are times when you can break it. I know why I break it when I break it, and it’s my prerogative,” she explains. “Hindi ko sila minumura ng harap-harapan, but I make sure I say something and they hear exactly what I think. And then I never work with those people again. Tatawa-tawa ka diyan, t***i*a mo,” Guillen laughs.

On Nerf Guns and Infidelity

Guillen is currently coming down from shooting the highly successful and passionately followed Ika-6 Na Utos, starring Gabby Concepcion, Sunshine Dizon and Ryza Cenon, the series finale having aired on March 17. The show was largely popular for its hilariously camp fight scenes between Dizon and Cenon, with a particular one involving Nerf guns going viral. “When you have a wife and mistress situation, there’s bound to be confrontations that could get ugly and violent. You know, the reason it’s popular is it’s very simple and it’s very easy to identify with. It started with a fight scene on the escalator sa mall, then biglang batuhan ng balut, then finally the (Nerf) guns. It’s outrageous, but at the same time entertaining,” Guillen says. She insists that, despite the outrageous content, they took the work seriously and filmed everything in earnest. “We never talked about it as though it’s campy. The actors, everybody involved in the show, and I always attacked it as though it was real and serious. Everything the actors did had to be highly motivated, so they had to get into some kind of frenzy of anger before every scene. We didn’t do it for the sake of siga and sampalan, it was always more of… if you could kill, this is what you do.” She adds with a laugh, “Sometimes, though, it was hard to pull off, kasi minsan parang… ‘Really?’”

This is what makes a Guillen soap of the highest quality, especially in a genre that concerns itself more with melodrama than a functioning storyline. Guillen is all about the details, and she doesn’t rely on the sensationalism of camp as the show’s lifeblood. She draws you in with the flash and bang, and then gives you characters who are so emotionally engaged and vulnerable, even in the most ridiculous circumstances, that you can’t help keeping your eyes glued to the screen. And this is because Guillen, having spent her life working in various media and processes of film, theater and television, has an overarching respect for her audiences and a commitment to deliver a higher standard in any project she takes on. “Overall, ang sinasabi ko sa kanila, ‘We have standards,’” she says. “Kahit ba libre lang yang pinapalabas natin sa manonood, kahit sabihin pa nating taga palengke, ’yung mga manonood, may standards, ’yan. Pag hindi makatotohanan, wala na ’yung suspension of disbelief. It only takes one thing that’s out of place to make them feel like niloloko mo sila. For example, you get to the set and someone who’s supposed to be a doktora doesn’t know how to take a pulse, has wild peroxide red hair, and skin covered in makeup three shades lighter than she is. What’s wrong with being dark? I have someone like Jay Abello lighting, so they don’t even necessarily have to wear makeup. Kung naba-bother ka,’ yung mga taga-palengke, naba-bother din sila. Marunong yan tumingin. They might not be able to give you the details or the specifics, pero alam nila kung anong pangit at ano ang maganda.”

Worn Out and Warmed Up

While Ika-6 Na Utos was originally contracted, as most new shows are, for only six to eight weeks, it extended well past, wrapping at a year and four months. And Guillen, now in her 70s, is looking to do something even meatier to sink her creative teeth into. Back in 2011, Guillen independently directed and produced a film entitled Maskara, which opened the 7th Cinemalaya Festival. It was in part a tribute to her late husband, Johnny Delgado, and the storytelling was unlike anything seen before from a director of her generation. It was a gauge of how wide Guillen’s range is, as someone who truly has had a life-long romance with the creation and enjoyment of films. “All these years, I’ve just been doing what I’ve been offered, and I’ve been putting off what I really want to do. Star Cinema will approach me for things like Once A Princess. They want to do the Lav Diaz stuff, the Erik Matti stuff, the Mike De Leon stuff, and after Tanging Yaman, naka-peg na ako sa family movie. I’ve done one family movie, at hindi ko na mauulit ‘yun. I don’t get offered the way Jerrold Tarog was able to do Heneral Luna. I’m not saying I want to do Heneral Luna, but I’d like to do a film on, say, Juan Luna. That I can do, that I know how to approach.” She then adds — without a trace of self-pity or bitterness, just as a mere statement of what she feels is fact — “But I would never be considered to direct it.”

Guillen admits that her patience for certain industry standards has worn incredibly thin. “That strong compromise between a great role and a celebrity who doesn’t fit the part, I’m through with that. It’s exhausting already. I would like to be able to see a role and figure out who would be perfect for it. I would just like to be able to do that.” She explains that age and contrary circumstances have only fueled her fire. “I’m working on making this my own, even if it’s something I’d have to produce myself. Because before I know it, I’ll have another show or something else to work on. So when do I get to do ‘The Film’? I’m starting to feel that the time is now.”

Her eyes twinkle as she explores the possibility of where the trail she has blazed so masterfully will take her next. “Ingmar Bergman told stories around his life. They weren’t autobiographical, but they were found stories. I’ve gotten this far and this old, and I wonder why I can’t do what he did. If that’s what’s in your films, can you imagine how rich in stories they would be?”