Why Marco said ‘Sorry’ to Elmo
Because the video showing him on a (group) date with Janella Salvador went viral, Marco Gumabao took the initiative of explaining things (not that he had to) and saying “Sorry!” to Elmo Magalona when they bumped into each other during the recent shoot for the Kapamilya Christmas Special at the Big Dome. “At first, there was some kind of uneasiness
(naiilang) between us so I approached him,” Marco recalled to a handful of movie writers the other day at the presscon for Aurora, Viva Films and Aliud Entertainment’s entry in the 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), admitting that the netizens were “misled” into suspecting that there was something more than friendship between him and Janella because they are both single. (Janella and Elmo are “distancing” from each other after Janella told Funfare in an exclusive interview that Elmo hurt her not once but twice.)
“There’s nothing between Janella and me. We are just friends. To avoid any tsismis about us, we decided to just stop going out together,” adding, “and I’m happy that Elmo appreciated my gesture. He said, ‘Not all guys would do it.’ I told him that I didn’t mean to ruin kung ano mang relationship mayroon sila ni Janella.”
Asked if Janella and Elmo still had a “relationship,” Marco said, “I don’t know,” begging the media’s pardon for not wanting to talk more about it and shifting the topic to Aurora, directed by Yam Laranas and starring Anne Curtis as an inn owner tapped to help retrieve the bodies trapped in a passenger ship named Aurora that ran aground in a rocky shore. Marco plays Anne’s ex-boyfriend who helps her in the gruesome task.
“We were locked in Batanes for the 10-day shoot,” said Marco. “It was quite an experience. It’s my first time to work with both Anne and
direk Yam whom I knew to be a director who has directed movies for Hollywood. In the beginning, I was intimidated until I realized that I had no reason to be.”
Your Funfarer has a soft spot for Yam because in 1995 he directed me on the Sharp TV commercial that also featured National Artists Ryan Cayabyab, Romy Vitug and Ishmael Bernal. Even at that time, as a commercial director, Yam was patient, very cool on the set. I was happy when his 2004 film Sigaw (retitled The Echo) was adapted by Hollywood producers for the American mar- ket and tapped Yam to direct it in 2008. He also helmed The Road, the first Filipino film to be commercially distributed in the US and was New York
Times Critics’ “pick” and also the first Filipino director to receive a grant from National Geographic Channel to produce Asia’s Titanic, the documentary about the M/V Dona Paz which capsized in 1987 and resulted in the death of hundreds. I bet the tragedy inspired Yam to do Aurora. How was it directing Anne Curtis for the first time? “Aurora is a very difficult film to shoot. Aurora is the most difficult one I’ve ever had to direct. So finding the perfect actress for Aurora was one of our biggest challenges. Anne is perfect. Anne had to go to an isolated island and brave the elements. She had to swim underwater. It’s a very physical and also very emotional, very dramatic role. Anne delivered all that and more. Looking back, it’s crazy what Anne had to do in this film. So my biggest hope is for a big audience to come and see Aurora and see Anne shine.” Like your past two films, any chance for Hollywood to adapt it for international release?
“That’s always my intent. I always intend for the films I direct to be seen by a global audience. I hope it can be seen as is, or as a remake. I always choose stories that will resonate with worldwide audiences. Of course, there are films that are meant for a small, specific audience and are special that way. But personally, I want my own films to bring people together.” What inspired you about the (fictional?) sea tragedy into doing a movie about it? “Gin de Mesa wrote the original script for Aurora. I added scenes and dialogue that I personally want to see in the film. But Gin already had a complete script that was good to go. She is obsessed about finding the truth behind sea and air tragedies. Why did the Doña Paz and South Korea’s M/V Sewol sink? How and why did Malaysia Airline flight MH370 disappear? Gin feels for the thousands of migrants who end up lost at sea.
“Gin takes real-life mysteries and explores them in her fictional stories. But what’s great about her stories is that they are more than horror screenplays. Gin’s scripts always have mystery, real human drama and social issues at the core. Gin says Aurora is really about home. Leana, the character played by Anne, is defending her home and family business from shutting down. The dead passengers of Aurora want to come home and need Leana’s house to become their new
home. There’s a mysterious passenger that you’ll see in the film — who doesn’t want to come home. He wants to escape. So the theme of Gin’s Aurora screenplay is about home and family, as much as it is a supernatural and scary mystery that the audience will enjoy.”
Do you think thrillers have more impact on the audience than other film genres?
“To be thrilled, to be scared, to have a goal but be faced with challenges… those are universal. So yes, I do think thrillers, horror films and other genres like human dramas have a chance to make a bigger impact on the audience than other genres. It is limiting to always stick to genres though, and I enjoy combining genres to give the audience a richer, more dramatic, more cinematic experience.”
boracay or bohol?
I asked some friends which they would choose between Boracay and Bohol, and the answer was unanimous — hello, Bohol.
I agreed with them because I also prefer a relaxing out-of-Metro-Manila sojourn which is quiet and soul-soothing… and, may I add… sans a neverending party-like ambience.
There’s always something new in Bohol which is a must go-to, especially now that it has a spanking-new international airport that opened recently with a three-kilometer-plus runway. It’s on Panglao which is where the resort owned and managed by Raymond Ong’s family is located.
Our usual haunts in Tagbi include Payag with its to-die-for chicken inasal better consumed with bare hands, the Bee Farm which serves organic tummyfillers, a Loboc River Cruise and, of course, the face-to-face/eyeball-to-eyeball meeting with the Tarsier.
On our recent visit, my Tagbi-based friend Raoul Tidalgo were treated to a sumptuous dinner by Balilihan Mayor Pureza Chatto at Lantau, a newlyopened sprawling restaurant known for its authentic Filipino native dishes and the signature “dining with a view experience.” Owned and managed by Zarah Dejaresco (and managed by Karen Maslog), Lantau Bohol is located along Venancio Inting Avenue (across NFA Bohol) in Mansasa, Tagbilaran City. (For reservation, call [038]427-2485, 0998-8840720 or 0967-6431153.) (E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)