A sexier, funnier Eugene Domingo in ‘Status: It’s Complicated’

Eugene Domingo

If we are to stick to the adage that “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” there are no sure ball formula for box-office successes for movie remakes.

For “Status: It’s Complicated,” a remake of the 1979 romantic comedy “Salawahan” by the late National Artist For Film Ishmael Bernal, the movie is a mixture of the film’s original essence and the creativity of its filmmaker Chris Martinez. But if you never saw “Salawahan,” didn’t hear or know about it, don’t fret about any “complications” in understanding the humor or the story. The ensemble cast of Jake Cuenca, Paolo Avelino, Maja Salvador, Solenn Heussaff and most especially Eugene Domingo make it very entertaining to watch.

Explained Chris, “Yung shooting script namin sa ‘Status It’s Complicated’ is a combination of the old one tapos naglagay din kami ng mga bagong eksena para mapalitaw yung points of view namin doon sa bagong version kasi mas highlight namin ngayon yung pagka-macho male point of view, machismo ng dalawang main character.”

In line with the “macho point of view,” the movie starts with the chef (Jake Cuenca) making out with a waitress who just took the order of a couple on a date. The punch line – the dating couple, already haggard looking and starving, are still waiting for their food even if it’s already closing time of the restaurant.

Then there’s the “loud mouth” conversations between Jake and Paulo about their respective lifestyles – one as a womanizer and the other as a straight loveless serious guy. Their rapid firing conversations may startle you but it was just patterned on the original.

Chris commented, “bilang artista alam nila na kailangang maitawid nila ito sa gusto ko saka kung paano makuha yung essence ng original. Kasi sa original yung rapid fire na batuhan ng dialogue.”

The film’s comedy becomes apparent when Eugene Domingo’s character Marian David, who makes a living doing research on sex, appears. If you know her work or have seen her styles of comedy, then her fast and continuos lines, are easier to take in. Seeing her also as an aggressive woman is fresh especially her interaction with Paulo Avelino. She also exposed her sexier physical side in the film.

Eugene who has watched “Salawahan” a number of times said that she was grateful that she was cast in the movie remake.

“Truthfully hindi naman ako kailangang ma-convince to accept the role. In fact salamat at na-convince si direk, si Mother Lily at si Roselle Monteverde na magawa itong remake para sa new generation. Naniniwala ako na yung comedy niya is based on play of words at hindi siya talaga slapstick. It offers a new side of comedy pagdating sa filmmaking,” explained Eugene.

Compared to the late Rita Gomez who played her role in the original,Eugene opined that Rita would have agreed with her that their lines in the film were really hard.

“I think yung strength ng pelikulang ito is to give the actor the challenge na mapakapag-deliver ng dialogue na dire-diretso kung may idea man o wala, may point man or wala basta dire-diretso,” she related. “Sa ngayon ang mga artista masyadong spoiled yung masyado ng obvious, predictable kung papaano babagsak ang dialogue ang emotions. I think para sa aming mga actors naging challenge yung papaano kaya ibabagsak ang haba-haba yung ganun.”

She also opined that when Ishmael Bernal made “Salawahan” decades ago, it was to present its comedy just through the actors’ lines.

As to her reaction when she saw the whole film, Eugene remarked, “Grabe naman yung mga characters kating-kati lang di ba? Parang gustong-gusto na lahat na maikama ang isa’t-isa. Wala namang nakikitang eksaktong ganun, it’s just all fun, it’s all just teasing and I think the movie is very frank as far as desire or worldly pleasures are concerned.”

“Status: It’s Complicated” is also not about any social media, just plain real people connections!

A sexier, funnier Eugene Domingo in ‘Status: It’s Complicated’

Source: Mb.com.ph (November 09, 2013 at 12:04PM)

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