JERRY OLEA
Nagulat si Atty. Vince Tañada sa paghuhubad ni Mercedes Cabral sa isang eksena nila sa pelikulang Ang Bangkay (2022).
Isiniwalat ito ng associate director na si Alejandro “Bong” Ramos sa talkback session matapos ang special screening ng Ang Bangkay noong Miyerkules, Mayo 28, 2025, sa teatro ng PhilStagers Foundation (PSF) sa Balic-balic, Sampaloc, Manila.
Si Atty. Vince ang writer, director, at producer ng movie bukod sa pagiging pangunahing artista rito.
Read: Mercedes Cabral, nagulantang sa pasabog ni VMX actor VR Relosa
UNSCRIPTED SCENE
Wala sa script na hahawakan ni Señor Segismundo Corintho (karakter ni Atty. Vince) ang boobs ni Miding (karakter ni Mercedes o Chedeng).
Kuwento ni Direk Bong: “Pero kasi si Mercedes, gusto niya… kasi sabi niya, ‘Ito na lang siguro ang chance ko after masabi ko yung love, yung itinatago kong pag-ibig.’
“Actually, ang gusto niya, mahawakan yung puso niya. Pero sabi niya, ‘Hindi siya sexy pag puso, e!’
“So nag-discuss kaming dalawa ni Mercedes, ‘Huwag na nating ipaalam kay Direk Vince.’ Gusto naming makunan yung reaction ni Direk Vince, na hindi niya alam.
“So, hindi namin in-explain kay Direk Vince na kukunin ni Mercedes yung kamay niya at pahahawakan yung…”
Sambot ni Direk Vince: “Nag-usap kami ni Bong at saka ni Chedeng. Sabi ko, ‘Cheds, medyo malaki ka ngayon.’
“Meron sa script na maghuhubad talaga siya. Sabi ko, ‘Huwag na nating gawin.’ Sabi niya, ‘Ay! Thank you, Direk. Thank you!’
“Yun pala, pinag-uusapan na nila na maghuhubad si Chedeng. One take lang kasi yun, yung naghubad si Mercedes.
“Nung naghubad siya, nagulat talaga ako! Buti, hindi ako na-off character dun. Kasi, nagulat talaga ako.
“E, yung naghuhubad siya, matagal pa yun. Siyempre, in-edit na lang. Kasi, huhubarin niya, tapos hindi pa niya mahubad, e. Sumasabit. In-edit lang iyon.
“Tapos, tinanggal niya yung kamison niya. OK na yun, in character pa rin ako.
“Pero nung kinuha niya yung kamay ko at ginanun niya sa boobs niya, yun na talaga! Ewan ko kung papaano nila na-edit na gulat na gulat iyung mukha ko.”
Read: Mercedes Cabral considers body piercing as self-expression
ANG BANGKAY
Maliban kina Mercedes at Atty. Vince, nasa cast din ng Ang Bangkay sina Vean Olmedo bilang Isabel, Johnrey Rivas bilang Lemuel, Lili Montelibano bilang Oryang, Juan Calma bilang Luisito, JP Lopez bilang Samuel, at OJ Arci bilang Loreta.
Ipinalabas ito kaugnay sa PSF Theater Festival 2025, kung saan hurado sina Mercedes, Soliman Cruz, at Dr. Anton Juan.
Nag-special screening din ang tatlo pang pelikula ni Atty. Vince — Katips, Ako si Ninoy, at Hiwaga.
Bukas, Hunyo 3, Martes ng 5:00 P.M., ang awards ceremony ng PSF Theater Festival 2025, at graduation ng PSF Summer Workshop 2025.
NOEL FERRER
Unang Gantimpala ang Ang Bangkay sa kategoryang full-length play ng Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature noong 2012.
Prolific writer si Atty. Vince Tañada sa loob ng 25 taon. Nagsusulat siya ng mga production ng PhilStagers Foundation.
Na-challenge siya noon sa sinasabing, “Hindi ka tunay na manunulat kapag hindi ka nanalo sa Palanca.”
Hindi na niya pinapaniwalaan yun ngayon.
“Kasi napakarami ngayon, even yung mga students ko dito sa workshop ko sa panulat, yung iba namamangha ako,” pagtatapat ni Atty. Vince.
“And they’re even better than me. Kaya it is not actually parang sukatan na that you won in the Palanca para masabing magaling ka na writer.
“But, well, that was more than a decade ago. Iba pa siguro ang utak ko noon. I was challenging the institution, yung Palanca, that’s why I wrote this. Ayun, nanalo…”
Read: FAMAS director Vince Tañada, nagsalita na tungkol sa isyu
NOT A VALUE-LADEN MOVIE
Ano ba ang moral lesson ng Ang Bangkay?
“This is not a value-laden movie. The moral to the story is… after seeing all the darkness in the film, sometimes, we want to appreciate the light,” lahad ni Atty. Vince.
“Because it is only in seeing the darkness that we will appreciate our present state.
“And that is, I guess, the beauty of a tragedy, or anything that says something like this.
“We will relate to it and we will say, ‘Ahh, mas mabuti pala ang kalagayan ko ngayon because hindi ganyan ang tatay ko, o hindi ako ganyan. O hindi ako nagahasa, or walang incest sa amin.’
“And that I guess is the lesson to the story. We will appreciate our present state and we will value more our family.”
At maliban kay Atty. Vince, sinu-sino pa bang active sa showbiz ang mga nanalo ng Palanca?
Andiyan sina Rody Vera, Jerry Gracio, Chris Martinez, ang laging nagse-celebrate ng Palanca win na si Eric Cabahug, at si Darryl Yap.
Interesting roster, di ba?
Read: Vince Tañada, tatapatan ulit ang pelikula ni Darryl Yap?
GORGY RULA
Apat na araw syinuting ang pelikulang Ang Bangkay (The Corpse) sa Gapan, Nueva Ecija. Ang production budget nito ay Php1.5M.
“This is my most prepared film,” sabi ni Atty. Vince Tañada.
“This is really the cheapest and most... yung number of shooting days, pinakamabilis. And the most relaxed.
“Kasi I got all my friends, tapos yung camera namin, maganda, e. Siguro, pinaka-prepared lang kami dito because before shooting, we had a rehearsal.
“Nung una siyempre, yung mga film actress na kasama ko, nagagalit sila. Sina Chedeng. ‘Direk, bakit tayo may rehearsal?!’ Ganun, laging sinasabing ganun.
“So we had a blocking here, in this very studio. I blocked everything, and we memorized mechanically because I didn’t want them to think of their characterization during rehearsal process.
“So sabi ko, ‘Don’t act. We will just say our lines, memorize it by heart because I don’t want take 2, take 3. Basta lahat, ite-take 1 natin.’
“Pero siyempre, may take 2, take 3. Kasi we used only one camera…
“Sabi nila, nung mga kasamahan ko, ‘Direk, magiging stagey tayo.’ Sabi ko, that’s the purpose.
“This is paying homage to Greek mythology. Even their surname is Corintho, which is based from the women of Corinth.
“And this is like a Greek tragedy. And everything, wailing et cetera, will be rehearsed, and will be sync.
“Even the delivery of lines is sing-song type, with glottal attack, without breathing if you will recall everything.
“And it is paying homage as well to Shakespearean, and the Greek mythology in the past.
“So we were discussing and debating about it because Filipinos do not necessarily appreciate this kind of film.”
ANG BANGKAY AT CANNES
Ipinalabas ang Ang Bangkay at Ako Si Ninoy noong Mayo 2023 sa Cannes Film Festival Marché Du Film sa France.
Pagmamatuwid ni Direk Vince, na-appreciate ng mga taga-ibang bansa ang Ang Bangkay.
“Nag-standing ovation sa Cannes when this was shown,” pagbabalik-tanaw ni Direk Vince.
“Not to mention that Mercedes is indeed a Cannes darling. So, talagang dinumog kami nung mga Mercedes fans doon.
“Tapos at the same time, yung pagka-film nito, yung mga Europeano, talagang nilalapitan kami.
“At sinasabi, ‘This is the new gen kind of ano, and I’m glad that an Asian like you can do something like this because we’ve been doing this for two decades now.’
“So sabi ko, buti nakukuha nila.”
Wala pang commercial release sa bansa ang Ang Bangkay.
“When Katips made money, I decided to make films not as a money-making venture but to serve my art,” saad ni Direk Vince.
“You know that this kind of film immortalizes the creator. So, kung ano man ang mangyari at mawala tayo, andiyan pa rin yung mga pelikulang puwedeng panoorin.”
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