Mark Meily names ‘new Dolphy’ by Bayani SanDiego
PDI - Daunting, is how award-winning director Mark Meily describes his latest project, an update on the Lino Brocka classic, “Ang Tatay Kong Nanay.” After all, the 1978 movie by the world-famous Filipino filmmaker top-billed Comedy King Dolphy and Niño Muhlach, the child superstar at the time.
The landmark film was memorable to Meily.
He recounts: “I watched it at the Luneta Theater when I was 11. It was my first exposure to Brocka. I was too young to appreciate [his] ‘Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag’ or ‘Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang.’ I will never forget how Lino treated the separation scene between Dolphy and Niño. You had to be dead not to cry.”
Same concept
Now that he is a filmmaker himself, Meily is fascinated with “the idea that ‘Tatay’ was sold as a comedy when, in fact, it was a heartwarming drama.” His two previous works—“Crying Ladies” and “La Visa Loca”—followed that very concept as family dramas with equal servings of humor and pathos.
Meily scripted the “Tatay” update, which he entitled “Mommy Ko Si Daddy.” Like “Ladies” and “Loca,” “Daddy” will be produced by Unitel Pictures.
“Rather than remake a classic, we are using the same premise and applying it to a contemporary situation,” he explains. “The common thread is the story of a gay man taking care of a child, whom he grows to really love.”
Changes
But Meily has turned the Niño character into a girl, who is also the gay man’s biological child. “I have met children of openly gay parents. There is no more effort to hide [the parents’] sexuality.”
Meily asserts that his movie’s theme is “parenthood ... that gender is not what defines good parenting .. that being single or married is also a non-issue.” Of course, he adds, having two parents is ideal, “but that doesn’t automatically guarantee effective parenthood.”
Real people
Meily takes extra care not to present stereotypical, one-dimensional characters, gay or straight.
“The characters are based on real people,” he points out. “The gay hero is someone you know. He has a career and a healthy love life. He’s the modern gay. He doesn’t get insulted or beaten up for being gay. He knows his rights and his role in society.”
Meily has turned the Dolphy character from a parlorista (salon makeup artist) into a department store employee. But, like in the original, “I want to show a more human side to a gay character.”
Meily and Unitel have tapped child star Erika Oreta (of “Inang Yaya”) for the daughter character, but the bigger question seems to be: Who is taking over the Dolphy role?
No-brainer
For Meily, it’s a no-brainer.
“Michael V is the Dolphy of our generation in terms of wit, intellect and timing,” he says. “Interestingly, Michael wrote an almost exact story line like mine in 2004, except for the ending and a few details. So when he read the story line, he got very excited.”
The other crucial question is: How can a heterosexual family man like Meily make a gay character believable?
“It wasn’t difficult,” Meily insists. “I have a lot of gay friends, I work with them. They’ve invited me to their gimmicks and made me an honorary gay. Most of my kids’ godparents are gay. Lee’s (his wife, a cinematographer) term of endearment for me is vacla!”
He adds: “Of course, I can never completely acquire the psyche of a gay man,” he admits. “But as French actor Gerard Depardieu once said, ‘We are all gay, we just don’t know it!’”
The landmark film was memorable to Meily.
He recounts: “I watched it at the Luneta Theater when I was 11. It was my first exposure to Brocka. I was too young to appreciate [his] ‘Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag’ or ‘Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang.’ I will never forget how Lino treated the separation scene between Dolphy and Niño. You had to be dead not to cry.”
Same concept
Now that he is a filmmaker himself, Meily is fascinated with “the idea that ‘Tatay’ was sold as a comedy when, in fact, it was a heartwarming drama.” His two previous works—“Crying Ladies” and “La Visa Loca”—followed that very concept as family dramas with equal servings of humor and pathos.
Meily scripted the “Tatay” update, which he entitled “Mommy Ko Si Daddy.” Like “Ladies” and “Loca,” “Daddy” will be produced by Unitel Pictures.
“Rather than remake a classic, we are using the same premise and applying it to a contemporary situation,” he explains. “The common thread is the story of a gay man taking care of a child, whom he grows to really love.”
Changes
But Meily has turned the Niño character into a girl, who is also the gay man’s biological child. “I have met children of openly gay parents. There is no more effort to hide [the parents’] sexuality.”
Meily asserts that his movie’s theme is “parenthood ... that gender is not what defines good parenting .. that being single or married is also a non-issue.” Of course, he adds, having two parents is ideal, “but that doesn’t automatically guarantee effective parenthood.”
Real people
Meily takes extra care not to present stereotypical, one-dimensional characters, gay or straight.
“The characters are based on real people,” he points out. “The gay hero is someone you know. He has a career and a healthy love life. He’s the modern gay. He doesn’t get insulted or beaten up for being gay. He knows his rights and his role in society.”
Meily has turned the Dolphy character from a parlorista (salon makeup artist) into a department store employee. But, like in the original, “I want to show a more human side to a gay character.”
Meily and Unitel have tapped child star Erika Oreta (of “Inang Yaya”) for the daughter character, but the bigger question seems to be: Who is taking over the Dolphy role?
No-brainer
For Meily, it’s a no-brainer.
“Michael V is the Dolphy of our generation in terms of wit, intellect and timing,” he says. “Interestingly, Michael wrote an almost exact story line like mine in 2004, except for the ending and a few details. So when he read the story line, he got very excited.”
The other crucial question is: How can a heterosexual family man like Meily make a gay character believable?
“It wasn’t difficult,” Meily insists. “I have a lot of gay friends, I work with them. They’ve invited me to their gimmicks and made me an honorary gay. Most of my kids’ godparents are gay. Lee’s (his wife, a cinematographer) term of endearment for me is vacla!”
He adds: “Of course, I can never completely acquire the psyche of a gay man,” he admits. “But as French actor Gerard Depardieu once said, ‘We are all gay, we just don’t know it!’”
posted by amenic at
5:05 AM
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