Snake Sisters,’ a global film!
The controversial film "Snake Sisters" made two decades ago by the equally controversial director Celso A‘Snake Sisters,’ a global film!
Celso said it is a Filipino film definitely (with Filipino stars and character), but watching it now, we agree with the director that it could classify as a global film, something that could be appreciated by international audiences.
(Controversial in his pronouncements, like he’s the "messiah and saviour of Philippine movies" and so misconstrued most of the time, Celso however has been referred to as one of the four Filipino film directors who pushed Philippine cinema towards its Second Golden Age. He is also the "greatest Filipino filmmaker this generation has produced," according to fellow director Peque Gallaga.)
Celso called "Snake Sisters" his own version of the New Wave Cinema that swept Europe at the time, more than two decades ago. "This is the story of paradise. This is my own version of the biblical Garden of Eden." But it is a surrealistic film, as surreal as the works of Salvador Dali, of which Celso is a great fan, he said.
"Snake Sisters" was shot in Tulay Buhangin in Quezon where Celso filmed 13 of his 60 movies. He became so enamored with the island that he even built a house there.
"The Filipino film has long been in search for global identity and its time we find it," said the director of about 60 notable films among them award-winning movies of the late action king Fernando Poe, Jr., Ms. Susan Roces, Vilma Santos and Gloria Diaz ("Asedillo," "Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara," "Pagputi ng Uwak, Pagitim ng Tagak," "Burlesk Queen," "Ang Pinakamagandang Hayup sa Balat ng Lupa" to name just a few).
"Snake Sisters," starring Sarsi Emmanuelle, Pepsi Paloma and Coca Nicolas, the so-callled "solfdrinks beauties" of the late star-builder Dr. Rey de la Cuz, was the opening film during the First Manila International Film festival (attended by Brooke Shields, Peter OToole and Robert Duvall among others) but it was pulled out after nine days due to insistant demand of "moralists." The movie was X-rated by the then board of censors and was banned for public exhibition for 15 years. But it was made under the concept of "experimental cinema," which was the baby of former presidential daughter now congresswoman Imee Marcos.
The two other movies that Celso made for the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines were "Virgin People" and "Isla."
But comparing it to the sex flicks of the recent past that had been approved for public exhibition, "Snake Sisters" is tame and with a unique and distinct quality all its own. Celso, who was also the screenplay writer and producer, even created the film’s own language.
The nudity among the young stars (including Myra Manibog who was introduced in "Snake Sisters,") was integral and endemic in the story, they being "snakes" and isolated in an island, and therefore not exposed to civilization.
"They are snakes so they shouldn’t be wearing clothes," Celso explained. However, the girls wore tangas, which was still not so popularly in fashion then. So the film was very much ahead ot its time in many ways.
It took all his persuasive prowess to make Sarsi, Pepsi, Coca and Myra agree to go topless all throughout and "at first, they were so conscious and uncomfortable but after only a few days of shooting, hindi na sila nahihiya, parang natural na sa kanila ang walang damit," Celso recalled. Also starring in "Snake Sisters" is Ernie Garcia who, Celso said, started doing bold movies under him.The multi-talented Ernie made several topgrossing movies during his time. Right now, he acts in theater productions and also paints. Ernie just had his latest art exhibit at SM Megamall.
Celso hopes to be able to release "Snake Sisters" this month or before the December Metro Manila Film Festival, under his own The Associates & Celso Ad. Castillo Film Co. in association with Eugjher Modelling Agency and Arte Cordillera.
By the way, "Snake Sisters" is now being distributed in DVD format in the US and Canada by BOUM Productions Ltd., a British company.
If he is able to secure a go signal from the Movie & Television Review & Classification Board (MTRCB), Celso will have the commercial exhibition of "Snake Sisters" at Robinson’s Galleria moviehouses.
