By NEIL RAMOS
Controversial writer-director Darryl Yap is back with another movie.
After tackling a variety of touchy themes in past outings that include the hits “Jowable,” “Paglaki ko, Gusto ko Maging Pornstar,” “Tililing,” and “Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam”, Darryl is now delving deep into the matter of skin color in “Gluta.”
It stars one of Viva’s most celebrated actresses, Ella Cruz, winner of the 2019 Cinemalaya Best Supporting Actress award as Angel, an Aeta dreaming of becoming a beauty queen despite being ridiculed for her curly hair and dark skin.
According to Darryl, he chose Ella due to her abilities as actress.
“A lot of people are asking bakit ganito, bakit si Ella, bakit hindi isang Aeta? Para sa akin kasi sa film-making, hindi kailangan ‘yung masyado kang politically correct. I have my vision and naniniwala ako sa kakayanan ni Ella na matawid iyon.”
Ella herself could only be too happy earning Darryl’s trust.
“Siyempre po masaya kasi naniniwala siya sa kakayanan ko. Sana po makita rin ng mga manonood ito. Sana matuwa sila sa trabaho ko at tangkilikin nila ang pelikula,” she said.
The story follows Angel as she joins a beauty pageant organized by her school.
She also likes it that her crush, Bambino (Marco Gallo), also starts to show interest in her.
She doesn’t know that Bambino is just being used by a mean girl named Lovely to further ridicule her.
As people try harder to bring Angel down, the more she stands proud of how she looks and who she is.
Will she win given the odds?
“Gluta” also stars Juliana Parizcova Segovia as Uncle Goliath, who is secretly gay, and secretly using glutathione to achieve a fairer complexion.
Rose Van Ginkel plays the role of Lovely, the contestant who will do anything to put down Angel if also to win the crown for herself.
Cristina Gonzales also plays a significant role as Angel’s teacher who tells her that she can’t be an angel in a school program because angels are supposed to be fair-skinned.
Stream “Gluta” this July on Vivamax for only P149/month and P399 for 3 months.
