Shower of praises for direk Jeffrey

After Pila Balde and Tuhog, sex dramas that established him as one of the film industry’s most promising directors, you can’t expect Jeffrey Jeturian to come up with a comedy–a sex comedy to be exact. He’s much too serious for that. Or is he?

Look again. The director whose career Mother Lily launched about three years ago–but rightly, considering the quality of his work–is dabbling in sex comedy, and with the country’s known maker of sexy films at that: Seiko Films.

What gives? How was Seiko’s Robbie Tan able to convince Jeffrey to shift gears a bit and come up with Bridal Shower? The answer comes as a surprise and reveals a lot about the young director.

"I had wanted to direct a comedy ever since. If you look closely, all my movies have an element of humor. You see, what filmmakers don’t realize is that humor can be a dramatic devise," the UP film graduate expounds.

And so he came up with a comedy of manners about three successful women (Dina Bonnevie, Cherry Pie Picache and Francine Prieto) who try to find the perfect man.

Inspired by the French whodunit of a film 8 Women, Bridal Shower is not just naughtiness and sex. It’s much, much more. In fact, it’s a commentary on our times.

"It’s a take on the notion that you have to spend for your loved one," says Direk Jeffrey.

Thus, Dina’s character Tates spends on an annulment to marry the man she loves, married though he may be (played by Christian Vasquez).

Among the lovers of Sonia, Francine’s character, is a rich but unexciting executive (played by former ramp model Juancho Valentino). Plump and plain Katie (Cherry Pie’s character) tries to find pleasure in the arms of a macho dancer (portrayed by former ramp model Alfred Vargas).

Bridal Shower may have not made it to the Magic 7 list of the Metro Filmfest, but its director is nonplussed. The reviews, for one, are encouraging.

"No matter what people say," he says proudly, "I know I came up with something good."

Here is one director who won’t make a film just for the sake of seeing his name on the marquee or on the newspapers. He respects his craft too much to tread the well-worn, but oh-so-ho-hum path of formula movies.

"The pressure on my part is self-imposed. I only do films I like to do," he says.

No wonder then that like a seasoned and competent artist confident of his work, Direk Jeffrey’s films are few and far-between. He is more active on TV, where he directs Maalaala Mo Kaya and the GMA soap Biglang Sibol.

Neither does he underestimate the acting prowess of untried newcomers.

Francine is a case in point. "I have no problem working with newcomers. Ever since my first film, I’ve done that. In Sana Pag-ibig Na, I worked with Gerald Madrid, then a newcomer, and he got very good reviews," Direk Jeffrey relates.

"Ana Capri , who wasn’t really a big star, won a Best Actress award for Pila Balde. Ina Raymundo also won for her role in Tuhog. So it’s not really so much the stars, but the material," he goes on.

Direk Jeffrey also has no fears about his film not making it in the boxoffice.

"If you have a good story, people can easily relate to your film. Then it will be commercially viable," the soft-spoken director explains.

Or didn’t you see how hard people laughed when they saw Alfred Vargas (as a macho dancer) turn off the lights on Cherry Pie?

The soft-spoken director may be right, after all. His story about life’s payoffs is now carrying the day for Bridal Shower at the tills.