AFTER its world premiere, Erik Matti’s critically acclaimed action movie, “BuyBust” was brought to Cebu City on Sunday for its first premiere night in the country.
The Cebu premiere was made even more special by the presence of the film’s lead stars Anne Curtis, Brandon Vera, and Arjo Atayde who graced the event at Cinema 3 of Robinsons Galleria Cebu.
Prior to the Cebu premiere, “BuyBust” was the closing film at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) last July 15.
It was also screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada last July 15 and at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea last July 18 and 19.
During the Cebu press conference, Curtis—who delivers a compelling performance in her first-ever action film—talked about her intense training with the Philippine Scout Rangers in preparation for her role as anti-drug agent Nina Manigan.
“The training was very gruesome, it was very hard. I’ve never had to run at least five kilometers with 20 pounds of sand in my backpack while holding a gun and singing with them ‘yung chant nila,” she said during the press conference held at Parklane International Hotel.
The audience can expect 90 percent action and 10 percent drama in the film which took two years to make, she added.
“It was really inspiring. It set the mood for me to just really experience what they go through. Parang karga ko na ‘yun when we started filming (BuyBust),” she added.
She also recalled the challenges she had to hurdle during training and shooting and how she overcame them.
“BuyBust” stars Brandon Vera, Anne Curtis and Arjo Atayde at the premiere night of the film at the Robinsons Galleria Cebu
She said it was difficult emotionally as well as physically, as she sustained bruises during filming.
“That was my first hit in the face by a stuntman. I’ve never been hit or punched before,” she said.
She said she was shocked but did not want to cry.
“Kasi everyone on the set is a guy so parang ‘you know … I didn’t want to be girly. So, parang kinontrol ko (iyak),” she added.
In the film, Curtis as Manigan is part of two squads who will hunt Biggie Chen (Arjo Atayde), one of the biggest players in the illegal drug trade in the country.
The hunt will not be easy as the squads are faced with corruption and betrayal.
Asked how bad his character will be, Atayde replied: “That is for you guys to find out. Honestly, it is a surprise. I think some photos came out. But about the character, I guess it is better for you guys to watch it.”
The film also stars mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Brandon Vera who plays Rico Yatco, one of the more prominent squad members. “BuyBust” is Vera’s first film.
Vera revealed that just like Curtis, he also became emotional during the world premiere at the NYAFF. “To watch two years of your life being chopped up, cut up, edit, every fighting in the scene, everything happened … it was super emotional,” Vera explained.
During the press conference, the Filipino-American MMA fighter also shared that he had to turn down five fights for the movie.
“My normal job (MMA fighter) is really different from being an artista or trying to become an actor,” he added.
CHALLENGING ROLE
Curtis, who starred in last month’s hit film, “Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story,” said it took her a while to accept a new film project prior to doing both films (“BuyBust” and “Sid & Aya”) as she had to choose her scripts wisely.
It was two years when Curtis headlined the film, “Bakit Lahat Ng Gwapo May Boyfriend?” with Paolo Ballesteros and Dennis Trillo.
After that film, Curtis did not star in any movie until she accepted “BuyBust,” “Sid and Aya: Not A Love Story,” and eventually, “Aurora,” an entry to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
“So after ‘Bakit Lahat Ng Gwapo May Boyfriend?,’ hindi ko na nagugustuhan ‘yung mga scripts that were falling on my lap. I think it was two years since I did a film (again),” she explained.
The actress also recalled that she met with the VIVA management to discuss her concerns.
“Sir Vincent (del Rosario) mentioned that he was in Hong Kong with Sir Dondon (Monteverde) and Erik Matti and they had brought up this idea of a female protagonist doing an action film,”
she said.
She said she found the story of a female protagonist in an action film interesting when it was pitched to her.
“Direk Erik pitched it to me over the phone. Usually it is a formal meeting and everything … but you know, it was between me and Direk Erik. Super casual over the phone and when he pitched to me it was an instant yes. Because I feel it was a role I have never done and will challenge me,” she added.
What made the filming even more challenging were the scenes— held in narrow and dark alleys — that had to be shot at night.
“We were all working on kinda like a graveyard shift (to shoot) because it was all exterior and at night. Lahat ng eksena namin nasa gabi. We would be shooting hanggang may dilim. Pag may putok araw na we had to stop shooting,” she added.
A particularly challenging scene was a four-minute scene that had to be shot once.
“I think it was six days rehearsing and we shot it for three days and it took 57 takes to perfect the shoot. Watch out for that scene,” she added.
While the movie tackles corruption and drugs, Curtis explained that it does not directly talk about the government’s war on drugs and stressed the movie is fictional.
“Before anything else ha, the script happened before even the war on drugs. So nagkataon lang talaga na it (war on drugs) actually happened,” Curtis explained.
Curtis said that Matti tweaked
the script a little bit but the whole premise of the story happened even before the administration’s war on drugs.
“So dapat malinaw lang ‘yun. When you get to watch this film kasi you’ll see it is very neutral—there are good cops, there are bad cops. Just like any action film.”
To be shown starting Aug. 1 in cinemas nationwide “BuyBust” also stars Joross Gamboa, Mara Lopez, Nonie Buencamino, Tarek El Tayech and Lao Rodriguez, Levi Ignacio, Alex Calleja, AJ Muhlach, Sheenly Gener, and Victor Neri.
Produced by Viva Films and Reality Entertainment, it has been rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board and given an R-13 rating by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.