Cherie’s latest intense, insane ride

Loy Arcenas directs Cherie Gil in “Mirador” —PHOTOS BY BOY YÑIGUEZ

Those who have seen the rushes of Loy Arcenas’ latest film, “Mirador,” swear that lead actress Cherie Gil burns the screen with her laser-like intensity.

Celine, the character Gil plays in the scorching drama, has been likened to James McAvoy’s schizophrenic killer in “Split.” Arcenas himself describes Celine as “psychotic.”

She is obsessed with her dead husband’s past infidelities—zeroing in on his illegitimate son. To illustrate further: Celine reaches the height of ecstasy while watching a disturbing crime.

Such is Celine’s insanity.

“Celine is quite an unusual role,” Gil concedes. “It’s something I’ve never done before. The character is quite out of the box … it’s far from commercial. She is complex and therefore it’s truly an adventurous ride for me.”

Arcenas, who last worked with Gil in the Peta play “Arbol del Fuego” (Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard”) in 2015, has nothing but praise for the actress. “I love working with Cherie. She is fun, perceptive, very vocal and protective of the creation and journey of her characters.”

Gil, for her part, completely understands Arcenas’ creative process.

“Loy thrives on perfection and thoroughness,” she explains. “We read the script over and over, then blocked the entire script on the set prior to the actual shoot.”

Even though the camera had started rolling, the rehearsals still continued. “We made sure to analyze each scene over and over. And one take was never good enough—which was a good thing for the actors.”

She acknowledges that some people might think it’s “tedious, but such a collaboration is always a learning experience.”

She is certain that the filmmaker’s theater background informs his meticulous work style.

“This is the process that he is used to,” she points out. “If only we could have more time to do so, I much prefer this working style because it allows us to get into the character more deeply.”

Cherie is fun, perceptive and protective of her characters.

“Mirador,” which Arcenas cowrote with Raquel Villavicencio, is among the films included in the lineup of Cinematografo Originals.

Based in San Francisco, the Cinematografo International Film Festival has set up “a coproduction initiative to help filmmakers realize their dream stories on the big screen.” The grant aims to “foster, mentor, nurture new filmmaking talent from the Filipino diaspora.”

Apart from “Mirador,” other films supported by Cinematografo are HP Mendoza’s “Bitter Melon” and Francis dela Torre’s latest untitled work, along with short films by Melanie Lim (“Anito”) and Bianca Catbagan (“Supermodel”).

Arcenas has scheduled an additional shooting day after previewing a rough cut to Cinematografo organizers late last year.

Says Gil: “It’s still a work in progress. We are having some additional reshoots, to bind the story even tighter and make each character more plausible and credible.”