Kuh Ledesma said she appreciated being paired with “the really handsome and very popular” Christopher de Leon in her first full-length movie “Tinimbang ang Langit,” directed by the late Danny Zialcita.
The digitally restored and remastered film is part of a new set of movies that have been streaming via ktx.ph since Feb. 10 under the ongoing Sagip Pelikula Film Festival.
“There was kilig factor because I was just a young girl then, fresh out of college. This was my first exposure to filmmaking, and I already had a kissing scene with somebody like Christopher,” recalled Kuh shortly before the film’s virtual screening on Tuesday night. “He’s very accommodating. He was like a brother. I’m glad we had a really good rapport. I’m grateful to him because he made me feel comfortable.”
Kuh recalled some of her memorable scenes. The first was when she and Christopher went to Baguio “to cuddle.” She explained: “When I’m in love, I also like to sit on the guy’s lap [aside from cuddling] and make him feel really loved. The second scene was when I was singing ‘Nasaan Ka Paano Ako’ by Butch Monserrat. Victoria, my character, is in so much pain.”
“Tinimbang ang Langit” was first released on May 28, 1982, nearly 39 years ago. It also features Rio Locsin, Suzanne Gonzales, Jose Garcia, Anita Linda, among others.
“This is my very first full-length film. I’m thankful to ABS-CBN for making it look brand new,” Kuh said.
According to ABS-CBN Film Restoration head Leo Katigbak, the movie suffered not only visual impairments, but also audio distortion. An alternative audio source abroad was used to help restore the movie’s sound.
“[Director] Danny was very down-to-earth,” observed Kuh. “I could see that he loved making films. When we were shooting, I couldn’t visualize the whole movie and what the ending would be because we didn’t have a script and I only saw tidbits of it. But I truly believed that this man was a genius. He knew exactly how the scenes would all be pasted together.”
“He was ahead of his time,” added Rio. “I am a fan of Direk Danny. He is such an amazing artist. He was a maverick. His stories were about unique relationships of married couples, lesbians and mistresses. He tackled such a broad scope,” Rio said.
Even the dialogue, Rio observed, were written by Danny in a unique manner. “They were tongue twister lines. Danny hardly used the words ‘ang’ and ‘kung.’ We had to get used to the way he made his characters speak. That’s not how everyone talks in real life,” she pointed out.
“Tinimbang ang Langit” tells the journey of Victoria (played by Kuh), a struggling singer looking for a big break in the music industry. She meets the celebrated songwriter Joel (Christopher), who falls in love with her. Rio plays Sandra, a record producer who stands between Victoria and Joel.
Rio said she was only supposed to shoot for two days, “as a guest star … But since Danny was also the writer, I guess he thought of writing the story in a way that I had more exposure. I was initially just one of the supports, but while on the set, my character became part of a love triangle with the singer and the songwriter. I thought, I was given this chance so I might as well do my best,” she said.
Aside from “Tinimbang ang Langit,” also streaming on ktx.ph are other digitally restored and remastered titles such as “Haplos,” “Bad Bananas sa Puting Tabing,” “Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising,” “Oro Plata Mata,” “Ikaw ay Akin,” and “Karma.” (You can book your tickets now at bit.ly/TinimbangOnKTX.)