MY LIFE AS ART

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BY PETER SOLIS NERY
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I’m Peter Solis Nery, now take off your clothes

I LIKE making bold statements. I like to do daring things. I like to provoke people, and seduce them if I have to. I sometimes say crazy things, and often do crazier stuff. Sometimes, because I can get away with so much and so many, the only thing that keeps me still feeling alive is provoking more and more people. Often, it is tiring; but attracting attention to myself, and to what I do, is what I do best.

I don’t know if I’ll ever make a movie without nudity, or without sex, or at least, a sexiness and some degree of eroticism. I’m not sure if I’m just rebelling against my conservative and Catholic upbringing, or if I just want my family to have some massive heart attack, but I really like to show some skin in my movies. As a director, I would demand it from my actors; as an actor, I have no qualms taking off my clothes, even if I don’t get paid to do so. I just like parading naked, and not being imprisoned for it. Haha!

My latest film, Ikapito nga Adlaw, has some pretty daring simulated sex. I was, and still am, determined to break the ceiling in Ilonggo filmmaking and cinematic history with this film. If a daring sex scene is the way to do it, so be it.

Although, I hope viewers will see more than just sex and nudities in my latest movie. Because in truth, everything in Ikapito nga Adlaw is artful. From the lines of dialogues that come and go like a refrain of a song, to the brilliant cinematography, to the poetry of a female nude’s body, down to the recurring use of sarongs and a hunting knife.

I must admit though, it’s hard to ignore the kissing scenes, the sex scenes, and the shameless nudities. But let me make this clear: I am not a pornographer. I don’t think pornographers have very lofty visions and ideals for the kinds of films that they do. Filming unsimulated sex or actual intercourse? What’s so visionary about that?  I mean, if I were a pornographer, I’d shoot carabaos, or horses, having sex. That would have something of some real artistic vision.

Now, I am an auteur. I like to put my signature in every film I do. Why do you think I art design my own production? Why do you think I personally dress the set (add to the fact that I don’t have a budget for one or three more working crew)? As a filmmaker with vision, I like to present sex in the way that I love sex. I want people to love sex, and to liberate them from their ugly hemorrhoidal constipation ideas and attitudes about sex.

Because I got the handsome veteran actor Jet Alcantara strip for me (I wanted to see some butts!) in my first full-length feature Gugma sa Panahon sang Bakunawa (Graydonnery Films: 2012), I was decidedly bolder and confidently more daring in Ikapito nga Adlaw. I wanted some kissing that would make your jaws drop; and I wanted some generous show of skin. I wanted a beautifully choreographed sex scene, and I didn’t care that 105 candles were wasted on that set. The sex scenes were so hot the candles melted faster than I calculated!

After filming Ikapito nga Adlaw, I know what kind of monster I’ve become. So proud of this 15-minuter short film I am that I don’t think I can do anything tamer or less daring than this. As producer and director, I think that nudities will always be in my future contracts with actors, however big or small. Yes, even if they play Jesus Christ, or the Virgin Mary, they’ll be under contract to take off their clothes if, and when, Peter Solis Nery demands it.

In fact, my new self-introduction to prospective talents is this: “I’m the filmmaker Peter Solis Nery. Now, take off your clothes!” And believe it or not, that readily separates the grains from the chaff. I mean, these people who want to be actors, or the next Piolo Pascual, they don’t really understand what they’re wishing for until I tell them that actors may be asked to strip for audition, or a scene. And in some productions, obviously not mine, they might have to deal with couch time, as in the casting couch practice so prevalent in Philippine show business. Yeah, it’s also called Sleeping with the Producer or Director!

Thankfully, I’m not really attracted to willing victims. I mean, I don’t want to be acting so self-righteous and holy. I admit it. I may seduce pretty boys and gorgeous girls with a film offer; but once they’re hired, they’re hired. Now, if they want to play the hanky-panky on the side, they essentially have to rape me! Oh, I love being raped. Haha!

Why do people have to strip before me during auditions? Good question. Umm, umm, ahhh… Because I’m Peter Solis Nery? Haha!

Seriously—okay, not so seriously, I don’t want make up, and mold or prosthetic penises, or fake plastered or pasted boobs. I also don’t like tattooed surprises. In fact, I don’t like surprises at all from my actors, especially of the male or the tranny kind. I want to know what I’m buying, I mean, what I’m getting. Plus, I get a better idea of an actor’s vulnerability and sensitivity when they are raw and in the nude.

Real video tape audition experience. I got this actor-friend in the US who wanted to audition for the lead role in Angelina Jolie’s 2014 movie “Unbroken.” He is Toby Maguire-kind of gorgeous, and has done some SAG hours doing work in the TV series House of Cards with Kevin Spacey filming in Maryland and Washington, DC. So he made a video tape of himself in one corner of my L.A. apartment trying to cry. He managed to shed a tear or two after five freaking minutes.

I told him, “What are you doing? You are making this scene about Louie Zamperini’s time in a Japanese prison camp, why are you wearing a T-shirt? No, no, no! No matter how good an actor you are, you cannot pull it off. Now, try taking off your clothes!”

And he did. He shot it the same, and broke into tears, I kid you not, in a less than 90 seconds. The effect of disrobing, okay, getting naked, was immediate. His posture changed drastically. It was also cold in my apartment so he became even more bent and shriveled, which I think is the look you are going after if you are in a prison camp. We both agreed it was the better audition video, but I don’t know what happened. He stubbornly submitted his video with his shirt on. Needless to say, the role went to Jack O’Connell, who didn’t at all look like Toby Maguire. Ha!

Moral of the story: Trust Peter Solis Nery. He’s a filmmaker. Now, take off your clothes.

There is really no trick to get people to go naked. But this is what I have discovered: just because I am Peter Solis Nery, and I have built a pretty solid reputation as a no-nonsense filmmaker and artist, people tend to trust me more, and are even more than willing to be trained, or as they say of me, “to learn from the master.”

That’s also because, although I may be flippant, they know I respect my actors, models, and performers. And they give me back so much respect, trust and admiration that I only wish they would disrespect me a little, and rape me. I mean, I have this fantasy that I really love being raped! Ha! Rape is not funny. I am!

So anyway, after word about the making Ikapito nga Adlaw has gotten around in the internet, I have been bombarded by message requests from strangers on Instant Messenger. Am I making another movie? Can I please help realize their dream of becoming a porn star? Aside from taking off their clothes, do they have to have sex with me to get a role? Can they just have sex with me, and never mind the role? Not funny, but on second thoughts…/PN
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