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| Bilibid Gays |
Tito, Vic and Joey play Helen, Dina and Daria, three homosexuals who get thrown in jail for a murder they did not commit in
Bilibid Gays (Good Harvest Productions). As jailbirds, they are raped and beaten up, but only until they figure out a way to humanize their hardened prison mates. Bereft of any entertainment value whatsoever, the movie ranks among the most boring and the worst in terms of good taste. Dolphy's early movies were already on the borderline between good, clean fun and pure bigotry but
Bilibid Gays is not at all good and certainly far from clean. It's not a bad idea to to spoof Ishmael Bernal's
Bilibid Boys (1981), but it certainly takes a superior mind to spoof another. The plot, though highly improbable, is not the problem. It's how simplistically and haphazardly director Jose 'Pepe' Wenceslao and his writer treat their characters. You don't believe for a second that these are flesh and blood people. They are puppets manipulated by the scriptwriter's strings. But the film's biggest sin has little to do with its filmmaking as opposed to its peddling of disturbing images. That to be a real man, one has to be physically violent. That making fun of people whose looks do not meet society's standard of beauty is completely okay. That gay men will lust after every young man they see, they just can't help it, it's in their nature. This is not to say that these scenarios don't happen in the real world. But what's dangerous is, it reinforces the stereotype of gay men as voracious sexual predators.
At least, there are a number of funny situations in
Bilibid Gays, but Wenceslao takes too long to get to his punch lines. As a result, most of the jokes fall flat. Surprisingly, Tito, Vic and Joey are a lot more restrained in this film. That is a major accomplishment since grossness has always been a hallmark of the trio's comedy in previous films. There are green jokes all around, the jokes would not be so bad if they were at least original. In some ways,
Bilibid Gays is still funny with Joey de Leon doing much of the heavy lifting. To be fair, the performances of Tito and Vic Sotto are watchable.The trio's chemistry is the stuff of perfection. They play their scenes straight out from comedy skit wonderland, delivered with impeccable comic timing. Instead of bringing pangs of laughter, the cameos of the original
Bilibid Boys, seemed more like a lavish parade of Regal Babies. Wenceslao should at least be credited for his pacing. Unlike many other Filipino comedies,
Bilibid Gays has faster cuts, varied shots and less beating around the bush.
Directed By: Jose 'Pepe' Wenceslao
Screenplay: Roger Fuentebella
Director Of Photography: Ben Lobo
Music: Tito Sotto
Editor: Toto Natividad
Produced By: Good Harvest Productions
Release Date: July 31, 1981
