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Brothers Raymond, Jon Red team up anew for 'Adarna Gang'

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Leah C. Salterio

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Red brothers -- Raymond (second from left) and Jon (third from left) -- with the lead stars of Adarna Gang," Diego="" Loyzaga="" and="" Coleen="" Garcia="" at="" the="" premiere="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/03/13/adarna.jpg"/><figcaption>The Red brothers -- Raymond (second from left) and Jon (third from left) -- with the lead stars of Adarna Gang,&#x27; Diego Loyzaga and Coleen Garcia at the film&#x27;s premiere night</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- Four decades ago, a young Raymond Red made his short film directorial debut with “Ang Magpakailanman” (1982). At that time, he cast his older brother, Jon, to play one of the characters in the film.The latter had not embarked on directing yet and only did so six years later with the short video, “Es” (1988), which won the Best Jury Prize at the Mondiale de la Video in Brussels, Belgium.It has taken the brothers four decades to work together anew. Raymond recently agreed to be Direk Jon’s cinematographer for “Adarna Gang,” the latest iteration of the classic story of Ibong Adarna, with the three brothers finding a cure for their sick dad.“He’s older than me, kuya ko siya, pero nauna akong maging filmmaker,” Raymond told ABS-CBN. “Pareho kaming nag-Fine Arts and we were both into painting. Siya visual arts talaga siya. Painter siya. I was already making films.”“Pero ginawa ko siyang [Jon] artista ko sa una kong short film. You can say that was the first time we collaborated. He was an actor at that time. When he became a filmmaker, you can say we respect each other’s work, kasi magka-iba kami that’s why it has taken so long to work together.”While Raymond later got into TV commercials, doing short films and independent productions, Jon got into television. “Magka-iba kasi ang ginagawa namin,” Raymond explained. “Hindi lang namin naisip sooner to collaborate. Until he asked me to work as his cinematographer.”When Raymond got Jon as an actor for “Ang Magpakailanman,” it was merely by accident. The former was filming in the mountains and the original actor backed out at the last minute. It just so happened that Jon was around.“Ako lang ‘yung isang extra for his film,” Jon recalled. “That was 40 pounds ago. Naging artista ako doon. I always said I started from the top then I worked my way downhill. [Laughed].”Even if they never worked together in a film project for decades, Jon and Raymond consider themselves constantly watching each other’s back.“We watched each other’s work and talked about it,” Jon said. “Off cam, it was as if we’re always working together.”In “Adarna Gang,” JC Santos, Mark Anthony Fernandez and Diego Loyzaga play Juan, Pedro and Diego, respectively, the adopted sons of the rich and powerful Don Fernando.“My idea of ‘Ibong Adarna’ is a king with three sons,” Jon explained. “Shakesperean story ‘yan. One of my favorite directors, si [Akira] Kurosawa, he made ‘Ran’ [1985] based on Shakespeare din. Of course, ‘yung ‘The Godfather’ [1972] is almost the same.“Ang personal connection ko to ‘Adarna,’ I come from a big family and we look up to our dad. But ang Ibong Adarna na nakamulatan namin, ‘yung kay Dolphy, comedy [1972]. Markadong markado sa akin ‘yun. But I saw it as a drama kahit comedy siya.“Nakakita ako ng way how to relate this ‘Adarna Gang’ to what has been happening now. The material has been with me for 15 years now. Nasa baul ko. Ngayon lang siya nagawa into film.”Direk Jon made it a point to tone down the action for “Adarna Gang,” that also stars Jay Manalo, Ronnie Lazaro, Shamaine Centenera, Soliman Cruz, Rob Guinto, Archie Adamos, Mickey Ferriols and even director Roman Perez, Jr., this time as supporting actor.“When we watch action, the violence is used as entertainment,” Jon explained. “Para siyang musical number. Doon na desensitize ang audience natin. Parang bale wala na. Sinadya namin ‘yun.“In real life, makarinig ka lang ng putok ng baril, takot ka na. Gusto namin ibalik ‘yun kaya hindi siya bugbog sa action. I realized that when we were doing pre-production, I checked when we would be needing gun effects.“Day 5 na yata namin kinailangan ang gun effects. I asked them, akala ko gumagawa tayo ng action film? Delikado tayo dito. Hindi ito action as expected by Viva.“Pero nu’ng nabuo na, ‘Adarna Gang’ is more of a drama with some humor. It’s also stylized because of the ‘Ibong Adarna’ aspect. Parang satire din siya. Action is just one element. Hindi ko siya tatawaging action movie talaga.”Wrapping up “Adarna Gang” turned out to be really challenging for Direk Jon and his team. “Mahirap,” Jon said. “Nag lock-in kami and we only had limited number of days. Ang schedule ng tao, dapat ididikit mo sa artista.“Hindi pwedeng 10 days kung 10 days kayo naka lock-in, hindi pwedeng Day 2 mo i-shoot ang artista and then Day 8 na ulit ang susunod. Of course, we followed all the necessary protocols while shooting in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija. Zero ang cases doon.”

Raymond Red agreed to the cinematographer of his brother, director Jon Red, for “Adarna Gang,” the latest iteration of the classic story of Ibong Adarna, with the three brothers finding a cure for their sick dad.