The Portrait (2018)

Interesting facts

Ang Larawan, internationally released as The Portrait, is a 2017 Philippine musical film directed by Loy Arcenas.

Production

The film is based on the 1997 stage play Larawan, which had its 1998 restaging written by Nick Joaquin, a recognized National Artist for Literature which in turn was also an adaption of an earlier play A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino, which was also by Joaquin. The film is the third full-length feature film to be directed by Loy Arcenas, a former Broadway production designer.

The film is produced by Culturtain Musicat Productions which is owned by talent manager Girlie Rodis and singer-actress Celeste Legaspi who were also producers of the film.

Rodis aims to present the film as an "alternative" to romance comedy and horror films prevailing in Philippine mainstream cinema but clarified she does not want to "compete" with other local film production companies. She recalled a man in SM Cinema telling her there was a lack of local films suitable for school educational viewings which led her to come up with an "alternative" film.

The production budget has been described as expensive, with producer Rodis partly responsible for the financing. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Quezon City Film Fund, Resorts World Manila, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, as well as individual sponsors were among the financiers of the film. The budget of the film was ₱25 million which took a year to raise.

Principal photography on Ang Larawan began in June 2015, with Boy Yñiguez as cinematographer. It officially began in Intramuros, Manila for the La Naval procession scene, where 600 costumed extras were involved. Filming with the cast occurred in Taal, Batangas and lasted 11 days, particularly in the Villavicencio ancestral home, which served as the ancestral home of the protagonists' family in Intramuros.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.