- Mike De Leon expressed disappointment over Atom Araullo.
- The director took to Facebook to share sentiments over lead actor Atom Araullo
Citizen Jake Director Mike de Leon expressed disappointment oveits’s lead actor Atom Araullo.
In a Facebook post, the Veteran director said he felt relieved that he and Atom can finally close the book of their collaboration and get out of each other’s lives.
“I think atom and i are both relieved to close the book on this collaboration and finally get out of each other’s lives,” De Leon wrote.
Citizen Jake is Mike De Leon and Atom Araullo’s brain-child. Atom co-wrote the screenplay and Mike De Leon acknowledged Atom’s “substantial” contribution to the film.
He also praised Araullo’s acting saying he did a good job in acting.
“As an actor I believe he did a good job and I won’t say the usual “in spite of…” There were scenes where he acted unevenly but there were also scenes, many of them major, where he was terrific. Perfect for the role of Jake, the self-absorbed millennial,” he said.
But what disappointed Direk Mike was not Atom as his lead actor but Atom as a person according to his comment in one of the commenters on the post.
“But he disappointed me…Not as an actor but as a person,” De Leon’s response.
Although it is not clear how Atom disappointed the director his statement regarding the former’s journalistic view may be a hint.
“I thought it interesting to work with someone whose work was journalism and who I thought shared my political convictions. I have known and worked with outstanding journalists before when I was politically active during the latter years of the Marcos era. I only realized later that Atom’s journalism was not exactly the kind of journalism I had in mind,” Mike de Leon tells.
He also described Atom as a more “celebrity” journalist compared to the gritty kinds.
“It’s not the gritty kind but more of the celebrity-centered schlock that sometimes verges on entertainment, even showbiz. Looking back, I can see why he wanted to become a movie actor. Perhaps the journalist was really a closet movie star,” Mike de Leon adds.
The director laments how he felt alone in speaking and defending the film against those who want to exploit it for their personal agenda.
“Now I find myself alone in speaking for the film, defending the film against those who would exploit it for political mileage and those who would wish it harm, two types of people of basically the same mold,” De Leon reveals.
Here’s Direk Mike De Leon’s Facebook post regarding Atom Araullo.
Quoting Mandy in the film: “You don’t care about anyone who isn’t Jake Herrera!
Mike De Leon – “Atom Araullo is not a professional actor and I only came across his name when I read that he had resigned from his job as a reporter in his former TV network (I don’t watch television). And since I never wanted a professional actor for the lead role in Citizen Jake, I thought it interesting to work with someone whose work was journalism and who I thought shared my political convictions. I have known and worked with outstanding journalists before when I was politically active during the latter years of the Marcos era. I only realized later that Atom’s journalism was not exactly the kind of journalism I had in mind. It’s not the gritty kind but more of the celebrity-centered schlock that sometimes verges on entertainment, even showbiz. Looking back, I can see why he wanted to become a movie actor. Perhaps the journalist was really a closet movie star. Nevertheless, his contribution to the screenplay was substantial. I can also say the same about Noel Pascual, my second co-writer. But in the end, like in my other films, it was my job to put together the entire screenplay, not Noel’s and certainly not Atom’s, him being a complete newbie in screenwriting.
As an actor I believe he did a good job and I won’t say the usual “in spite of…” There were scenes where he acted unevenly but there were also scenes, many of them major, where he was terrific. Perfect for the role of Jake, the self-absorbed millennial. Even if Citizen Jake is my most personal film, sometimes I feel it’s a film Atom and myself made together, through thick and thin, through upheaval after upheaval and unfortunately there were many. But I hoped that in the end, we would still share the same convictions we started off with. Alas, that was not to be. Now I find myself alone in speaking for the film, defending the film against those who would exploit it for political mileage and those who would wish it harm, two types of people of basically the same mold.
I think atom and i are both relieved to close the book on this collaboration and finally get out of each other’s lives. What is important in the unique world of cinema is that Citizen Jake has now acquired a life of its own, separate from us. As Francois Truffaut, the late great French Director, said in “Day for Night,” his film about filmmaking: ‘The film is king.’ The only thing left is for people to watch it. (this is me, not Truffaut).”
