Temptation Island (1980 film)
| Temptation Island | |
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| Directed by | Joey Gosiengfiao |
| Produced by | Lily Monteverde |
| Written by | Toto Belano (story and screenplay) |
| Starring | Azenith Briones Jennifer Cortez Deborah Sun Bambi Arambulo Dina Bonnevie Alfie Anido Ricky Belmonte Domingo Sabado Jonas Sebastian |
| Music by | Jun Latonio |
| Cinematography | Ricardo Jacinto |
| Edited by | Rogelio Salvador |
| Distributed by | Regal Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
| Country | Philippines |
| Language | Filipino and English |
Temptation Island is a 1980 Filipino film directed by Joey Gosiengfiao starring four beauty contest winners: Azenith Briones (Miss Photogenic, Mutya ng Pilipinas 1975), Jennifer Cortez (Binibining Pilipinas-Universe 1978), Bambi Arambulo (Miss Maja Pilipinas 1977) and Dina Bonnevie (1st Runner-up, Miss Magnolia 1979). Written by Toto Belano, the film is about a group of beauty contest finalists stranded in a desert island without food, water and shelter. It was re-released in 2008 at the Festival Paris Cinéma together with a retrospective on Gosiengfiao.
The film focuses on four young ladies from different social backgrounds, each of them, for their own various reasons, enlists in the fictional "Miss Manila Sunshine Beauty Pageant".
The first of which is Dina (Bonnevie), a college student who entered the contest in order to earn independence from her family and buy her own car. Next is spoiled, rich socialite, Suzanne (Cortez), whose every whim is attended to by her maid, Maria (Sun), and who learned of the contest when fliers, dropped from a helicopter, interrupted her sunbathing at the family pool. Out of sheer vanity and boredom, she decided to sign up. Thirdly, Bambi (Arambulo), while planning her 18th birthday party, when she and her mother argue over the budget, since her once rich family cannot afford the grand debut, Bambi is forced to settle for a much simpler party. But during their argument, Bambi falls on her birthday cake; when she sees the pageant's TV spot, her frustrations over her current situation inspire her to join. Rounding up the group is Azenith (Briones), a con artist who plans to rig the contest by using her and her boyfriend's sexuality to influence the judges into voting for her.
The ladies later became the finalists for the competition. En route to the evening gown competition, the ship they boarded catches fire, and the passengers scramble to evacuate and be marooned on an island. The four women, Maria, Joshua (the gay pageant coordinator played by Jonas Sebastian) and his boyfriend Ricardo (Ricky Belmonte), Umberto (one of the ship's waiters played by Domingo Sabado) and Alfredo (played by Alfie Anido) land on a desert island.
The film has been described as "campy", but it has earned positive responses from several critics. Jessica Zafra calls it a "classic Filipino film [that] dares to expose complex themes..." Boy Abunda has referred to it as a "cult classic." Regal Films, the distributor of the film and its subsequent release on video bills it "Hands-down, most hilarious Filipino film ever made!" Director Petersen Vargas describes the film as both defying and defining studio filmmaking.
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