''Bliss'' is a 2017 Filipino

psychological thriller film Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and ...

written, directed, edited and scored by

Jerrold Tarog Jerrold Viacrucis Tarog (; born May 30, 1977) is a Filipino film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and composer. He is best known for directing ''Heneral Luna'' (2015), ''Bliss'' (2017), '' Goyo: The Boy General'' (2018), and the upcomin ...

. It stars

Iza Calzado Maria Izadora Ussher Calzado-Wintle (born August 12, 1982), known professionally as Iza Calzado (), is a Filipino actress, television host, dancer and model. She is dubbed as the "''Goddess of Horror Films''" by local media for her acting prowe ...

Ian Veneracion Stephen Ian Lopez Veneracion (; born February 7, 1975) is a Filipino athlete, actor, pilot, and singer. He was a former talent of GMA Network and is currently an artist of ABS-CBN and TV5. Personal life and career His father is renowned painte ...

TJ Trinidad Raul Fenstad "TJ" Trinidad Jr. (born January 22, 1976) is a Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official ...

Michael de Mesa Michael Edward Gil Eigenmann (; born May 24, 1960), better known by his screen name Michael de Mesa (), is a Filipino film and television actor, and director. Early life Born as Michael Edward Gil Eigenmann to performer Eddie Mesa and actress ...

, and Adrienne Vergara. The film competed in Japan at the 12th Osaka Asian Film Festival in March 2017 to critical acclaim, where Calzado also garnered the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer. The film premiered in the Philippines on May 10. ''Bliss'' explores elements of a

film within a film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

narrative where the protagonist also plays the lead.

Synopsis

Jane Ciego (

), a successful actress, produces her own film to gain respect from the industry. During the film production, she is involved in an accident that leaves her disabled. She is left in a secluded house to avoid more attention from the press, under the care and supervision of her husband, Carlo (

) and a cruel, unusual nurse named Lilibeth (Adrienne Vergara). As days go by, she descends into insanity as she as experiences horrors and madness. Trapped in her own home she questions her sanity.

Cast

as Jane Ciego *

as Joshua *

as Carlo *Adrienne Vergara as Lilibeth *

Shamaine Buencamino Shamaine Buencamino (''née'' Centenera; born February 28, 1965) is a Filipina actress and mental health advocate who has appeared in more than 100 movies and television series and shows. Personal life She married Filipino actor Nonie Buencam ...

as Jillian *Audie Gemora as Lexter Palao * Stephanie Sol *

*Star Orjaliza

Production

Director

pitched the idea for ''Bliss''which composed of five storiesright after the Philippine commercial release of ''

Heneral Luna ''Heneral Luna'' () is a 2015 Filipino historical biopic film depicting General Antonio Luna's leadership of the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine–American War. Directed by Jerrold Tarog and produced by Artikulo Uno Product ...

'', a film that he also directed. His first choice for the lead role had been

Anne Curtis Anne Curtis-Smith(; born 17 February 1985) is a Filipino-Australian actress, model, television host, entrepreneur and recording artist. She is dubbed as the "''Multimedia Superstar''" for her talent and influence. Curtis has received numerou ...

but the latter turned it down. After auditioning several actresses, the role eventually went to Iza Calzado. Tarog took roughly three to four months to write the screenplay. He credited foreign films such as

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

's ''

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...

'', '' Misery'', and anything by Japanese director

Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art Univer ...

most notably his films ''

Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, with a screenplay written by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shiho Niiy ...

'' (1997) and ''

Millennium Actress is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. Loosely based on the lives of actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine, it tells the story of two documentary filmmakers investigating the ...

'' (2001)as inspirations in crafting the film. Tarog scored the film for about three weeks.

Marketing

''Bliss'' teaser trailer was released by February 2017, followed by an official trailer the following month.

Release

''Bliss'' first premiered in Japan, as an entry to the 12th Osaka Asian Film Festival held from March 3 to 12, 2017. The film was well received during its run at the festival. Accordingly, the festival awarded Iza Calzado the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer award which she accepted on March 11. In the Philippines, the film was originally rated " X" by the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (English: "For Intelligent and Responsible Viewing") , employees = More than 33 , chief1_name = Diorella Maria Sotto-Antonio , chief1_position = Chairperson , agency_type = Film and television classification , parent_agency ...

due to its depiction of excessive nudity and violence, and

masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...

, deeming it unsuitable for public consumption. One of the board members noted the nudity to be "gratuitous". The producers held a special free screening of the uncut version at the Cine Adarna in the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

, Quezon City on April 3, 2017. On April 5, Tarog confirmed through his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

profile that the film had been reevaluated to an " R-18" rating without cuts.

Reception

Oggs Cruz of

CNN Philippines CNN Philippines (abbreviated as CNN PH) is a commercial broadcast, cable and satellite television network in the Philippines. It is owned and operated by Nine Media Corporation, together with Radio Philippines Network (RPN) as the main content ...

called it "...a well-crafted film, one that even outshines ''

'' in terms of consistency, and heck, even ambition." He concluded that ''Bliss'' is a film "whose pleasures aren’t immediate. It isn’t as emotionally rousing as ''Heneral Luna'' or ''

Sana Dati ''Sana Dati'' ( en, If Only) is a 2013 Philippine romantic drama film written, directed, edited, and scored by Jerrold Tarog. The film stars Lovi Poe and Paulo Avelino. It is the final installment to Tarog's ''Camera trilogy'' which include '' ...

'', whose themes of nationalism or romantic love, respectively, are things that provoke effortlessly. ''Bliss'' seems to be more cerebral, a work that forces its viewers to think before they feel." Rose Carmelle Lacuata of

ABS-CBN News ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs, known on-air as ABS-CBN News (formerly known as ''ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs'' and later ''ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs''), is the news and current affairs production and distribution divisi ...

said that Iza Calzado's performance "...was able to effectively play the role of an actress trapped in her own world. It is not surprising that she was given the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer in the 2017 Osaka Asian Film Festival." Jam Pascual of ''

The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...

''s "Young Star" column said "''Bliss'' is a brainy change of pace ... e artistic merits of the film alone should be enough to validate this film's existence both Iza alzadoand Adrienne ergarashine in their roles, with the latter so terrifying she makes the maid from ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Land ...

'' look like

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Jerrold Tarog 2017 films Films directed by Jerrold Tarog Philippine New Wave Philippine psychological thriller films 2017 psychological thriller films 2010s Tagalog-language films Philippine LGBT-related films 2010s English-language films