''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 Binibining Pilipinas (abbreviated as Bb. Pilipinas; ) is a national beauty pageant in the Philippines that selects Filipina representatives to compete in one of the Big Four international beauty pageants: Miss International and selects two ot ...

-Universe 1978), Bambi Arambulo (Miss Maja Pilipinas 1977) and

Dina Bonnevie Geraldine Schaer Bonnevie-Savellano (, formerly Sotto and Penson; January 27, 1961), known by her stage name Dina Bonnevie, is an actress in the Philippines. Before joining Philippine showbiz, Bonnevie was first runner-up in the Miss Magnolia 19 ...

(1st Runner-up, Miss Magnolia 1979). Written by Toto Belano, the film is about a group of

beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

finalists stranded in a

desert island A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...

without food, water and shelter. It was re-released in 2008 at the

Festival Paris Cinéma The Festival Paris Cinéma is one of the most recent French movie festivals, started in 2003 in film, 2003. It is held annually in July. It was launched in 2003 after the municipal government withdrew funding for Festival du Film de Paris.Staff repo ...

together with a retrospective on Gosiengfiao.

Plot

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 A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

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 Alfonso Serrano "Alfie" Anido (December 30, 1959 – December 30, 1981) was a popular Filipino matinee idol, best remembered for his mysterious sudden death at the age of 22. Biography Anido was born on December 30, 1959, in Manila. He was the ...

) land on a desert island.

Cast

as Dina Espinola *Azenith Briones as Azenith Tobias *Jennifer Cortez as Suzanne Reyes *Bambi Arambulo as Bambi Belisario *Deborah Sun as Maria *

Ricky Belmonte Jesus Velez Cruz (; December 24, 1946 – October 3, 2001), better known by his stage name Ricky Belmonte, was a Filipino actor, popular during the 1960s as one of Sampaguita Pictures' talents. Personal life Belmonte was born as Jesus Velez Cru ...

as Ricardo *

as Alfredo *Domingo Sabado as Umberto *Jonas Sebastian as Joshua Rodriguez *Tonio Gutierrez as Tonio *

Anita Linda Alice Bueñaflor Lake (November 23, 1924 – June 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Anita Linda, was a Filipino film actress. A romantic lead in her youth, she later gained critical acclaim for her portrayals in maternal or elderly ...

as Nenuca Belisario

Reception

The film has been described as "

campy Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. Camp aesthetics disrupt many of modernism's notions of what art is and what can be classified as high art by inverting ae ...

", but it has earned positive responses from several critics.

Jessica Zafra Jessica Zafra (; born 1965) is a fiction writer, columnist, editor, publisher, and former television and radio show host.hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

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 Petersen Vargas is a Filipino filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Cinema One Originals Best Picture winner ''2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'' (2016) and the web series ''Hello Stranger'' (2020). Early life and education Vargas was born and rais ...

describes the film as both defying and defining studio filmmaking. The film was also honored at the

Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner ...

's 2016 Himala sa Buhangin! Art and Music Festival. During the festival, the government of Ilocos Norte unveiled statues of the film's actresses in their iconic poses within the film. The cult classic film has also been adapted for theater. Directed by renowned theater playwright and director, Chris Martinez, ''Temptation Island...Live!'' was a theater adaptation that starred gay actors (John Lapuz and Tuxqs Rutaquio among others) as the beauty queens.

Filming locations

* De La Salle University,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the Big Do ...

(now

Smart Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the Big Do ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

Paoay Paoay, officially the Municipality of Paoay ( ilo, Ili ti Paoay; fil, Bayan ng Paoay), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,001 people. The town is hom ...

* Manila International Airport (now Ninoy Aquino International Airport)

2011 version

In 2011, a new version of ''Temptation Island'' was released as a tribute and faithful remake of the 1980 movie. It featured a new batch of cast such as

Heart Evangelista Love Marie Payawal Ongpauco (born February 14, 1985), known professionally as Heart Evangelista (, alternately ), is a Filipino actress, artist, businesswoman, and socialite. Early life Heart Evangelista was born as Love Marie Payawal Ongpau ...

, Rufa Mae Quinto,

Lovi Poe Lourdes Virginia Moran Poe (born February 11, 1989), popularly known as Lovi Poe, is a Filipino actress, model, and recording artist. She is the daughter of action star Fernando Poe Jr. Poe is known for starring in two popular GMA drama seri ...

Solenn Heussaff Solenn Marie Adea Heussaff-Bolzico (née Heussaff, ; born July 20, 1985) is a Filipino actress, model and singer. She was one of the official castaways of '' Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Showdown''. She made it to the Final Three. In Decem ...

and

Marian Rivera Marian Rivera Gracia-Dantes (; born 12 August 1984) is a Filipino recording artist, actress, and commercial model. She gained prominence as a widely-acclaimed actress for her roles in '' MariMar'', ''Dyesebel'', '' Amaya'', '' Darna'' and '' T ...

. It also features

Aljur Abrenica Aljur Mikael Guiang Abrenica (born March 24, 1990) is a Filipino actor, dancer, model and singer. He appeared on the fourth season of '' StarStruck''. Early and personal life His father, Alfonso Abrenica Jr., was a musician, and his mother, Am ...

Tom Rodriguez Bartolome Alberto Mott (born October 1, 1987), known professionally as Tom Rodriguez, is a Filipino-American model, actor, host and singer. Biography Rodriguez is from Catbalogan, Samar. He was born in Subic Naval Base in Zambales to an Ameri ...

and

John Lapus Jonathan Anthony Solis "John" Lapus (born July 7, 1973), also known as Sweet, is a Filipino actor, host, comedian, and film and television director. Lapus is known for his various roles in films such as '' Shake, Rattle & Roll''. He was a head ...

. The new version used Computer Graphic Imaging replacing the analog in the original 1980 movie. Two of the original cast, Deborah Sun and Azenith Briones, are also included in the new movie version.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Temptation Island (Film) Philippine adventure comedy films 1980 films 1980s Tagalog-language films Filipino-language films Regal Entertainment films