It was a daunting challenge, but scriptwriter-director Jose Javier Reyes came up with a ?2010 version? of Ishmael Bernal?s ?Working Girls? because he wanted to pay tribute to the late National Artist for Film.

Direk Joey has fond memories of the legendary Bernal whom he worked with as screenwriter for ?Pahiram ng Isang Umaga? in 1989.

The new movie, a co-production of Viva, GMA Films and Unitel, is also his homage to fellow scriptwriter Amado Lacuesta who wrote the original ?Working Girls? in 1984.

Curiously, Reyes said it was ?absolutely mind-boggling? to revisit the same characters he had grown to love in the original film.

But all in all, he?s glad he made this ?thank-you? gift to two masters of RP cinema.

What was the challenge of doing ?Working Girls 2010,? considering the wild success of the first one?

The first ?Working Girls? is already considered a benchmark of Filipino filmmaking, a vital part of the Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema.

The challenge is most evident: How do you live up to expectations...considering the master craftsmanship and artistry of a National Artist like Bernal?

But the point was not to duplicate Bernal?s feat, which is impossible. Our goal was to update the roles of women in society and the meaning of the term ?professional?...25 years after the first film.

Another challenge was to show what happened to four of the original ?Working Girls?: the hooker (Maribel Lopez), the ditzy secretary (Carmi Martin), the disgrasyada (Rio Locsin) and the whirlwind negosyante (Gina Pareño).

Did you feel pressured working on a Bernal classic? Do you think Bernal will be pleased with this new film?

Ishmael Bernal is one of the reasons that I am a filmmaker.

Since I was a screenwriter during the Second Golden Age of Philippine cinema, I met Bernal, along with Lino Brocka. The only script of mine that Bernal directed, ?Pahiram ng Isang Umaga,? won for me my first Urian (critics? award) for Best Screenplay.

I will never forget how Bernal sent a message to my Pocketbell unit, congratulating me for ?Hataw Na!? in 1995. (He was a big fan of Gary Valenciano kasi.) Or how he hugged me after seeing ?Iisa Pa Lamang,? the second film I wrote and directed in 1992.

A director like Bernal is a rarity. He saw his peers not as competition, but as comrades. His life to the very end was to inspire young filmmakers to be original and to fight for their identities.

Apart from ?Working Girls,? what are your favorite Bernal films?

?Relasyon,? ?Broken Marriage,? ?Manila by Night? are three films that have sunk into my very being. [They represent] the image of the ultimate Filipino filmmaker.

When did you watch the first ?Working Girls??

That was on the eve of the Edsa revolution. I caught it on its regular run.

At that time, did you even imagine doing an update?

Never did I imagine that I would do this a quarter of a century later. I did ?Makati Ave.: Office Girls? about 17 years ago. I thought that was my tribute to ?Working Girls.? So when Tony Gloria approached me about this update, I knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?not because I plan to outdo or match Bernal, but because it is my thank you gift to a master who inspired my life?s choices.

What did you think of Amado ?Mads? Lacuesta?s script and its use of multiple, interconnected storytelling then?

I have always loved ensemble pieces. That is why I adore the works of Robert Altman (?Nashville,? ?A Wedding?) and Paul Thomas Anderson (?Magnolia?). Throw in Richard Curtis? ?Love, Actually.?

Mads was a master storyteller and it is so sad that his life ended before he could give us more gems of writing for the screen.

What was it like having some of the original cast members on board?

Absolutely mind-boggling. Imagine directing Carmi screaming, ?Sabel...I am always in love! It?s a retort to her classic line in the original film: ?Sabel, this must
be love!?

It?s also surreal having Rio interact with a grown-up, Jennylyn Mercado?who is supposed to be the love child she bore in the original.

Will you do another ?Working Girls??

No more na. Let?s give the chance to another director. Karma may catch up with me for being greedy!

How about ?Overseas Working Girls??

Aba, why not? Paging Tony Gloria, Vic del Rosario and Annette Abrogar!