Marife Necesito received an ovation during the screening of “Mammoth” as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Cineplex. Photo by Jude Bautista

Written and photographed

By Jude Bautista

Actress Marife Necesito received a warm ovation before and after the screening of “Mammoth” by Swedish director Lukas Moodyson. It will be screened again on Friday September 16, 2011 at Shang Cineplex as part of the Cine Europa Film fest. Entrance to the fest is free on a first come first served basis. The whole fest will run up to September 18.

Respected thespians from right: Lara Tarranco, Marife Necesito, Joan Palisoc and Lowell Coñales at Shang Cineplex. Photo was taken before the screening of “Mammoth” (starring Marife Necesito, Gabriel Gael Garcia and Michelle Williams) as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Plaza. Photo by Jude Bautista

She can be seen as lead in the play “Awit Ni Ana” written by Dodie Anzures directed by Noel Miralles in the coming months. In an interview she was able to talk about what she learned from “Mammoth” and was able to compare it with the local productions:

How does it feel watching “Mammoth” now?

First time was in Berlinale, pangalawa Cinemanila ako lang yung representative. Sa Berlinale di pa masyado nag sink in yung story. Maraming na tanggal na eksena, kasi kelangan 2 hours lang diba? Parang nanibago ako. Marami kaming scene ni Michelle Williams na wala, na hinanap ko. Kinukulit ko si Luke Bakit mo tinaggal sabi niya two hours kelangan magcompromise tayo dun.

Sa Cinemanila mas na appreciate ko na siya, lalo na yug mga Pilipino kasama mo nanonood. Pilipino ka Swedish yung pelikula, Swedish yung director, may mga Pilipino na setting. Mas na appreciate dito, sayang di na market dito. Dahil sabi nila nakaka iyak yung pelikula malungkot. Yung realidad talaga nandun e  kekwestyunin mo sarili mo afterwards. Nakahang, di ganun ka melodramatic. Pero yon ang natural na nangyayari so mas na appreciate ko.

from right: Jonas Gruet, Marife Necesito with son Leondro and Kevin Vitug at Shang Cineplex. Photo was taken after the screening of “Mammoth” (starring Marife Necesito, Gabriel Gael Garcia and Michelle Williams) as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Plaza. Jonas Gruet, Kevin Vitug and Marife Necesito were castmates in three films: “Darkest Nights”, “Taxi Cab” and “Sponsor.” Photo by Jude Bautista

How does the story affect you as a parent?

Actually I’m more curious sa reaction ni Leondro (her son). Ngayon pa lang niya mapapanood. Yung time na nag abroad ako ganun din yung na ramdaman niya. Nag abroad ako for 3 months, OFW ako. Character ko ganun tawag tawag din lang ako sa kanya.

from right: Marife Necesito her son Leondro at Shang Cineplex. Photo was taken after the screening of “Mammoth” (starring Marife Necesito, Gabriel Gael Garcia and Michelle Williams) as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Plaza. Photo by Jude Bautista

How would you describe Lukas Moodyson as a director?

Isa sa pinaka sensitive na director nakilala ko, maganda ang kaluluwa.  Yung inner soul niya maganda. Impurtante sa kanya yung connection ng actor at director.Parasiyang si Ingmar Bergman talagang lahat barkada at kelangan pamilya yung nasa pelikula. May itatanong ka wag ka mahiya magtanong yung na raramdaman mong kulang. Meron kang gusting i-suggest, free.Parasiyang Pilipino sa katawan ng isang Swedish. Parang Pinoy puso niya. Sobrang na mi niss ko makatrabaho si Lukas.

Bottom from left: “Taxi Cab” director Archie Del Mundo, Marife Necesito with son Leondro. Top row from left: “Awit kay Ana” director Noel Miralles, Joan Palisoc and Lowell Coñales at Shang Cineplex. Photo was taken before the screening of “Mammoth” (starring Marife Necesito, Gabriel Gael Garcia and Michelle Williams) as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Plaza. Photo by Jude Bautista

Why compare him with Ingmar Bergman? I remember him mentioning in an interview they have different styles.

Magkaiba sila pero meron akong na panood na interview kay Bergman yung pakikpag trabaho niya sa actor niya impurtante yung kuneksyon. Yung talagang magkaibigan kayong matalik. Dapat nandun talaga yung bonding before the shooting starts.Paramay trust kayo sa isa’t isa. Di yung na hihiya ka o nag papower tripping ka at sinisigawan mo yung mga actors mo.

Sa kanya kasi di sila ganun e. Kelangan nag popour yung emotions ng actress. Kampante talaga. Kahit ilang ulit pagawa, na kukulanagan sa scene gagawin ng actress ng buong puso niya. Naiintindihan niya kung ano gusting gawin ng director. At naiintindihan niya rin actress niya. Maganda ang lalabas sa pelikula parang di umaaarte at all.

Marife Necesito addresses a full house during the screening of “Mammoth” as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Cineplex. Photo by Jude Bautista

Do you still communicate with Lukas Moodysson?

Parang nagpalit siya ng email ad. Pero yung sa Memfis productions nagkaka kamustahan. Nung nagkasakit yung nanay ko binigyan nila ko ng pera nung 2008. Nag ambag sila tapos pinadala nung producer

What makes Cine Europa so special?

Yung freedom sa paggawa nila ng pelikula, malalaim yung tinatalakay. Yung acting yon ang pinapanood ko talaga. Nag-aaral pa rin talaga ako ng nag-aaral.

from right: Marife Necesito her son Leondro and husband Stefano Rota at Shang Cineplex. Photo was taken after the screening of “Mammoth” (starring Marife Necesito, Gabriel Gael Garcia and Michelle Williams) as part of the Cine Europa Film fest at Shangrila Plaza. Photo by Jude Bautista

What did you learn from “Mammoth”?

Hindi lang bola ng basketball ang ineexport kungdi pagmamahal. Kung gano ka impurtante ang kuneksyon sa bawat isa. Lahat tayo naka connect din, kelangan natin ang isa’t isa. Gobalization ang tinatalakay, isang fulfilled na doktora, isang successful na couple. Di ibig sabihin nag-asawa na kayo tumigil na yung mga pangarap niyo. Gusto niyo parin ma achieve pangarap niyo. Pero nangyayari less priority yung mga bata. Yung priotiry natin sa buhay ang hirap. Mangyayari kukuha ka ng yaya para ma fulfill yon.

Di nila problema yung financial side. Sa character ko wala akong choice single mother ako dun. May nanay ako may kapatid akong umaasa din sakin, kaya kelangan ko umalis.Yon ang tinatalakay ng pelikula na kahit gano tayo ka layo, kelangan natin ang isat isa.

Ano yung relasyon mo dun sa anak na inaalagaan mo sa pelikula?

Character nung bata mas napamahal siya sa yaya niya. Mas gusto niya laging sumasama sa yaya. Maraming scene dun malungkot, you feel empty. Si Michelle galing sa trabaho pagbalik niya routine niya sa hospital gabi. Yung bata papasok na sa school. Pagdating niya sa bahay siya lang mag isa. Anung gagawin ko? Di naman ako makatulog. Asawa niya nasa abroad nagtatrabaho din sa Thailand.

Ako naman ang liit liit ng kwarto mo na mimiss mo anak mo. Di ka makakasigaw dun at winter pa di kanaman snay sa winter diba sa tropical country ka galing.  Saan mo huhugutin pag ang dami mo ng problema sa Pilipinas? Natural na nangyayari sa totoong buhay.

from right: Marife with writers Jamie Ortega of Inside Showbiz and Jocelyn Valle of PDI online. Photo by Jude Bautista

'M' The visuals are hauntingly beautiful straddling reality and the deepest recesses of imagination.

Written by

Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

Have you ever had a memory that was buried in the past that you doubt it ever happened? And sometimes you long for someone so much that the only way you can realistically cope with it is to forget that person? ‘M’ is a film that eloquently puts to the screen that longing and the mind’s coping mechanism of dealing with loss. Hon Min Woo (Dong Won Kang) is a novelist struggling with writer’s block. His editors hound him with the deadline of his next novel. Mimi (Yeon Hee Lee) is an adorable, sweet, klutzy young lady who keeps on popping out of nowhere.

This may be the least horrific of the 2010 Korean Horror Movie Festival held at Shang Rila Plaza Cineplex from October 26-31 and resumes on November 2-4, 2010. It is only one of seven films that can be seen free of charge. The Cinema One Film fest immediately follows also in Shang Rila Cineplex on November 9.

From Left: Yeon Hee Lee as Mimi is endearing much like our very own Kim Chiu. Beside her is Min Woo played by Dong Won Kang.

‘M’ has similarities with ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ directed by Michel Gondry, where the main character struggles to figure out what reality is from memory and fiction. It is more of a romance mixed in with elements of fantasy. “Eternal Sunshine..” had Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett as lead characters and was highly praised by critics while winning several awards. Director Myung Se Lee also has that wildly creative visual treatment that is able to translate literary concepts to the screen.

Yeon Hee Lee

Audiences however won’t fail to fall for the character Mimi. Played by Yeon Hee Lee she has features that would remind Filipinos of Kim Chiu. She is almost caricature pulling off slapstick humor and is very endearing because of her timidity and awkwardness. Kim has a similar character in her TV series with Ai ai De las Alas in Your Song Presents “Maling Akala”. Both actresses have a child like quality that makes them adorable. In fact it was Mimi’s line that created the title for the film: “Everything that makes me happy starts with the letter ‘M’ and that is what I will call you, Mr. M (referring to Min woo)”

Our very own talented Kim Chiu is just as adorable as Yeon Hee Lee

M has it made. He is one of the most successful novelists and he has a young and beautiful wife in Eun hye (Hyo Jin Kong). In fact his father in law, has even gone out of his way to provide for the couple with a spanking new apartment and a generous check for their expenses. This is as long as M takes care of his daughter Eun hye. His problem however is that there is this nagging emptiness in his life that he can’t seem to fill. That is why he seems to be struggling with his work, he doesn’t know what to write about, that is until he meets Mimi. He believes that Mimi is just a groupie, a fan of his work.

Hon Min Woo played by Dong Won Kang has features similar to K pop superstar Rain or an older version of Enchong Dee. The film is about his attempt to find out the significance of Mimi in his life. This may be the most touching film in this batch, the second since last year’s wildly successful Korean film fest.

From Left: Yeon Hee Lee as Mimi. Beside her is Min Woo played by Dong Won Kang at the Lupin Bar scene

Cinematographers and visual effects artists were able to create a world that could only exist in the poetic mind of an author. In the stark brightness of midday, shadows exist on screen that would normally be seen in a film noir. Shadows were long and hid the figures and memories that hound M. The visuals are hauntingly beautiful straddling reality and the deepest recesses of his imagination.

from left: H.E. Korean Amb. Hyemin Lee, his wife Sun Mi Lee and Shang Rila Plaza GM Lala Fojas during the opening of the 2010 Korean Horror Movie fest. photo by Jude Bautista

M doesn’t know if his mind has created Mimi as a character or is a real person. They always meet in a dream like fashion which he wakes up from. And she seems to have the best dialogue that he may have written, “I want you to feel pain from missing me. I thought I could love you for eternity. But I can only love you by leaving you…”