'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…”