May Nagmamahal Sa'yo

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May Nagmamahal Sa'yo
Directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya
Screenplay by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEduardo Jacinto
Edited byJess Navarro
Music byNonong Buencamino
Production
company
Star Cinema
Distributed by Star Cinema
Release date
  • 25 January 1996 (1996-01-25)
Running time
121 minutes
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino

May Nagmamahal Sa'yo, internationally released as Madonna and Child, [lower-alpha 1] is a 1996 Philippine drama film directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya from a screenplay written by Ricky Lee and Shaira Mella Salvador. Starring Lorna Tolentino, Ariel Rivera, and Stefano Mori, the film revolves around a woman who returned from working overseas and began to search for her missing son whom she gave up for adoption at the orphanage years earlier. It also stars Claudine Barretto, Gina Pareño, Renato del Prado, Jaclyn Jose, Tom Taus Jr., Emman Abeleda, Rolando Tinio, Archie Adamos, and Lilia Cuntapay.

Contents

Produced and released by Star Cinema, the film was theatrically released in the Philippines on 25 January 1996. It was later screened in film festivals and retrospective events worldwide, including in Hong Kong on 27 March 1996, as part of the 20th Hong Kong International Film Festival, in Japan on 15 September 1996, as one of the exhibited Filipino films for the 6th Fukuoka International Film Festival, and in Germany on 26 June 1999, as part of the tribute to the director at the Munich International Film Festival. [lower-alpha 1]

Plot

Saint John the Evangelist Parish Church (F. Laurena, Tanauan, Batangas; 12-23-2021).jpg
Saint John the Evangelist Parish Church, located in Tanauan, Batangas, served as the place where Louella gave up Leonard.

In 1988, Louella, a woman living in the town of Talisay, Batangas, gave up her son to the care of Father Nicandro at the orphanage to work overseas as a domestic helper. Seven years after she served there in Hong Kong, she returned to her hometown, only to be welcomed by her uncle Boy and younger sister Janine but ignored by her mother Rosing because she threw Louella out when she found that Louella was impregnated and later, dumped by a traveling businessman. While fetching Janine from school, she reunites with Nestor, the town's policeman. The following day, Louella returns to the same place where she gave Leonard up for adoption but Father Cortez, the current parish priest, does not know about them. Manang Ofel, one of Father Nicandro's assistants before his death, informs her that Leonard and the other children were transferred to Hospicio de San Agustin in Pasig.

The search for her son begins with Louella going to Pasig, only to find out that the orphanage was demolished. Nestor, who later joins her search, tells Louella that the orphans, including Leonard, were transferred to other orphanages including the two mentioned from the information he gathered. In an unnamed orphanage located in Lipa the two discover that the children in the said facility have disabilities, which Leonard didn't have when he was born. One morning, she received a letter from an employment agency that she was assigned to work again in Hong Kong. The search continues when they visit Hospicio de San Cristobal in Tagaytay and there, Louella meets a boy named Conrad who is humming the same melody as the one she did for her missing son.

Cast

Lorna Tolentino Korina Interviews.jpg
Ariel Rivera 2023.jpg
Lorna Tolentino and Ariel Rivera (both pictured in 2023) respectively played the roles of Louella and Nestor. Tolentino previously collaborated with Abaya in Moral (1982) and Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo (1993).

Production

Ricky Lee (cropped).jpg
Ricky Lee (pictured in 2018) co-wrote the screenplay with Shaira Mella Salvador.

For director Marilou Diaz-Abaya, May Nagmamahal Sa'yo is the third film she directed for ABS-CBN's film production arm, Star Cinema, following Ang Ika-11 na Utos: Mahalin Mo ang Asawa Mo, which was co-produced with Regal Films, in 1994 and Kapag May Katwiran... Ipaglaban Mo!: The Movie , which became a box-office success, in 1995. Because of the latter's success, Abaya accepted another project offered by the studio and teamed up again with Ricky Lee, her longtime screenwriting collaborator, who co-wrote the screenplay with fellow screenwriter Shaira Mella Salvador. In contrast to her previous films that deal with and depict women who were oppressed and victimized, May Nagmamahal Sa'yo depicts the life and motherhood of Louella, played by Lorna Tolentino, as well as talking about the topic of adoption. [5]

According to Lorna Tolentino, she was offered the role of Louella in the project but was hesitant to accept because she was moved by the first time reading the script, which relates to her being a mother. Ultimately, she accepted the offer because her husband, Rudy Fernandez, also moved from reading the same material. [6]

Reception

Critical reception

Noel Vera, writing for The Manila Chronicle in 1996, described the film as "enthralling" and gave praise to all aspects featured throughout the work, particularly the acting performances of the cast including Lorna Tolentino, Jaclyn Jose, Gina Pareño, and Stefano Mori, Ricky Lee and Shaira Mella Salvador's screenplay, and the direction done by Marilou Diaz-Abaya. [7]

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References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Attributed to these references: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Sources

  1. ↑ The 20th Hong Kong International Film Festival. University of California, Berkeley: Urban Council of Hong Kong. 25 March 1996. pp. 57, 58. ISBN   9789627040491.
  2. ↑ "Focus on Asia Archives: 1996 (6th)". Fukuoka International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Torre, Nestor U. (25 July 2001). "VIEWFINDER: Closer ties with Fukuoka". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Inquirer Group of Companies. p. A23. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  4. ↑ "Filmfest Munich pays tribute to Marilou Diaz-Abaya". Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. 22 June 1999. p. 21. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "MARILOU DIAZ-ABAYA, OBSESSIONS AND TRANSITIONS: A BIOGRAPHICAL SURVEY (4/6)". Asian Cinevision. 23 July 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  6. ↑ Japitana, Norma (15 January 1996). "Super mom Lorna T." Manila Standard . Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 30B. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  7. ↑ Vera, Noel (2005). Critic After Dark: A Review of Philippine Cinema. Manila, Philippines: Big O Books. p. 24. ISBN   9789810531850.
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