MARIFE Necesito, who landed an important role in “Mammoth,” which stars Academy and Golden Globe Award nominee, Michelle Williams, and acclaimed actor Gael Garcia Bernal, shared with us the link to the trailer of her international film (posted on the bottom of this blog). “Mammoth” is the first English-language film of Swedish writer-director Lukas Moodysson.
As we reported earlier, in “Mammoth,” Marife plays Gloria, a mother of two sons who leaves the Philippines to work as the nanny of the daughter (Sophie Nyweide) of a successful New York couple, played by Gael and Michelle. When Gael’s businessman character goes to Thailand, he realizes that he wants to change his life. This development sets off a dramatic chain of events that impact the characters of Marife, Michelle and Sophie.
Marife informed us that she filmed her scenes in New York, Sweden and the Philippines, specifically in Subic and Bataan. The trailer of the film prominently features Marife, including an emotional scene where she speaks in Tagalog to her two sons on the phone. The two sons are also shown on a beach in the Philippines, as shot by Lukas’ cinematographer, Marcel Zyskind, whose credits include Angelina Jolie’s “A Mighty Heart.”
Marife shared that she had to dub a few of her lines in a dubbing studio in Makati. She also told us via e-mail that in anticipation of the film’s release early next year, she is doing phone interviews with the Swedish press, as arranged by Memfis Film, one of the production companies involved in the making of “Mammoth.”
The Filipina actress added that Lukas is still making final editing work on “Mammoth.” Lukas is the highly praised filmmaker of films like “Lilja 4-ever,” “Show Me Love” and “Together.” Lukas, who made the final decision to pick Marife for the part, was hailed by his esteemed compatriot, the late Ingmar Bergman, as a “young master.”
Marife said she enjoyed working with Michelle, whose credits include Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” and Gael, the Mexican thespian who’s enjoying a sterling international career with such films as “Babel,” “The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Amores Perros.”
Here’s the link to the trailer.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:59 am
what’s new about seeing a pinay in an `international’ movie? i see lots of them. i remember one where this teen pinay was getting the tag-team treatment from 3 black guys. that was HOT!!!
February 5th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
@ren
Reality Bites… instead of being in denial. Its an accurate reflection of our current society.
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:42 am
Ren,
I guess I would say yes. Being a housemaid doesn’t necessarily mean being just a maid itself. It encompasses a different paradigm in the arena of giving genuine and persosnal care even to those people who aren’t your love ones.
Just thought I’d voice it out.
-Becky
January 27th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I think we should be proud of her. Making to the Hollywood’s big screen is a big opportunity from someone who belongs to a 3rd world country. Who knows if its just a beginning of her Hollywood success. Remember, big things come from a small beginning.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:47 am
to Ren:
and why shouldn’t we be proud of a Filipina being a maid?