Movie Mondays: My Amnesia Girl

As part of our dating routine, watching movies was always on our list. I remember the first movie that we've watched together (we’re not an item nor we’re not close, it’s just one of the spur of the moment that he invited me to watch movie with him). As a fan of John Lloyd Cruz, he already had a movie in his mind – THE AMNESIA GIRL.

The movie’s topic is a universal favorite, but especially close to the fatalistic hearts of the contemporary Filipino audience: finding true love in a random world. Do you ever wonder about the love of your life who might be crossing the street as you don’t notice because you’re too busy watching the traffic light? (Hmmm. This is potentially tragic. Next time I will try to watch both traffic light and pedestrians although I already spend an inordinate amount of time watching people on the street, wondering about their lives.)

The story goes lie this: when Apollo (John Lloyd Cruz) finds himself surrounded by friends who are beginning to settle down, he is faced with the possibility of finding his true love. It all boils down to one name: Irene. It must be fate then, when he once again sees Irene (Toni Gonzaga), his ex-girlfriend from three years ago with whom he had the best memories with. Apollo and Irene were a perfect couple, and were engaged to be married. It all ended at the altar when Apollo had a bout of cold feet and left Irene alone in the aisle.

Now, Irene pretends to have no recollection of Apollo, having acquired “amnesia” shortly after their separation. Apollo sees this as the perfect opportunity to pursue Irene again, and be able to undo all the mistakes he made in the past, by offering Irene the best memories she could ever have.

True love is difficult to resist, they learn. Just when they find themselves ready to commit to each other, the pains from the past catch up with them, challenging them to finally own up to the mistakes made and lies said, and eventually realize what it is to forgive and forget.

I can say it’s honestly cute in some places and cheesy in others. The dialogue is funny in certain parts. For mainstream rom coms, we do not dare hope for some kind of deeper artistic meaning or social commentary. We were watching My Amnesia Girl for sheer entertainment and a few moments of escape. Never mind about the wildly uneven cinematography and the glaringly awful sound of this movie, or the terrifically long montages, or the bad wig. It simply takes my breath away.

Sabi sa census may 11 milyon na tao sa Metro Manila. Paano mo malalaman na nahanap mo na yung taong para sa'yo? Maaring nakita mo na siya, pero yumuko ka para magsintas. Maaring nakatabi mo na siya, pero lumingon ka para tingnan ang traffic lights. Maaring nakasalubong mo na siya pero humarang yung pedicab.
May mga maswerteng tao na nahanap na yung taong para sa kanila. May mga tanong patuloy na naghahanap at may iba na sumuko na. Pero yung pinakamasaklap, eh yung na sayo na pinakawalan mo pa