Mi () is a 2018 Burmese drama film, written and directed by Na Gyi. Paing Phyo Thu portrayed the lead character, Mi, and Nay Toe played Thaw Swe. The film is an adaptation of the novel Mi by prominent and well-respected novelist, Kyi Aye. Mi was produced by Victoria Film Production and premiered in Myanmar on November 9, 2018. The film was well received by the audience. Despite high expectations, there were harsh public criticisms at Myanmar Academy Awards (2018) for giving Mi no award.
Mi received two nominations (Best Actress, Best Film) and one award (Best Director of Photography) at ASEAN international Film Festival and Awards (2019). It was officially selected for Cardiff International Film Festival (2020) and Festival International de Cinema de Lleida Visual Art (2020).
Plot Mi, a free spirited, clever young woman, is dying of tuberculosis, but she couldn't care less, with cigarettes and brandy as her close companions. Post-WWII Rangoon nightlife is her playground, and she is popular among the upper-class men that she is able to fool. No one knows her true back story.
Still, most men fall for her. Even though they knew that they would be played, men are always after Mi. Among those men, Mg Ko Lay is the young, naïve one and madly in love with Mi, who treats him the same as other men. Unable to stand the emotional toll being with Mi causes him, Mg Ko Lay runs away from Mi by taking a job at a timber camp in the jungle, far away from Rangoon. There he meets Thaw Swe, his boss who treats him like his own brother. Thaw Swe gets to know Mi, through Mg Ko Lay's nightly heartbroken confessions. Mi's regular taunting letters to Mg Ko Lay, drive him crazy. One day, Mg Ko Lay commits suicide. Thaw Swe is dismissed because of the incident.
Thaw Swe wants to meet Mi who could drive a man to his own death. Thaw Swe comes to Rangoon, wanting to teach Mi a lesson. When they meet, everything changes. Thaw Swe learns stories of Mi from a lot of different men. Each man has different stories of Mi. Thaw Swe could not figure out which one is true. Even though Thaw Swe knows Mi is fooling him, he, too, can't help getting tangled with Mi. He soon realizes that he is becoming like Mg Ko Lay and finds himself trying to rescue Mi from herself.
But there is so much more that he doesn't know about Mi. Later he gets mixed up in a murder case of a rich man who has a connection with Mi. Is Mi innocent? Mi is dying anyway. What's the motive? Thaw Swe doesn't understand Mi from the beginning. Mi doesn't try to prove her innocence either. Yet, Thaw Swe becomes an intimate player in the web of mystery that Mi has laid out, rife with dangers, corruptions, and deceits. Meanwhile, Mi has what she thinks is the bigger problem than any other thing, doubting her existence. Will Thaw Swe be able to help Mi? The real question is, “Does Mi really want to be helped?”
Cast Paing Phyo Thu as Mi Nay Toe as Thaw Swe Ye Aung as U Ba Chit Min Oo as U Tin Maung Thar Nyi as Shwe Dar Myaung Aung Ye Htike as Maung Ko Lay
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominee Result2018Myanmar Academy Awards Best Actress Paing Phyo Thu Best Cinematography Na Gyi Best Music Myint Than Tun 2018Star Awards Best Actress Paing Phyo Thu Best Wardrobe & Makeup Zaw Zaw (ad.leono), May Oo Best Cinematography Na Gyi Best Director Na Gyi Best Film Victoria Production 2019ASEAN International Film Festival and Award Best Film Victoria Production Best Actress Paing Phyo Thu Best Director of Photography Na Gyi
References
External links
Mi on FilmFreeway