Bela Padilla and Carlo Aquino on the pain of losing memory
All we are is a collection of memories.” This quote from the 2025 rom-com “Eternity” crossed Bela Padilla’s mind as she reflected on her upcoming movie, “A Special Memory.” Because if that’s indeed what makes us human, then erasing even just one of them would feel like a disservice to her.
What more if she were to lose them all completely?
Waking up to a stranger
Opening on March 11, “A Special Memory”—a Philippine adaptation of the 2001 Japanese drama series “Pure Soul”—stars Bela Padilla as Sandra, an impulsive, heartbroken fashion designer seeking to start anew with Dindo (Carlo Aquino), a construction foreman who works for her family’s company.
However, life takes a devastating turn when she’s diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Realizing that she will eventually become a burden, she voluntarily admits herself to a nursing home, hoping to spare Dindo the pain of watching her slowly lose herself.
Though he honors her wishes, he never stops loving her from a distance, until he musters enough strength to reintroduce himself to a woman who has become, in many ways, a stranger.
“Sabi mo sa ‘kin, malupit ang mundo, ‘di ba?” Sandra tells Dindo, as it dawns on her that one day she will wake up not knowing who he is. Indeed, it seems the most cruel that you never even realize what you have lost—or that you have lost anything at all.
Sensory devices
But if there’s one thing the film assures us, it’s that even as the world takes, it gives back—however small or unnoticeable it may be.
“Kahit na may memory loss, may naiiwang pa ring mga marka, gaya ng pabangong nakilala ni Sandra kahit ‘di niya alam na si Dindo ang nasa harapan niya,” scriptwriter and National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee tells Lifestyle Inquirer. “Nag-iiwan ang universe ng mga katiting na ebidensiya to show you that nothing is totally lost. There’s still love at totoong mabait pa rin ang mundo.”
It’s through such sensory devices that the characters’ love and story persist in the absence of shared memory. Aside from scent, there’s also the soft patter of rain on the skin and the comfort of running your fingers through a familiar head of hair.
“We all know that scent, for instance, is linked to memory and brings us back to a different time. It’s so beautiful that we used so many little things to remind Sandra and Dindo who they are and what their love is like. I think when people watch this, their senses will come to life,” Padilla says.
For the actress, these elements set this new version apart from the earlier Korean film adaptation, “A Moment to Remember,” or any other film that tackles memory loss.
Love as a guiding light
But beyond such cinematic touches, the script was written by Lee in a way that’s truer to Filipino culture and values. While the lead characters’ parents mostly moved in the periphery in the original, their stories are better fleshed out here. For our joys and sorrows are, ultimately, our family’s, too.
And this process of balancing the original intent with localized nuance can be tricky, even for masters like Lee. It’s easy in a sense since the “creative germ” already exists. But with that structure comes the pressure to match the original’s impact. And then you have to brace yourself for the inevitable comparisons.
But Ricky Lee, being Ricky Lee, imbibed the original’s essence, let go of the expectations, and wrote it the way he saw fit. He allowed Sandra and Dindo to take him on the journey, as they began to take on a life of their own. “I just had to remind myself that love goes beyond memories, sickness, and time,” he says. “That was my guiding light, wherever they took me.”
For Aquino, who has an aunt with Alzheimer’s disease, this same sentiment hits closer to home. “Kung nangyari sa ‘kin ‘yun at alam kong dun ako papunta, I would just try to become a better person,” he says. “Mawala man ang lahat, kung mabuti ang puso mo, ‘yun ang lalabas.”
Just magic
The actors face an equally challenging task. Because the portrayals by Hiromi Nagasaku and Naoto Ogata in the original Japanese series, and Son Ye-jin and Jung Woo-sung in the Korean film adaptation, are already ingrained in fans’ minds, Padilla and Aquino had to find a new way to embody the characters for a second time.
But if anyone is up to the task, it’s these two. Individually, Padilla and Aquino are gifted actors who love and respect their craft. Together, their partnership is tried and tested. In fact, it has been eight years since their last film, “Meet Me in St. Gallen,” hit cinemas, but still, clips from that iconic movie still go viral from time to time. Also, fans who make the trip to the charming Swiss city often tag the actors in their photos to relive the memorable scenes.
Chemistry, director Jerry Lopez-Sineneng says, is something he has never managed to define in his decades-long career in showbiz. But he knows it when he sees it—and Padilla and Aquino just have it. “It just happens. It’s in the way they look at each other or support each other,” he says. “It’s just magic.”
Aquino, however, sees it more pragmatically. “I just see it as the result of give-and-take on camera, of enjoying working with each other, and sharing fun moments behind the camera,” he says. “We’re just comfortable with each other.”
But in any case, whether by magic or plain talent, working on this film, they agree, is a memory they will always hope to keep.
