Ola Bla Movie Analysis

By Yeo Chia Hui

For Marianne Tan, passion speaks louder than words － it transformed her quiet poise into an animated chatter on the intensive acting workshop that she has to go through for her recent film, Ola Bola.

When she discussed why Shakespeare’s dynamic play, Romeo and Juliet, is important for every actor’s character development, or when she talked about Meryl’s Streep commanding presence, the gleam that subtly but determinedly took over her eyes could possibly light up the world.

The sparkle that changed her demeanour during this interview must have been what director Chiu Keng Guan saw in her too when he gave Tan her big break.

“I don’t know how the director found me but he called me up one day for audition. It was actually for a different role in a different movie and I was offered the role, but the timing and scheduling clashed with my family commitment and I had to turned it down. He called me up again a year later for the role in Ola Bola and this time I promptly said yes. It was only much later that I found out the movie is a football themed one,” she divulged.

Although both the on-screen and off-screen Marianne are world apart, their journey in rediscovering their appreciation for Malaysia was on the same wavelength.

“Personality wise, we are two very different people. The movie Marianne is a fast paced, decisive and strong woman. Yet there is this side of her where she feels like giving up on her hopes and dreams because she thinks she’s better off overseas. And this I can relate to because in the creative line, you are often left wondering if you can achieve your dream locally because there’s a lot of red tape and such.”

In tandem with her film character, the hours that she spent researching, in order to immerse herself into the role, made her see another side of