Director: Dang Nhât Minh
Screenplay: Dang Nhât Minh
Cinematographer: Nguyen Manh Lan, Pham Phuc Dat
Sound: Dào Van Biên
Music: Phu Quang
Cast.: Van Le, Luu Viet Bao Dang, Lai Phu Cuong
Production: Studio des longs métrages du Vietnam
Year: 1984
35 mm, B & W, 95 min,
OV Vietnamese with French subtitles
Unreleased
With kind support of Vietnamese Cultural Center in Paris
Nguyen lives in North Vietnam with her young son and her unhealthy father-in-law. When she went to the South to meet her husband, she was told he fell on the battlefield. Once back to her village, she wonders whether she should tell her father-in-law about his son’s death. The old man had already been quite upset by his elder son killed at the war. She decided to keep silent to avoid him to suffer more. Khang, the village school teacher, finds out about her secret. Not only does he not disclose it, but he accepts to write letters supposed to have been sent by the soldier himself; he even does not set the old man straight when on his deathbed he believes he is dying in his son’s arms. Her in-laws and the villagers do not accept so easily such closeness between the young woman and the school-teacher. It is only when the soldier’s death is officially announced that they realize how she must have suffered for his loss in silence.
This black and white film, aesthetically very beautiful, was awarded the jury special mention at Hawaii festival. It is the very first film shown in the West after 1975, and was selected at many international film festivals.
Nguyen lives in North Vietnam with her young son and her unhealthy father-in-law. When she went to the South to meet her husband, she was told he fell on the battlefield. Once back to her village, she wonders whether she should tell her father-in-law about his son’s death. The old man had already been quite upset by his elder son killed at the war. She decided to keep silent to avoid him to suffer more. Khang, the village school teacher, finds out about her secret. Not only does he not disclose it, but he accepts to write letters supposed to have been sent by the soldier himself; he even does not set the old man straight when on his deathbed he believes he is dying in his son’s arms. Her in-laws and the villagers do not accept so easily such closeness between the young woman and the school-teacher. It is only when the soldier’s death is officially announced that they realize how she must have suffered for his loss in silence.
This black and white film, aesthetically very beautiful, was awarded the jury special mention at Hawaii festival. It is the very first film shown in the West after 1975, and was selected at many international film festivals.
