Movies for Vietnamese History
From: Nu-Anh Tran
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 9:16 AM
To: "vsg@u.washington.edu" <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear list,
I am teaching a survey course on Vietnamese history next semester, and I would like to show a few movies. So I am asking the list for recommendations of movies related to Vietnamese history that have proven pedagogically effective. I am hoping to find movies for these three (broadly defined) categories:
1) movies for the colonial period and earlier
2) movies for the Vietnam War period
3) movies for post-war and contemporary Vietnam
I know there are quite a number of movies for the Vietnam War period and contemporary Vietnam, but I haven't been able to identify a single film for the colonial period or earlier (as you can easily do for, say, Chinese history). Also, I am hoping for more Vietnam-centered movies on the war period. I am teaching in South Asia, and I sometimes find that teaching materials that might make sense to an American audience is just baffling to them because they have not had significant cultural exposure to American narratives about history.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Nu-Anh Tran
Assistant Professor
Asian University for Women
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From: John Whitmore
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 9:26 AM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I think that you will find 'Sad Song for Yellow Skin' (from the Trinh Cong Son song, should be Golden Skin Da Vang) interesting. It's about Americans (non-GIs) and Vietnamese in Saigon and elsewhere in the late '60s. Yours, John Whitmore, U. of Michigan
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From: Nora Taylor
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 9:54 AM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I use When the Tenth Month Comes and the students generally love it. And if you can get your hands on So Do, it might be interesting to students in South Asia. I have taught students from Pakistan and India and they enjoy comparing colonial pasts.
Nora
Nora Annesley Taylor,PhD
Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
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From: Martha Lincoln
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:15 AM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I wonder if VSG members would agree that "The Rebel" (2007) or "The Lover" (1992)
while problematic in many ways, could be used to teach colonial Vietnamese history.
Martha
--
Martha Lincoln
Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology
CUNY Graduate Center
365 5th Avenue, Suite 6406
New York, NY 10016 USA
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From: Susan Hammond
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:20 AM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Not a movie but the mini - series Song of the South (Ðâìt Phýõng Nam) that
HCM TV put on several years ago. It was subtitled by Discovery
Communications and put out in a boxed set of 6 DVDs (11 hours total). I
have not watched it all but perhaps someone on the list who has can let you
know if it there are parts that are worth showing in a classroom setting as
an example of the south of Vietnam in the 1930s and the resistance against
the French at that time. I do have several copies available if anyone is
interested.
Susan
Susan Hammond
Director
War Legacies Project
144 Lower Bartonsville Rd
Chester, VT 05143
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From: Diane Fox
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:20 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Thanks for this, John.
Where can we find it?
Diane
Diane Niblack Fox
Visiting Assistant Professor
Anthropology and History
College of the Holy Cross
1 College Street
Worcester, Ma 10610
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From: Diane Fox
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:39 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>, Nora Taylor <nthanoi04@yahoo.com>
A few ideas:
"Sound of the Violin at My Lai" -- Vietnamese film commemorating 30th anniversary; won best short in Asia-Pacific film festival in Thailand the year it came out (1998). Looks at the past with focus on the present, and on those who acted to rescue people from the massacre. Students find it gives lots to think about, for history, and for their own lives. Tran Van Thuy, director; 31 min.
"Story from the Corner of a Park" -- also Tran Van Thuy. A meditative look at a family dealing with the consequences of war, especially Agent Orange. 45 min
"Where War Has Passed" -- Vu Le My and Luong Duc -- A more snapshot view of many families, north and south, dealing with these consequences. 21 min.
"Deadly Debris" -- Vu Le My and Luong Duc -- a spin off of the previous film -- the consequences of UXO's in one particular village. 27 min.
I also use Dang Nhat Minh's "Nostalgia for the Countryside" to open up discussion of many different themes, and, again, the students (who are often just a year or two older than the main character) find it gives them lots to think about.
I hope someone can help us with something from the French colonial period.
Diane
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From: John Whitmore
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:49 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Diane - I'm not sure. We have it here at Michigan in the media library as a single reel of film, lasting about an hour. Hopefully it exists in a more up to date format somewhere. You might check online. It's from the IVS crowd of those days, and I've always found it fascinating. Good luck with it, John
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From: Diane Fox
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:51 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Hi --
I often use a clip from "The Rebel" / "Dong Mau Anh Hung" (and several other films) on the last day of class, as I try to underscore to students that there is lots more to Vietnam than we have been able to cover in the term. It generally startles them, raising many good questions about the past and the present and collaborations and representations. I always tell them about Dang Nhat Minh's expression of disgust when I asked him what he thought about the Rebel -- meaningful to them, because often they fall in love with "Nostalgia..."
The Lover? -- I'd love to hear thoughts on how you would compare it's use to "Indochine" or "Quiet American" (again, contrasting the ends of the 1958 version, the book, and the 2002 version makes for interesting discussion) -- and, again, that's why I'm hoping someone out there has a better idea.
df
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From: Quang Van
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:00 AM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear Nu-Anh,
One of my favorite movies is Canh Dong Hoang/The Abandoned Field (Nguyen Hong Sen, 1979). You can see part of it on Youtube (without subtitles) but the movie is available at many libraries. Other movies include the Wharf of Widows, "Land of Sorrows"/"Dat Kho" (Starring Trinh Cong Son), Chung Toi Muon Song/We Want to Live (RSVN). Heaven and Earth (Oliver Stone) is also a great one. The Viet Nam Film Series at Yale has a page on VN War Movies and documentaries: http://www.yale.edu/seas/VietnamFilmSeries.html.
Quang
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From: Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:04 AM
To: "quang.van@yale.edu" <quang.van@yale.edu>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I'd love to show Chung toi muon song when I teach a Vietnam war class, but the version I have doesn't have subtitles. Is there a subtitled version out there, does anyone know?
Best,
Wynn
Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox
Associate Professor and Co-Chair
Department of History and Non-Western Cultures
Western Connecticut State University
181 White Street
Danbury, CT 06810
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From: Diane Fox
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:14 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>, quang.van@yale.edu
Oh! Thanks for this news about Canh Dong Hoang being on You Tube (at least, in part). You take me straight back to the many, many times I've seen it on tv in VN. Yes, a great one.
df
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From: George Dutton
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:15 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Hi Nu-Anh,
Speaking of films about "Fields", while it is probably no longer extant, the first Vietnamese feature film to be produced was entitled "The Ghost Field" [Canh Dong Ma]. This film was shot with a Vietnamese crew and cast, but filmed in Hong Kong. It was produced in 1937 and the story concerned a psychoanalyst and a serial killer named Hung. Using hypnosis the analyst induces Hung to describe a series of murders that he has committed: Hung has killed a moneylender, a bar owner, a quack doctor, and a vagabond. Having discovered that her boyfriend was among Hung's victims, the psychoanalyst's daughter stabs him with a knife at the conclusion of the film.
Hope this helps for at least a bit of background. Prior to this French companies had filmed in VN for scenic backdrops, and had apparently shot a version of the Tale of Kieu, but this was the first film that could probably be called "Vietnamese."
George
_______________________________
George Dutton
Vice Chair and Associate Professor
UCLA Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
290 Royce Hall
Box 951540
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1540
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From: Cari Coe
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:18 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I "think" I just found the full-version online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22jZYveuA0g
--
Cari An Coe, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of International Affairs, MSC 36
Lewis & Clark College
0615 SW Palatine Hill Road
Portland, OR 97219
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From: Nhu Miller
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:23 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
http://www.nfb.ca/film/sad-song-of-yellow-skin
Still one of the great VN documentaries....
T.T. Nhu
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From: John Whitmore
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:38 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Excellent! Thank you.
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From: Nguyen-Vo, Thu-Huong
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 12:04 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear Nu-Anh,
Here's a powerful clip by the Lumiere Brothers filmed in Indochina in late 1800s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5NZo8Mm0M&feature=BFa&list=PLD92C518FB1EE2283&lf=results_video
nvt huong
ucla
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From: Tai VanTa
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:48 PM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
DEAR NU-ANH TRAN,
What about 'Indochine' for the colonial period ?
French colonial depravity, revolutionary characters, beautiful Ha Long Bay scenes, surprise actions, famous beautiful French actress Catherine Deneuve and the Vietnamese Pham as the ingenue main protagonist, who, who knows, may be willing to come to the showing for the students feel as if real life persons are in your course (As is my niece, I will ask my cousin/her father about it, if you want). May nominations and awards from Academy, British Academy,French Academy and Globe.
Tai Van Tai
Ac
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From: Quynh Le
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:55 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I would suggest you buy this new bibliography book on all Vietnam-related films, up to 1992.
It is "Vietnam War Films: Over 600 Feature, Made-for-tv, Pilot and Short Movies, 1939-1992", by Jean-Jacques Malo. According to Amazon.co.uk, the latest edition is published in December 2011.
Regards,
Quynh Le
BBC World Service, London
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From: Mariam Lam
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 3:54 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear Diane and Nu-Anh,
You can order Song of the South from Gerald Herman, Director of the HaNoi Cinemateque, who co-produced the six-part series. His email address is: ghlotus@aol.com It's best that you order from him, as sets purchased elsewhere may not include one re-mastered disc.
You might also check out Loins du Vietnam/Far from Vietnam (France, 1967). "In seven different parts, Godard, Klein, Lelouch, Marker, Resnais and Varda show their sympathy for the North-Vietnamees army during the Vietnam-war."
Best,
Mariam
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From: Susan Hammond
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 5:00 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
The sets I have are from Gerry Hermann unless the DVD set changed from when he sent them our old office in NYC for easier distribution here in the US about 6 or possibly 7 years ago. Which may be possible. They are at the moment just taking up space in the office, still wrapped in the original packaging. I’d rather someone made good use of them.
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From: <catharindalpino@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 5:51 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I would add to the list the 1996 "Story from the Corner of a Park," a gentle documentary about a family in Hanoi with two children who have profound disabilities presumed to be linked to the father's exposure to Agent Orange during the war. The film also addresses religion in an interesting, if incidental, manner. Tran Van Thuy directed. I have used this film in my classes, for sessions that deal with war legacy issues, and students never fail to be informed and moved by it. Susan Hammond would be a good source of information on how to obtain a DVD, and may even have extra copies (I got mine from her).
Best,
Catharin
Catharin Dalpino
Warburg Professor of International Relations, Simmons College
Visiting Scholar in Southeast Asian Studies
Johns Hopkins-SAIS
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From: Minh Tran
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 8:08 PM
To: catharindalpino@earthlink.net, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
A period piece is both rare and essential. There are only a few films that actually contain subtitle for the American students as mentioned above. More modern or post-war films are plentiful yet differentiate by the theme of the movie. Here are some:
The Scent of Green Papayas, with minimum dialogues and almost entirely shot on a soundstage in Paris, gave life to the period. Buffalo Boy is set in the 1940s Ca Mau about a coming-of-age teenage and his journey through life. It shows light into the life under colonial poverty. My favorite is, of course, Ð?t Phuong Nam. I am unsure if there is a subtitle version. All three of these have something in common.
Minh Huynh Tran
PhD Student
University of the West
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From: Tai, Hue-Tam
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 8:50 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I would not suggest using The Scent of Green Papayas. It gives a quite erroneous picture of Vietnamese culture. ditto La Verticale de l'Ete. I also have reservations about Indochine.
For the colonial period, Judith Henchy's suggestion of the Gaumont Pathe collection is excellent.
Buffalo Boy is a much better representation of Vietnamese life in the early or mid 20th century and could be very usefully paired with the more recent Canh Dong Vo Tan which deals with a duck farming family in the midst of the Avian Flu crisis.
My students have liked both Nostalgia for the Countryside and When the Tenth Month Comes.
The Sound of Violins in My Lai similarly could be paired with the PBS documentary on My Lai.
Karen Turner's Hidden Warriors provides a very interesting look at the women who volunteered to work on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Hue Tam Ho Tai
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From: Carl Robinson
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 1:15 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I certainly would not rpt not recommend Indochine unless you're trying to generate tourism to Vietnam with its wide shots over Ha Long Bay. I'm convinced the film not only kicked off tourism, now a real glut of same, to the Bay and also made adopting a cute little Vietnamese orphan a very trendy thing in France in the late 90's. But more than that, the story just doesn't ring true.
Do you seriously think the daughter of a Hue mandarin would be turned over to a single French woman, and who also runs a rubber plantation, and when she grows up falls head-over-heels with a French Navy officer with whom she runs away and their story becomes the stuff of "shadow plays" all over Vietnam's then-revolutionary zones? She certainly wouldn't be regarded a heroine to them, not only for her sell-out background but joining up in an affair with a foreigner. I know the French weren't the coolest colonialists but the portrayal of them was certainly a bit over the top. No stars from me!
ON the other hand, the 2001-remake of The Quiet American, on which I'll modestly admit to playing the 'production advisor,' isn't too bad although the Australian film director Philip Noyce makes a critical change to Graham Greene's original story when he blames that massacre at Phat Diem on the "third force" rather than the Viet Minh who were using it as a form of terror against the northern Catholics, both in the novel and in real life. (The opium smoking scenes are all mine though and I also played Michael Caine's "hand double".) Not perfect but regarded as a much closer rendering of the novel than the first one.
Whatever film(s) you do show to your wide-eyed students will need a caveat or two to explain the "slant" and point of view being taken, especially by the current regime. Every film or television production needs government approval, of course, and I'm still waiting for a truly genuine film out of Vietnam. The novel Sorrow of War would come up best -- whoever ends up making that into a movie.
Best,
Carl Robinson
Former AP Correspondent, Saigon 1968-75.
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From: IVCE
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 4:29 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear List,
We have been showing the contemporary Vietnamese films at the colleges in U.S since 2003. There are the huge films available on dvd.
Thang Tran
President
The Institute for Vietnamese Culture & Education (IVCE).
IVCE:
available for sale, http://www.ivce.org/book.php?bookid=MS00000003
1. When The Tenth Month Comes (Bao gi? cho d?n tháng 10), English subtitles, 90 minutes, 1985, directed by Dang Nhat Minh.
2. The Story of Kindness (Câu chuy?n t? t?), English subtitles, 45 minutes, 1985, directed by Tran Van Thuy.
3. The Gamble (Canh b?c), English subtitles, 92 minutes, 1993, directed by Luu Trong Ninh.
4. The Traveling Circus (Gánh xi?c rong), English subtitles, 74 minutes, 1994, directed by Viet Linh.
5. Nostalgia For The Countryside (Thuong nh? d?ng quê), English subtitles, 116 minutes, 1996, directed by Dang Nhat Minh.
6. Letter From Dong Van (Lá thu t? Ð?ng Van), English subtitles, 23 minutes, 2007, directed by Nguyen Huu Tuan.
7. We Apologize To You (Cha m? xin l?i con), English subtitles, 37 minutes, 2007, directed by Phan Huyen Thu.
8. Mother, I'm Home (M?, con dã v?), English subtitles, 32 minutes, 2007, directed by Phan Huyen Thu.
9. The Moon at the bottom of the Well (Trang noi dáy gi?ng), English subtitles, 121 minutes, 2008, directed by Vinh Son.
10. Don’t Burn It (Ð?ng Ð?t), English subtitles, 105 minutes, 2009, directed by Dang Nhat Minh.
11. What we see and what can’t see, English subtitles, 38 minutes, 2010, directed by Le brothers Thanh & Hai.
not yet available for sale.
12. Story from the Corner of a Park (Câu chuy?n t? góc ph? công viên), English subtitles, 45 minutes, [video], 1996, directed by Tran Van Thuy.
13. Sound of the violin at My Lai (Ti?ng vi c?m M? Lai), English subtitles, 30 minutes, [video], 1998, directed by Tran Van Thuy.
14. The Story of Pao (Chuy?n c?a Pao), English subtitles, 94 minutes, 2006, directed by Ngo Quang Hai.
15. Living in Fear (S?ng trong s? hãi), English subtitles, 104 minutes, 2007, directed by Bui Thac Chuyen.
16. The White Dress Silk (Áo l?a Hà Ðông), English subtitles, 142 minutes, 2007, directed by Luu Huynh.
17. The Little Heart (Trái tim bé b?ng), English subtitles, 86 minutes, 2008, directed by Nguyen Thanh Van.
18. Mourners of Hire (Khóc mu?n), English subtitles, 2008, 27 minutes, directed by Tran Thi Phuong Lan
19. Floating Lives (Cánh d?ng b?t t?n), 2011, directed by Nguyen Quang Binh.
20. The Mother’s Heart (Tam h?n m?), English subtitles, 95 minutes, 2011, directed by Pham Nhue Giang.
no English subtitles
21. N?i Gió, 94 minutes, 1966, directed by Huy Thanh.
22. Ð?n H?n L?i Lên, , 103 minutes, 1974, directed by Tran Vu.
23. Lgày L? Thanh, 82 minutes, 1976, directed by Bach Diep.
24. Làng Vu Ð?i Ngày ?y, 90 minutes, 1982, directed by Pham Van Khoa.
25. Th? Xã Trong T?m Tay, 77 minutes, 1983, directed by Dang Nhat Minh.
26. Tu?ng V? Huu, 90 minutes, 1988, directed by Nguyen Khac Loi
27. Ki?p Phù Du, 90 minutes, 1990, directed by Hai Ninh.
28. C? Lau, 84 minutes, 1993, directed by Vuong Duc.
29. Tr? V?, 105 minutes, 1994, directed by Dang Nhat Minh.
30. Hà N?i Mùa Ðông Nam 46, 88 minutes, 1996, directed by Dang Nhat Minh.
31. B?n Không Ch?ng, 105 minutes, 2000, directed by Luu Trong Ninh.
Vietnam:
32. The Sandy Life (Ð?i cát), English subtitles, 90 minutes, 1999, directed by Nguyen Thanh Van.
33. The Deserted Valley (Thung lung hoang v?ng), English subtitles, 90 minutes, 2002, directed by Pham Nhue Giang.
34. Glorious Time in Me Thao Hamlet (Me th?o th?i vang bóng), English subtitles, 90 minutes, 2002, directed by Viet Linh.
35. King of Rubbish Dumps (Vua bãi rác), English subtitles, 90 minutes, 2002, directed by Do Minh Tuan.
36. Lady Nightmare (Ngu?i dàn bà m?ng du), 2003, directed by Nguyen Thanh Van.
37. Lost and Found (C?a roi), English subtitles, 97 minutes, 2003, directed by Vuong Duc.
38. Adrift (Choi voi), English subtitles, 110 minutes, 2009, directed by Bui Thac Chuyen.
39. The Legend Is Alive (Huy?n tho?i b?t t?), English subtitles, 106 minutes, 2009, directed by Luu Huynh.
Amazon:
40. Land of Sorrow (Ð?t kh?), English subtitles, 102 minutes, 1970, directed by Ha Thuc Can
41. Indochine, English subtitles, 159 minutes, 1992, directed by Régis Wargnier.
42. Heaven and Earth, 140 minutes, 1993. directed by Oliver Stone
43. The Scent of Green Papaya (Mùi du d? xanh), English subtitles, 104 minutes, 1994, directed by Tran Anh Hung.
44. Cyclo, English subtitles, 123 minutes, 1996, directed by Tran Anh Hung.
45. Three Seasons (Ba mùa), English subtitles, 104 minutes, 1999, directed by Tony Bui.
46. The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Chi?u mùa hè th?ng d?ng), English subtitles, 112 minutes, 2001, directed by Tran Anh Hung.
47. Green Dragon (R?ng xanh), English subtitles, 115 minutes, 2001, directed by Timothy Bui.
48. Quite of America, 101 minutes, 2001, directed by Phillip Noyce.
49. The Buffalo Boy (Mùa len trâu), English subtitles, 102 minutes, 2004, directed Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh.
50. Journey From The Fall (Vu?t sóng), English subtitles, 135 minutes, 2007, directed Ham Tran.
51. Oh, Saigon, English subtitles, 58 minutes, 2008, directed Doan Hoang.
Synopsis:
Buffalo Boy: tells the coming-of-age story of 15-year-old Kim, who up till now, knows nothing of the world outside his small village. The setting is the Mekong Delta in the 1940s. During the flooding season, Kim is charged with taking his family's prized pair of buffaloes to higher ground to find grass. Along the way, Kim is transformed into adulthood as he experiences human nature at its best and its worst. The epic landscapes and the elemental sounds of the movie are, in itself, a work of beauty that can be appreciated by all!
The Story of Pao: The story centers on a young girl, Pao, living in a mountainous area on a journey to discover her family's past and her own future. Recalling memories of marriage and the emotional life of her parents, the story deftly develops the concept of love from different points of view, both traditional and modern. The interaction between the people in the movie is told in a very moving and vivid manner. Secret desires, pent up feelings, and internal emotions come to light in different situations that make the already romantic story even more attractive. The movie's storyline is further accentuated by its setting: the magnificent mountain ranges of Northwest Vietnam that are engulfed year-round by an immense veil of fog. This movie is not only an honest and moving picture of a family's emotional life but it also provides an intimate look at what Vietnam is all about.
Living in Fear: Set in 1975 just after the South-North unification, Bui Thac Chuyen's debut film portrays the exceptional life force of Vietnamese people who survive in their devastated land. The new land allotted to Tai, a former soldier of the defeated side, is covered with unexploded bombs and landmines. Tai has to support two families, for he has committed bigamy during the war. And to earn a living, he has no choice but to clear landmines and sell them to the black market...From this dangerous work, Tai draws a truth for his life: A mine is dangerous only when it is stepped on. When being unearthed, it is no different from a stone.
The White Silk Dress: This film depicts the life story of a very poor family in Hoi An and the struggle they endure because of their circumstances. It is an unforgettable story filled with an emotional romance embedded in traditional cultural. It deals with foreboding crises and tremendous emotional growth spanning twelve years in the lives of four characters in the sixties. They have nothing but dreams. These are simple dreams, but in the world of violence and madness, we find dreams often destroyed. But above all, the story of The White Silk Dress is a symbol of love, hope, sacrifice, and fate all tied together. It is a story of the inspiring triumph of sacrifice and the healing power of love.
The Little Heart: Somewhere far away in the heart of Central Vietnam, there stands a remote village dusting itself against the surrounding hundreds of sand dunes and the feelings of seclusion and hopelessness. Many of its teens find themselves dreaming of leaving this sad village, thirsting for an exciting city life with colors and opportunities. Only a few of these dreamers actually make it to the city of Saigon. 17-year-old Mai considers herself "lucky", leaving behind all her struggles, all her memories, all her loved ones, including her dear teenage boyfriend, Den, who is a year older. She thought she had found a very promising career in embroidery work with some special arrangements from a broker. Unfortunately, life is not as simple as that. She soon realizes that she had fallen into a very subtle web of brothel operations. And in this chaotic, strange city with no one to turn to, she surrenders to prostitution and eventually the awful disease that comes with that life.
The Moon at the bottom of the Well: Hanh, a high school teacher in Hue, Vietnam, and her husband, Phuong, the school's principal, share a seemingly peaceful and happy life. Though she loves her husband deeply, there is one thing she is unable to give him - a child. Hanh thus facilitates an arrangement for her husband to have a child with another woman. The surrogate pregnancy must be concealed or they will be subject to public scorn. Unfortunately, the secret gets disclosed and jeopardizes Phuong's career. To protect her husband, Hanh sacrifices their marriage, only to find out later he is not worthy of her love. Despairing, Hanh never expects to find happiness again, but nevertheless stumbles on it in the most unexpected place: the underworld.
Don’t Burn It: The film "Don’t Burn it" is the story of a female doctor, Dang Thuy Tram, from Hanoi. During the war, she headed an infirmary in a war-ravaged area where, according to her diary, "death can be easier than having a meal." Her diary documents her love for people, her burning longings for her family and relatives, and her dreams about peace, which have touched the heart of an American soldier on the opposing side. This war diary has the strength to bring people of different colors and political viewpoints closer. It is a rarity. If one can call this film propaganda, it must be propaganda about the love among human beings. I think on this earth wherever there is hatred and killing, such propaganda is still necessary.
Floating Lives: Set in the exquisitely beautiful Mekong Delta of Vietnam, the film tells the story of Mr. Vo and his daughter Nuong and his son Dien. Vo, a man wounded by his wife’s infidelity, has burned down his house and all his memories of the past. He has restarted his life with his two children, living a nomadic existence on a boat among the labyrinthine canals of the Mekong. He is an exile not because of the war- now only a distant memory in Vietnam-but from the modern life and materialism that he sees as the cause of his wife’s giving in to the temptations of self-indulgence. Twisted and made bitter by her betrayal, Vo takes revenge by using his attractive looks to cruelly abuse all women who fall in love with him, and at times even the daughter who looks more and more like her mother as she grows up. Vo becomes a man who cannot see love, while his son and daughter become emotionally twisted, inheriting their father’s hatred, distrust and coldness. It is only when the children rescue Suong, a prostitute, from being beaten by a mob of outraged women and, in spite of their father, take her into their life and form a surrogate family around her, that Suong’s physical and spiritual healing allows the children-and perhaps their father-to have their own healing, and their own reconciliation with love.
The Mother’s Heart: Lan and her daughter Thu live in a lowland area in the middle of the Red river delta. Their typical day's work includes going to the Long Bien Market very early in the morning to buy wholesale groceries and resell them back in a local market later during the day. Thu’s mother falls in love with a driver, a relation that has no future. However, she loves him so much that she does not make wise decisions and thus her business is operating at a loss. Thu tries to help her mother to make both ends meet. She longs for her mother’s affection and in order to make up for such a loss of love from her mother, she devotes her affection to a close classmate, who she wants to be her son. Like Thu, Dang lacks mother’s love as he is an orphan. With a strong personality, sense of responsibility, and love, Thu successfully convinces Dang to consider her as his mother with the best heart.
Journey From The Fall: Ham Tran’s impressive feature debut is a potent addition to the body of Vietnam War movies, but from a distinctively Vietnamese-American viewpoint. Both stomach churning and hypnotically enthralling, the film skillfully jumps back and forth in time, as it follows the struggles of Long Nguyen and his family after the fall of Saigon. Long is captured and imprisoned in a series of re-education camps, while his family tries to flee to the US. After the family arrives in the US, they still have to cope with racism and the struggle for survival. Yet the film never descends into desolate bleakness. Rather it will reinforce your faith in the potential of human beings to survive and thrive against the worst odds.
Letter From Dong Van, Dong Van is a district 150 kilometers from Ha Giang, towering 1,200 meters above the sea level, making the dome of the entire country. The largest ethnic group here is the H’mong. Their hamlets scatter on high mountain slopes. When I first came here, I sometimes asked myself why the H’mong people had chosen to build their lives on such brutal lands. Their choice is still a mystery to me.
We Apologize To You. A poor bricklayer, Tong Phuoc Phuc, from Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province, joins a group of “Volunteers” to collect dead fetuses and bodies of children, unclaimed, to bury them in a cemetery on top of a small hill, called Hon Thom, in the village of Xuan Ngoc, Vinh Ngoc District, Khanh Hoa Province. The bricklayer has found a few surviving children, abandoned by their parents, brought them home and cares for them, hoping that their parents would come look for them one day and send them to schools.
What we see and what can’t see: (1) The Bridge: the Hien Luong bridge represents a part of the recent history of Vietnam, a symbol of separation and happiness, a twisting and turning of two individuals, and signifies on its body more than just one semantic connotation. Still a permanent anxiety of a human life, and of the creativity of artists: there underlies thoughts and pains of a past full of sufferings, and the blood and tears of the younger generations with a country of theirs full of hardship which they have never experienced, or just a fortune to hear, read or to be told about, (2) Sinh Village: Sinh, the Mud Village, leaning its shadow on the Perfume River, was founded sometimes in the XVth Century. It was not only a bunting merchant river port neighboring the City of Hue, but also a cultural center of the old kingdom. Nobody knows when the handicraft of religious painting became the famous center for the people living far and near. Today, however, the Mud Village paintings are on the verge of losing its traditional characters. (3) Kieu Thai Vuong's Tomb. Kieu Thai Vuong is the reign name of Emperor Nguyen Phuc Hong Cai (1845-1876), who fathered three successive Emperors: Emperor Reign of Kien Phuc (1883-1884), Emperor Reign of Ham Nghi (1884-1885) and Emperor Reign of Dong Khanh (1886-1888). Emperor Dong Khanh reigned for three year and passed away when he was just 25. Right after his coronation, Emperor Dong Khanh ordered the building of the mausoleum called Truy Tu, next to the tomb of his father. The Truy Tumausoleum broke the ground in February 1888, and was basically completed by October that year. Emperor Dong Khanh led the ceremony of moving the altar of Kieu Thai Vuong to the mausoleum.
Mourners of Hire. Nobody knows when it came to life. >From the time immemorial in the northern part of Vietnam, particularly in the country side there appeared an odd profession, in the context of a growing social movement of lavish funerals and festivities. The professional mourners for hire were infamously named “vultures feasting on rotten carcasses.” Today, after so many centuries of refinement it becomes more sophisticated as our society becomes more civilized. Mourners for hire in Vietnam seemed nowhere to be found for a long while, but now reemerge and appear everywhere under a multidimensional moralistic social character in front of the cameras of the film director.
----------
From: Lan Duong
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 8:01 AM
To: Nu-Anh Tran <tran_n_a@yahoo.com>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
hi Nu-Anh,
I teach a course on Vietnamese and Overseas Vietnamese Cinema and the films I use broadly cover the periods and themes you list below.
I begin with Abandoned Fields, and continue with When the Tenth Month Comes, Nostalgia for the Countryside, The Deserted Valley, Long-Legged Girls, Cyclo, Three Seasons, Journey from the Fall, and The Rebel.
The films are taught roughly in chronological order (as this may be easier for students to follow) and touch upon many different issues -- war, postwar, Doi Moi, ethnic minority representation, modernity, tradition, gender, sexuality, immigration, and the diaspora. With the Rebel, we return to questions of colonialism and collaboration (not just political but also in terms of the contemporary production of film).
As to your questions on colonialism, there are some feature-length films that deal with this as a fictional historical setting: Me Thao...Thoi Vang Bong, Ao Lua Ha Dong, Chung Mot Dong Song, and The Rebel.
And as Thu-Huong Nguyen-Vo mentioned, there are some colonial 1-minute shorts that can be found on the web and via the Lumiere Brothers First Films DVD compilation (which includes Gabriel Veyre's great camerawork).
For VN war films, there are Em Be Ha Noi, Warrior: Who Are You?, Chung Toi Muon Song, Chim Vang Khuyen, Me Khi Vang Nha, and Dung Dot (though this film has just come out and I'm not sure if there are any copies to purchase).
Many of these films I bought in VNS American DVD Shops (like Long-Legged Girls) and some through IVC (like Nostalgia). I have also bought films in VNS DVD shops, where films like Em Be Ha Noi has been refurbished and is now being bought and sold on the streets. In Sai Gon, I have also found films like Ao Lua Ha Dong and Deserted Valley.
Hope this helps and good luck with the course.
Lan
Lan Duong, Assistant Professor
Department of Media and Cultural Studies
CHASS Interdisciplinary Building, Rm 3141
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From: Lan Duong
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 8:02 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
hi George,
Do you know where I can screen or get a copy of "Canh Dong Ma"? No library in Southern California has it. As far as I know, Cornell does but the library won't let me borrow it.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Lan
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From: Mike High
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 8:05 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I agree that the second Quiet American is much more faithful to Greene’s novel. The head-scratcher for me was how the film could suggest that General Th? (aka “The Third Force”) could have been responsible for the massacre in Phát Diêm. General Th?’s “force” was strictly regional, based in Tây Ninh, worlds away from the Red River delta.
However, the movie is faithful to Greene in not blaming the massacre on the Viet Minh. In the novel, the narrator says that the bodies in the canal were civilians “caught in the cross-fire.” (Earlier, a priest had told him that the “parachutists caught them in a cross-fire.”) This was a scene based on Greene’s reportage—I recall reading in one of his other writings that he was not at all sure who the victims were or how they had been killed.
In defense of Indochine, which is frequently criticized on historical grounds, it had a direct, powerful emotional impact on me, for reasons too deep for me to fully understand. Certainly it is not meant to be historically accurate or even plausible. When we enter the endless stretch of emerald karsts, it becomes clear that it is morphing into a fairy-tale that recalls T? Th?c’s sojourn in the Bích Ðào grotto. For me, the movie captured perfectly the sorrow of alienation— of partition—in recent Vietnamese history. But maybe it’s just me.
:: Mike High
????
Great Falls, VA
USA
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From: Tai, Hue-Tam
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 8:46 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I well remember Mark Bradley telling me that he'd gotten into an argument with a historian of Great Britain with no pretension to familiarity with Asia or Asian history but who nonetheless insisted quite heatedly that Indochine was an authentic rendition of Vietnamese colonial history. it was not a pleasant experience.
Yes, the scenery was enchanting. In fact, when I escorted a group of Harvard alumni in 1993' the French woman who'd been hired by the travel agency kept on pointing out various sites among the Nguyen imperial tombs and saying "this is where a particular scene" in Indochine was shot; I wanted to talk about the history of the site and of the emperors buried there and the rebellion that took place in 1866. Back in Hanoi, she was more interested in showing the group where Catherine Deneuve bought her morning croissants than in the history of the city.
I am glad that Indochine has stopped being such a reference point!
I do like the new Quiet American despite the liberties mentioned by others ( I found that many of my students miss the connection between the massacre in Phat Diem and General The). I wonder whether this was to counterbalance the earlier, heavily anti-communist version. I usually assign the novel both to stimulate discussion of US war aims and to provide a good sense of what Saigon was like in 1955.
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From: Nhu Miller
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 10:07 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
A message from Gerry Herman in response to what films are available
from the Ha noi Cinematheque:
//We do not have DVD of STORY FROM A CORNER OF THE PARK.
(Nhu: This is an exceptionally haunting movie. Try to see it somehow.)
At long last I have made a website to sell the Vietnamese DVDs I have made:
· Nostalgia for the Countryside (1984)
· Song of the South (1998) (11-hour TV series - Dat Phuong Nam)
· When the Tenth Month Comes (1984)
The website (which takes credit cards and PayPal) is:
http://discovery-releasing.com //
T.T. Nhu
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From: Jo
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 10:28 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Thanks to Nhu for this information.
Finally, between Mr Herman and IVCE, the necessary information on films from Vietnam is organized and their accessibility greatly facilitated.
Joanna K.
Vis.Anth.
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From: Jo
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 11:20 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
So which is it?
1)However, the movie is faithful to Greene in not blaming the massacre on the Viet Minh
2) ‘director Philip Noyce makes a critical change to Graham Greene's original story when he blames that massacre at Phat Diem on the "third force" rather than the Viet Minh who were using it as a form of terror against the northern Catholics, both in the novel and in real life.
Joanna
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From: Carl Robinson
Date: Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 11:24 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
The movie does blame the Phat Diem massacre on the Third Force. Recall Fowler's (Michael Caine's) meeting with Colonel The when he asks that question.
Best,
Carl
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From: Jérémy Mousset
Date: Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 9:03 AM
To: vsg@u.washington.edu
On the american war period, the 1968 documentary movie " The Seventeenth Parallel : Vietnam in War", by Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan could certainly be of teaching value on many different levels.
There is more details about the movie here : http://www.ivens.nl/film68.htm
and a 1968 New York Times review can be found here : http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9407E7DB1E31E034BC4F51DFBF668383679EDE
Cordially,
Jérémy Mousset
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From: John Kleinen
Date: Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 11:32 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
For a summary of the story behind the making of the 17th parallel, see the website of Ivens biographer Hans Schoots: http://www.hansschoots.nl/engels/parallel.html. The original story is published in Dangerous Live. A Biography of Joris Ivens (in Dutch), 1995. Another critical assessment "A real believer, with difficulty. Joris Ivens, film maker (1898-1989)", in Lion and Dragon. Four Centuries of Dutch-Vietnamese Relations. Amsterdam: Boom, 2008.
Op 04-12-11 18:03, Jérémy Mousset schreef:
--
-----
John Kleinen Ph.D
Associate Professor
University of Amsterdam
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
O.Z.Achterburgwal 185
1012 DK Amsterdam
----------
From: John Kleinen
Date: Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 11:41 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
The English translation of the biography of Joris Ivens was published in 2000:
http://books.google.com/books/about/Living_dangerously.html?id=PFzhhqVUq90C
JK
On the american war period, the 1968 documentary movie " The Seventeenth Parallel : Vietnam in War", by Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan could certainly be of teaching value on many different levels.
----------
From: Janet Hoskins
Date: Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 9:05 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Background to two versions of "The Quiet American"
In relation to the discussion of the Philip Noyce's 2001 "Quiet American", it is interesting to speculate as to why General The was blamed for a massacre that he could never have carried out. One reason would simply be to please the current government of Vietnam (which issued a permit for shooting in Vietnam) which would not want documentation of Viet Minh atrocities.
Another reason goes back to the filming of the earlier John Manchiewitz 1958 version, which was filmed on location in Tay Ninh.
On February 25, 1957, in an article tellingly titled “The Disquieted Americans” Time reported that when Machiewitz tried to film “The Quiet American” (with a re-written ending that completely justified the then escalating American military presence in Vietnam) in Tay Ninh, he was initially well received and able to film the huge ceremony dedicated to the Mother Goddess. But then the filming was disrupted by demonstrations asking for the return of the exiled Ho Phap. The Ho Phap here was a reference to the Caodai leader Pham Cong Tac (whose title actually means "Head Spirit Medium", a position which was never identified as the “Pope”, in spite of many English mis-translations along those lines). Ngo Dinh Diem's forces were sent to arrest Pham Cong Tac in 1955, but he fled to Cambodia. If you look at the scenes shot in Tay Ninh (now available in the DVD of the 1958 film, and excerpted in my documentary "The Left Eye of God") you can see the ceremony turning into a political demonstration, and the filmmakers did not bother to edit out scenes of people carrying banners protesting the exile of their leader.
The official website for the 2001 "Quiet American" says that the scenes that were set in Tay Ninh were filmed in northern Vietnam because the area was more "scenic", but it seems more likely that the government did not want the scenes to be filmed in Tay Ninh for political reasons, perhaps fearing another demonstration.
In Greene's 1952 article in Paris Match "Indochina: France's Crown of Thorns", he clearly describes the massacre at Phat Diem as a conflict between the French and the Viet Minh. He also acknowledges that the story of his almost ambush (repeated in "The Quiet American") concerned Hoa Hoa forces, not Caodaists. Amazingly, in this Paris Match article, Graham Greene argues that only Catholicism could beat Communism in Vietnam.
Janet Hoskins
Professor of Anthropology, University of Southern California
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From: Nhu Miller
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 8:57 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Joseph L. Mankiewicz is the correct spelling.
From Wikipedia:
//In 1958, Mankiewicz directed The Quiet American, an adaptation of Graham Greene's 1955 novel about the seed of American military involvement in what would become the Vietnam War. Mankiewicz, under career pressure from the climate of anti-Communism and the Hollywood blacklist, distorted the message of Greene's book, changing major parts of the story to appeal to a nationalistic audience. A cautionary tale about America's blind support for "anti-Communists" was turned into, according to Greene, a "propaganda film for America".[8]//
This sounds right. Greene was no fan of U.S. role in Viet Nam and elsewhere.
T.T. Nhu
Berkeley, California
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From: Nu-Anh Tran
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 9:11 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear list,
Thank your for all of the suggestions! This is very helpful to me as I prepare my syllabus. Thanks again! (Sorry if this is a repeat email. I am having problems with my connection.)
Cheers,
Nu-Anh Tran
Assistant Professor
Asian University for Women
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From: Kleinen, John
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 9:17 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Paradoxically, The Ugly American (Englund 1963) at least tried to avoid the stereotyping of Asians, like the case was in the Quiet American (1958).
Cheers,
JOHN
http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/j.g.g.m.kleinen/
NEW PUBLICATION
Pirates, Ports, and Coasts in Asia
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From: <sdenney@library.berkeley.edu>
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 12:44 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
1985, directed by Tran Van Thuy, can also be viewed on youtube.
Steve Denney
library assistant, UC Berkeley
On Dec 3, 2011, at 13:25, "Jo" <jkirk@spro.net> wrote:
Maggie, here it is, attached as a Word doc. Reviewer was Lan Duong at UC Riverside.
At the time she reviewed the film, it’s official title had not been changed over at IVCE (from where I obtained the review screener). Thus, she makes a point of the old title in the review.
Apparently the title has been changed since then (see IVCE’s list) but now they leave out the important word—child—as part of the English title. Lan Duong explains how important that term is for Phan Huyen Thu’s meaning and the intention of her Vietnamese title.
Best, Joanna
----------------------
From: Margaret B. Bodemer
Date: Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 10:26 AM
To: vsg@u.washington.edu
Hi all,
Fascinating list and discussion of film resources.
About the film Cha Me xin loi, after reading Lan's review, I too feel compelled to see the film. I'm afraid that this is not one I could show in my class - it seems like such a taboo subject. They freak out when we watch ethnographic films where we people in films killing chickens for a feast, or hunting giraffe, not to mention discussion of aborted children/fetuses!
Best, Maggie Bodemer
From: "Jo"
Date: December 3, 2011 12:03:25 PM PST
To: "'Vietnam Studies Group'" <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Unfortunately, I did not make a copy of the film for future reference, but I watched it twice, and was left with a strong impression of Phuc’s place as a popular destination for pregnant unmarried women to have their child and leave it with Phuc or be persuaded to keep it (he tries), or as a place to anonymously leave aborted fetuses. A point left out of the review (due to word limits) is that the film shows a Catholic priest in the cemetery, a Buddhist monk performing a ritual, and also a young couple (unmarried?—not sure) visiting the cemetery.
I was emotionally very moved by this film, and hope that if other list members view it they’ll post to the list about it. I’d also like to second Lan Duong’s comments about the lack of voice of the women in the film—still, maybe they chose to appear silent. Possible.
Best,
Joanna
------------------------------------------
Thanks to Joanna for posting Lan Duong's review. I have not seen the film but now I really want to watch it. Thanks also to Thang for posting the very useful list of films that IVCE has handled.
I am fascinated by what I take to be a main point of the film, i.e. that abortions are the consequences of pre-marital sex, and that this phenomenon is associated with neo-liberalism.
My understanding, from reading Tinne Gammeltoft's work, is that abortions are/have been widely used as a method of birth control.
I am also struck by the references to catholicism in many of the films, Tran van Thuy Cau Chuyen Tu Te and A Story from the Corner of the Park and this film.
Finally, rituals for miscarried/aborted fetuses have become more common in the last decade or so. This may be due to growing awareness about debates over the meaning of life and personhood.
Hue-Tam Ho Tai
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From: <sdenney@library.berkeley.edu>
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 1:07 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I have not followed all of this thread so maybe these films have already
been mentioned. I am not saying they necessarily belong on a recommended
list but might be worthy of discussion:
Journey from the Fall. Produced a few years ago by a Vietnamese American
filmmaker. The focus begins with life for some prisoners in a post-75
reeducation camp and then to difficulties of a Vietnamese family in
southern California in the late 70s.
Boat People. This film was produced by a Hong Kong director, about a group
of people escaping Vietnam.
Sad Song of Yellow Skin. I remember seeing this film in the early 70s at
my college. It was a documentary focusing on South Vietnam from an
anti-war perspective.
Steve Denney
library assistant
UC Berkeley
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From: Margaret B. Bodemer
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 7:48 PM
To: vsg@u.washington.edu
Steve, and others watching this great thread on films -
Thanks for the notice that The Story of Kindness / Cau chuyen tu te, is on Youtube - amazing. I always remember it as "How to Behave" but whatever we call it, this is one of those films that really drew me in as a student. Watching it as an undergraduate in Christoph Giebel's seminar on Vietnamese memoirs had a huge impact on me and directed my future studies. I will never forget that film! I do remember that it took a while to really figure out what the filmmakers were saying, and what the context was - definitely one that needs discussion for anyone showing it to students without much background. It is a very interesting "insider's view" but has to be worked at (at least in my experience).
Cheers,
Maggie Bodemer
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From: peter hansen
Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 8:41 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Thanks,
It had a profound influence on me too (it was called 'Chuyen Tu Te - A Story of Kindness' here in Australia. I remember showing it to a class of seminarians, in Vietnamese but with subtitles, on a Sunday morning. I think they had had a rough night, because they all fell asleep, to my great annoyance.
I have also had the great fortune to meet the Franciscans sisters at the leprosarium at Quy Hoa, near Quy Nhon, who were one of the subjects of the film. They, too, had a profound influence on me.
Peter Hansen
ex-Catholic Theological College,
Melbourne
Australia