Vietnamese films with moral dilemmas
Vu Thi Quynh Giao vtq.giao at gmail.com
Tue May 19 07:31:21 PDT 2015
Dear list,
Could you help suggest a few Vietnamese movies that deal with moral
dilemmas?
I'm setting up a film society and despite our wish to spark discussions
about issues that really resonate with Vietnamese society, we've found only
American movies. Recent movies produced in Vietnam are either
entertainment-oriented or propaganda-led, and it seems hard to find
anything in between.
Thanks, in advance, for your help.
Sincerely,
Giao
Vu Thi Quynh Giao
Independent Researcher
Ho Chi Minh City
Stephen R. DENNEY sdenney at library.berkeley.edu
Tue May 19 11:11:25 PDT 2015
A documentary film produced by northern intellectuals around 1988, I don't
know the Vietnamese title, but it has the English translation "Kindness".
It was a reflection of Vietnamese society,poverty and values at that point.
Party chief Nguyen Van Linh intervened to allow it to be shown. I saw it
here at UC Berkeley and I believe it is also on youtube. Barbara Crossette
of the New York Times reviewed it and similar films from Vietnam at the
time:
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/042288vietnam-anger.html
Steve Denney
library assistant
UC Berkeley
Fox, Diane dnfox at holycross.edu
Tue May 19 11:42:40 PDT 2015
Hi Steve --
Yes, we are both thinking of the same one, "Chuyen Tu Te", by Tran Van Thuy.
Diane
Diane Fox
adjunct,
College of the Holy Cross
Dan Tsang dtsang at uci.edu
Tue May 19 16:21:19 PDT 2015
Steve, do you mean this film? We have a VHS of it.
Title
Chuyện tử tế [videorecording] : Tập II = How to behave : a story about kindness / [directed by] Trần Văn Thủy, Hồ Trí Phổ ; [writer], Nguyễn Thanh An
Published
New York, NY : First Run/Icarus Films, 1987
More Resources:
Location
Call #
Status
Ayala Science Library Multimedia Resources Center (MRC)<http://www.lib.uci.edu/services/mrc/mrc-collections.html>
HN700.5.A8 C48 1987<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/cHN700.5.A8+C48+1987/chn++700.5+a8+c48+1987/-3,-1,,B/browse>
NOT CHECKED OUT
[Email to me]<http://antpac/search~S2/?searchtype=X&searcharg=+++%09Chuy%E1%BB%87n+t%E1%BB%AD+t%E1%BA%BF+&searchscope=2&sortdropdown=-&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=XKindness%26SORT%3DD#here> [Send via text message] <http://antpac/search~S2/?searchtype=X&searcharg=+++%09Chuy%E1%BB%87n+t%E1%BB%AD+t%E1%BA%BF+&searchscope=2&sortdropdown=-&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=XKindness%26SORT%3DD#here>
Permanent link to this ANTPAC record
http://antpac:80/record=b2643983~S2<http://antpac/record=b2643983%7ES2>
Description
1 videocassette (43 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in
Content Type
two-dimensional moving image
Medium
video
Format
videocassette
Subject - LCSH
Kindness<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/dKindness/dkindness/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Charity<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/dCharity/dcharity/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Vietnam -- Social conditions<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/dVietnam+--+Social+conditions/dvietnam+social+conditions/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Genre/Form
Documentary films<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/hDocumentary+films/hdocumentary+films/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Feature films<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/hFeature+films/hfeature+films/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Other author
Trần, Văn Thủy (Film director)<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/aTr%7Bu1EA7%7Dn%2C+V%7Bu0103%7Dn+Th%7Bu1EE7%7Dy+%28Film+director%29/atran+van+thuy+film+director/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Hồ, Trí Phổ<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/aH%7Bu1ED3%7D%2C+Tr%7Bu00ED%7D+Ph%7Bu1ED5%7D/aho+tri+pho/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Nguyễn, Thanh An<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/aNguy%7Bu1EC5%7Dn%2C+Thanh+An/anguyen+thanh+an/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
First Run/Icarus Films<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/aFirst+Run%2FIcarus+Films/afirst+run+icarus+films/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Title
How to behave
Other title
Chuyện tử tế (Motion picture)<http://antpac/search%7ES2?/tChuy%7Bu1EC7%7Dn+t%7Bu1EED%7D+t%7Bu1EBF%7D+%28Motion+picture%29/tchuyen+tu+te+motion+picture/-3,-1,0,B/browse>
Note(s)
In Vietnamese with English subtitles
VHS
Summary
Prompted by a dying friend who urges him to lead a life of kindness, and by a bricklayer who asks why films do not show the lives of ordinary people instead of fictions, the filmmakers go on an odyssey looking for kindness or charity in Vietnam where the rich and powerful are few and those in poverty and suffering are many. The filmmakers find it ironic that although the "people" rule the country, ordinary people have almost completely disappeared from the arts. Meanwhile true human suffering and kindness are found in the nuns who take care of the patients in a leper colony. The filmmakers note the contradiction that although they admire the strength of ordinary people, they find it hard to imagine giving up their own privileges for charity's sake
Local lc call number
HN700.5.A8 C48 1987
dan
Vuong Vu-Duc vuduc.vuong at gmail.com
Tue May 19 16:58:34 PDT 2015
Besides "Chuyện Tử Tế" , Quynh Giao, you may want to check out some of the films by Dang Nhat Minh that often have a certain angle of moral dilemma,
such as "Cô Gái Bên Sông", "Mùa Ổi", or his best known "Bao Giờ Cho Đến
Tháng Mười"
Have fun watching,
Vuong.
Susan Hammond susanhammo at gmail.com
Tue May 19 17:06:08 PDT 2015
Is it *The story of Kindness*? which is one of the translations. Also
sometimes called "*How to Behave"*. If so it is a film by Tran Van Thuy.
If it is not on youtube i have copy that i got from Tran Van Thuy several
years ago. it was on VHS but i have it now on DVD.
Susan
Merle Ratner merle_ratner at hotmail.com
Tue May 19 17:07:11 PDT 2015
Cô Gái Bên Sông is a wonderful movie and has been subtitled in English!
Merle RatnerResearcher/ActivistNewYork, NY
Haughton, Dominique DHAUGHTON at bentley.edu
Tue May 19 20:05:18 PDT 2015
Greetings to all, I was also going to suggest Dang Nhat Minh’s work, and I would in fact suggest his recent movie “Dung dot”, which I found very interesting as well. Mua oi very much outlines moral issues too. I will try to find Co Gai Ben Song. Very best to all, Dominique
www.dominiquehaughton.com<http://www.dominiquehaughton.com/>
[bentleylogoonly2012]
Dominique Haughton
Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Global Studies
Bentley University
[twitterlogosmall]<http://twitter.com/#!/analyticsdh>
https://twitter.com/analyticsdh
Lan Duong lan.duong at ucr.edu
Wed May 20 08:59:35 PDT 2015
hi all,
I have some suggestions as well. Just a quick note: Đặng Nhật Minh’s films are very good in this regard; however, I believe you are talking about Cô Gái Trên Sông — and if there is an English subtitled version of the film, can someone provide the link for it?
Besides films by Trần Văn Thủy and Đặng Nhật Minh, there are other films made roughly during the same time period that deal with morality as well as prostitution and corruption
Tướng Về Hưu
Anh và Em
Lưới Trời
Gái Nhảy
More recent examples by Vietnamese diasporic filmmakers are Charlie Nguyen’s Dòng Máu Anh Hùng, an action film which is concerned with anti colonial resistance but also being on the right side of history, and Nguyễn Võ Nghiêm Minh’s Nước deals with environmental degradation and corporate corruption in Saigon’s near future. I also found Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp’s 2014 film Đặp Cánh Giữa Không Trung, or Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere, about young women and the issue of abortion compelling.
Lan
Lan Duong
Associate Professor
Department of Media and Cultural Studies
UC Riverside
INTS 3141
Riverside, CA 92621
951.827.5681
Stephen R. DENNEY sdenney at library.berkeley.edu
Wed May 20 11:26:53 PDT 2015
Dan, yes I mean that film Another Vietnamese film I recall seeing some
years ago is A General Retires (Tuong Ve Huu), based on a short story by
Nguyen Huy Thiep. I notice this film is also on youtube, but without
English subtitles.
Steve Denney
library assistant
UC Berkeley.
Vu Thi Quynh Giao vtq.giao at gmail.com
Wed Jun 10 02:00:33 PDT 2015
Dear list,
Given that many VSG members have recommended *Bao Gio Cho Den Thang Muoi
(1984), *our film society will have a screening of this classic.
Accordingly we want to invite the film's director -- Dang Nhat Minh -- to
join our panel discussion. If you happen to have his contact details, I'd
appreciate you sharing them with me off list.
Thanks in advance!
-Giao
Vu Thi Quynh Giao
Independent Researcher
Ho Chi Minh City