Premiering at Cannes last year and opening this weekend in US theaters, Viet and Nam is a poignant exploration of love and the enduring impact of war.
Dao Duy Bao Dinh and Pham Thanh Hai star as Viet and Nam, lovers whose relationship blossoms within the confines of a northern Vietnamese mine. The film’s initial tension arises when Nam announces his plan to leave the country in the early 2000s, seeking illegal passage via shipping container. This news deeply unsettles Viet, forcing him to confront a future without his partner.
Beyond their personal narrative, the film delves into Vietnam’s ongoing struggle with its war-torn past. The landscape itself, scarred by unexploded ordnance, serves as a constant reminder of this legacy.
Director Truong Minh Quy‘s work, reportedly banned in Vietnam for its “dark and negative” portrayal, sensitively addresses these lingering wounds. Quy connects the abstract concept of historical trauma to the tangible relationships between Nam, his mother Hoa (Nguyen Thi Nga), his deceased father, and his father’s friend Ba (Le Viet Tung). He skillfully examines how past conflicts shape present-day connections, reiterating the familiar theme of war’s multi-generational reverberations.
Nam is particularly haunted by the father he never knew, killed in the war’s southern battles. This unseen figure invades the dreams of Nam and Hoa, with Hoa frequently noting their striking resemblance. Driven by an inherited need to understand his father’s fate, Nam, before his departure, embarks on a journey with Hoa, Ba, and Viet to locate the site of his death. The film poignantly asks: doesn’t war, and inherited trauma, compel us to seek and uncover the past?
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