Common Points About Character Transformation In War-Themed Films Of Vietnamese Cinema After 1975

They would return later, but it was not until 1975 when the war ended and the country was unified that they returned to their homeland after more than 20 years away"...

We remember that in many war-themed films made during the war, such as Chung mot dong song , such as Parallel 17 days and nights, there were many details about the steadfast loyalty of wives whose husbands had gathered in the North despite the enemy's attempts to force them to divorce, thereby separating them from the revolution. Loyalty was a beauty that was praised and it was like a symbol of happiness, a symbol of victory over the enemy's plots.

When the war ended, the story of women's happiness was exploited at a deeper level of reality. The film " Doi Cat" tells the story of a woman who spent her youth waiting for her husband - Thoa, but when her husband returned - Mr. Canh - he had a very happy family. Mr. Canh returned to his hometown, fulfilling his duty as a good husband, but his heart still yearned for his wife and children far away. The story of the film was pushed up when Giang, his illegitimate child, ran away from his mother to visit his father, causing his second wife, Tam, to appear to find and pick up her child. From the beginning, when Giang appeared, Mrs. Thoa considered Giang as her own child. Mr. Canh asked Mrs. Thoa if she was angry after 20 years of separation when he took another wife, Mrs. Thoa replied "just feeling sorry for herself, not angry". Four people in one house, revolving in a delicate, sensitive, and awkward situation. Happiness is like a very narrow blanket, if one person is a little warm, the other must be cold. The day Tam and her mother had to return to their hometown, Mr. Canh and Mrs. Thoa saw them off at the pier. Accidentally witnessing her husband tearfully parting ways with Tam, Mrs. Thoa decided to buy another ticket and push her husband onto the train to return to Tam and her mother. Although she was filled with guilt, sadness and jealousy, Mrs. Thoa finally overcame her selfishness. Fate was not cruel to her until the end when Mr. Canh decided to stay with his virtuous wife. Movie name: Doi Cat

Maybe you are interested!

has said it all. The film with small lives, and many lives lost, lacking happiness like Mrs. Thoa - that is Mr. Huy, Mrs. Thoa's neighbor, his wife and children died in a bomb, for many years secretly loved Thoa but was rejected by Thoa; is the over-aged girl named Hao, who was hit by a bomb and lost both legs, always had to beg for food from the same village, loved Mr. Huy but was rejected, wrote poetry every night in vain... Not focusing on portraying characters with great ideals and stature... Nguyen Thanh Van chose characters who are small, full of everyday life. The film successfully builds typical situations that are perverse because of life's tragedy, tragedy caused by life's circumstances - related to the war. The consequences of war are lives of deprivation, unhappiness, pain caused by this person or that person, for which no one is at fault - can only blame the circumstances, and that circumstance is the war. The film has special value because it shows the truth, the sufferings of many fates that are not easy to speak about, and the beauty of tradition, sacrifice, and compassion.

This is a film full of realism and humanity. The characters have personalities, marks, conflicts and inner struggles. Fate is truly the result of that personality. For example, if Thoa had not been faithful and waited for her husband, she would have had a home, not a withered woman who no longer had her youth and also lost her husband's love. The relationship between husband and wife, love is portrayed realistically and tragically.

In 2000, Vietnam Feature Film Studio released the film Ben Khong Chong , scripted by Luu Trong Van adapted from a novel of the same name by writer Duong Huong, directed by Luu Trong Ninh.

The film takes place in a village with a river wharf in the Northern Delta. We remember in the film Chung mot dong song plotting to divide the land.

The enemy's water prevented the wedding, prevented the happiness of the couple Hoai and Van and how Hoai chose the path of fighting for liberation with the people as a way to regain their happiness. But that is the beginning story of the liberation struggle. In the film " Wharf without a husband", director Luu Trong Ninh tells a post-war story that is familiar but very special and different - that is. The failure of the hero and the suffering of women during and after the war. The epic inspiration of the work is no longer there, instead is the inspiration of the world with colorful fates.

In a village lacking men because they left because of the call of war, there is a man who has returned, that is Nguyen Van, a wounded soldier played by Luu Trong Ninh. Nguyen Van hopes for a peaceful life. Van is assigned by the government to live in the house of Mrs. Hon played by Nhu Quynh, a woman whose landlord husband was killed. Mrs. Hon and her children have to live in the side house, leaving the main house for Van. In this village, there are many widows, most of the men died in battle.

Mrs. Nhan, played by Minh Chau, has a husband who is a martyr. She raises her children alone but does not dare to remarry. Prejudice is like an invisible force that surrounds everything. Although full of energy, Van has to restrain himself and loves Mrs. Nhan, but does not dare, does not have the courage to overcome the heavy prejudice and bad customs.

After the war in 1975, among many disabled people, Mrs. Nhan's daughter's lover returned home intact. But tragedy struck them again. The couple could not have children. Her family and clan forced her to divorce so that they could have descendants to continue the family line. At a dead end, Mrs. Nhan's daughter Hanh decided to leave. On the last night, she went to Van's house. For the first time, Van was able to live with her strong instincts.

In The Wharf Without Husband, the consequences of war are not only on the body, what is seen... but also in the concept and soul - the things people...

need to feel and experience to know. Characters have strong personalities, status, many conflicts... The unfortunate women during and after the war, each with different circumstances, different personalities, all long for the normal things in life, which are love, a pillar man, a home but cannot.

The film also talks about the negative side of concepts related to the war, about women (must be faithful, must worship their husbands and raise their children, if there is a fault for not having children, it is the woman's fault...) but in the end, the most miserable are still the women. The film reflects the paradox - the most outdated and conservative things can appear in the place where people think there are the most progressive people, that is in the family of a soldier.

The art of describing and building characters, especially the rationality and tragedy of the character Van, the tragic ending is the death of this character, on the day of going to the battlefield, when he first returned, Van was a hero. When he returned, Van not only could not bring happiness to himself, the person he loved, but also became the most miserable and pitiful victim in his own homeland. The heroic character gradually transformed into a non-heroic character in many aspects and levels. The character fought back to the rear, the winner became the loser. Heroic on the battlefield but non-heroic in daily behavior and emotions. The name " Wharf without husband" is rich in meaning - the wharf of women who cannot get married or be close to their husbands because of war; the wharf of women who have husbands but cannot rely on them. The film "de-sacred" some traditional concepts about heroes, about men... at the same time shows the initiative of women in the search for happiness, even though it may be hopeless.

In 2005, Vietnam Feature Film Studio released the film Living in Fear , written by Nguyen Minh Ngoc and directed by Bui Thac Chuyen.

The film is set in a barren, rocky land after the war. The main character of the film is Tai, a former soldier of the Saigon army who has just returned from re-education. Tai starts a family with a new wife named Ut, played by Mai Ngoc Phuong. Before that, Tai married Ba Thuan, played by Hanh Thuy, and they had two children. Ba Thuan's older brother is a revolutionary cadre, they were friends since childhood, they considered each other enemies during the war, he always had a strict view.

In the film Living in Fear by director Bui Thac Chuyen is a realistic view imbued with sorrow and sympathy when not only the defeated, but also the winners after the war, all are in loss, tragedy and suffering. The work revolves around the main character Tai - a man with a past as a soldier of the Saigon regime, so he is always in conflict with his brother-in-law, who was also a close friend - communist cadre Hai Dan. After the war ended, Tai had many complexes and fears, so he did not dare to live with his first wife, and tried to live with his second wife... Having no source of income, Tai made a living by risking his life to clear mines and sell them. Wherever he cleared mines and bombs, Tai planted food crops there. Living in Fear, Tai sought oblivion, sought balance in his lovemaking...

The film shows the real and obvious consequences of war (land mined by bombs, difficulty in making a living, difficulty in doing business, danger to life...) and also the consequences of concepts: concepts of discrimination, hatred, views that are not easy to tolerate each other, causing Tai - a soldier on the losing side, not daring to live with his wife but having to move away, and live with another wife. The war has

Not only does it destroy the land but it also destroys people, not only destroys the body and life but also destroys love, sympathy, generosity, and destroys human happiness.

The humanity of the film lies in the fact that righteous people in one situation can unintentionally be criminals in the lives of people in another situation. War is a story of a time, while humanity is a story of eternity. Every war will pass, its consequences remain in people's hearts like shrapnel hidden in every piece of land. War can push people to death, but if people refuse to give up discrimination and hatred, war can only change from one form to another.

In 2009, the Vietnam Cinema Association Film Studio released the film Don't Burn, written by Dang Nhat Minh and directed by Dang Nhat Minh. The film was inspired by the diary of Dr. Dang Thuy Tram, and was a phenomenon that attracted many people's attention.

The film's setting spans from wartime to peacetime, across a large space including the Duc Pho battlefield, where Thuy Tram's military infirmary served, Thuy Tram's family during and after the war, and the American veteran's family after the war. The filmmakers, through thoughtful images and monologues on the diary, successfully built the portrait of a female doctor, a Hanoi girl who threw herself into a fierce and fierce war. The haunting aspect of the film is the spiritual face of an entire generation. Fred is an American officer, fortunately not having to fight directly but only responsible for tasks related to documents and papers. In the pile of papers collected during the war, Fred is truly fascinated by the diary of a female doctor on the opposition side - Dang Thuy Tram. Fred is not fascinated by her political tendencies but by Thuy Tram's beautiful, pure spiritual life... It is the nostalgia for home, the food

Mother's cooking, missing friends, missing comrades, missing lover, fear when facing death, pain when friends fall... The children of the revolution are also human, have joy, have sadness, have shortcomings, not that they are not afraid of death, all people want to live, but they know how to put the common interests of the country, the nation before their own fear, their desire to live... Fred thought about Thuy Tram so much that every time a Vietnamese girl fell before the guns of American soldiers, Fred was afraid that it was Thuy Tram... When he returned to America, Fred shared his diary with his family. Not that there were no objections, but everyone loved Thuy Tram even though they had never met her, even though that girl was no longer alive. True love comes from a sensitive soul.

It can be seen that in the film Don't Burn, the character of the American soldier who fought in Vietnam has focused on building his spiritual life, showing his private life, without discrimination like the films about the resistance war against America made before 1975. The humanity of the American soldier and his family members, combined with the "burning diary" was the motivation for the soldier to not hesitate to find Dang Thuy Tram's family to give her diary and also to find peace of mind. The work is about war but has a very new perspective, very humane, very close... Humanity meets each other when each family welcomes their children back from the battle, they are happy, feel lucky; when relatives cannot return, they all experience a feeling of loss, pain... War is a story of a time, but Don't Burn is a story about eternal humanity. Humanity is something that all people of all ethnicities can sympathize with. It can also soothe all fears, discrimination, prejudice, avoidance... through the character of officer Fred's sister-in-law (named Mai). Finally, Fred has completed his mission.

conscience, of the invisible force urged - to bring Dang Thuy Tram's diary back to her family. Dang Thuy Tram's diary was also preserved by the US with the most modern method. A hero will always be a hero - if they have a beautiful ideal - that is the ideal of dedicating to the nation, to the people... It is the same in every era. "Don't burn" has truly contributed to bringing closer the humanity and feelings between the two nations: America and Vietnam.

2.2.3. Common points about the transformation of characters in war-themed films of Vietnamese cinema after 1975

First of all, it must be said that there has been a new awareness in the creation of feature films on the subject of war. During the war, film characters were built as soldiers representing the nation in the front lines. Reading the names of the films, the main characters in the films show how cinema and the characters went to war. When peace came, cinema had the opportunity to portray "close-ups" of the battle. Confronting the power of American helicopters to protect the communication route on the vast water field was a small family of Ba Do and his wife, with a strong Southern character, and a rifle.

There are films where characters are built in a life-and-death conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, such as The Season of the Chuong Wind , or The Wild Field , but in many films, characters are built without dividing the system of protagonists and antagonists, because in many cases, life's reality is perceived to be richer, more complex, and touches on more essential things. Even the protagonist himself is no longer a character that gathers all the good qualities needed, no longer a flawless character. Human qualities and personalities are always trained by specific circumstances, by the environment, and by a specific cultural space.

Comment