Directed by Đặng Nhật Minh • 1984 • Vietnam
Starring Lê Vân, Nguyen Hữu Mười, Nguyễn Minh Vương
Widely regarded as one of the greatest Vietnamese films ever made, this deeply moving exploration of grief and trauma centers on Duyên (Lê Vân), a young woman whose husband is killed in Vietnam’s post-reunification war with Cambodia. Choosing to conceal the news of his death from her loved ones, she enlists a schoolteacher to help her maintain the ruse by writing letters that appear to be from her husband—leading her into a profound emotional conflict as she wrestles with guilt and loss. Graced with a lyrical feeling for the landscapes of the Vietnamese countryside, WHEN THE TENTH MONTH COMES gives empathetic voice to the experiences of those who must go on living in the face of war’s devastation.
Up Next in Legacies of War: Vietnam Across the Divides
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Journey from the Fall
Directed by Ham Tran • 2006 • United States
Starring Kiều Chinh, Long Nguyen, Diem LienInspired by the true stories of Vietnamese refugees who fled their land after the fall of Saigon—and those who were forced to stay behind—JOURNEY FROM THE FALL follows one family’s struggle for freedom. April...
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The Little Girl of Hanoi
Directed by Hải Ninh • 1974 • North Vietnam
Starring Lan Hương, Trà Giang, Thế AnhHaunting and indelible, this landmark of Vietnamese cinema depicts the horrors of the Vietnam War from the point of view of a young girl (Lan Hương) as she searches for her family amid the rubble-strewn streets of...
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On the Same River
Directed by Nguyễn Hồng Nghi and Phạm Kỳ Nam • 1959 • North Vietnam
Starring Phi Nga, Mạnh Linh, Song KimThe first feature shot in North Vietnam is a stirring, strongly anticolonialist tale of two lovers, Vận (Mạnh Linh) a guerrilla fighter for the North, and Hoài (Phi Nga), a young woman from ...
