In an old house in Hanoi, Bi, a 6-year-old child lives with his parents, his aunt and their cook. His favorite playgrounds are an ice factory and the wild grass along the river. After being absent for years, his grandfather, seriously ill, reappears and settles at their house. While Bi gets closer to his grandfather, his father tries to avoid any contact with his family. Every night, he gets drunk and goes and see his masseuse, for whom he feels a quiet strong desire. Bi's mother turns a blind eye on it. The aunt, still single, meets a 16-year-old young boy in the bus. Her attraction to him moves her deeply.
Considered a masterpiece of Vietnamese cinema, Pham Ky Nam’s enduring classic, MS. TU HAU, is a product of the countries fledgling film industry which took rise during the war years. MS. TU HAU tells the story, as the narrator explains, of a “simple but exciting life of a genuine South woman.” Not so simple really, but exciting nonetheless. Tu Hau is a common woman from a fishing village whose husband has gone away to fight in the revolution. She takes care of her young daughter as well as her aging father-in-law. Soon, her peaceful village is attacked. From there a series of tragic events would befall Tu Hau. Each one would challenge her will. She survives so she can continue to raise her child. As a midwife, she puts aside her own grief to assist in a neighbor’s childbirth. Eventually her hardships drive her to join the resistance and ultimately makes the difficult sacrifice of leaving her child behind so she can help lead the front.
Feature film on romance and social life of the minority ethnic in the Northwest of Vietnam. Mị and A Phủ, a Meo (Hmong) couple, freed themselves with the aid of communist leadership and joined the rising against the French in August 1945. Based on the short story of the same title by Tô Hoài.
