Manh Cuong Tran

Eleven-year-old Linh shows great grace under pressure. When her mother, who’s raising her kids on her own, has to return unexpectedly to Vietnam, Linh looks after her little sister Tien and the family restaurant on her own. Of course, no one is supposed to find out, not the school, not the neighbours, and definitely not child protective services. But Linh’s biggest problem has red hair, a telescope and a sly grin: Pauline. The daredevil from across the street has the whole neighbourhood under surveillance and can’t imagine anything cooler than a life without parents. When Pauline blackmails the Vietnamese sisters into starting a gang with her, the three girls set off on a daring adventure.

The movie chronicles a state-owned theatre troupe's struggle to survive both artistically and financially. The actors and actresses have to support themselves with odd jobs ranging from selling food and drinks on the streets to dancing at bars to doing commercials. Then comes a great play, written and directed by Teacher Nguyen Dinh, a veteran playwright, and former troupe mentor. The play promises to bring the group everything they need: inspiring work, state funding, festival prizes, and fame. But the rising tension between lead actress Kim Ha and her womanizing co-star Van Hung due to their troubled past relationship threatens to tear the play apart.

Hanoi comes across almost picture-perfect in director Tran Anh Hung's beautiful, elegiac tale about the lives and loves of three Vietnamese sisters. A mood characteristic of Hung's films is set early on with the vivid sounds of birds, insects and water and the way the lighting enhances the subtle use of color. They all combine to gem-like effect here.

ベトナムを舞台に、蓮売りの少女、シクロの運転手、毎日を必死に生きるストリート・キッズ、娘を探す元米兵などのキャラクターたちの模索する姿を繊細に描く。深い余韻を残す物語。

Follows a young cyclo (bicycle cab) driver on his poverty-driven descent into criminality in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City. The boy's struggles to scratch out a living for his two sisters and grandfather in the mean streets of the city lead to petty crime on behalf of a mysterious Madame from whom he rents his cyclo.