WE WILL MEET AGAIN (ĐẾN HẸN LẠI LÊN)

Director: Trần Vũ. 106 minutes. VIETNAM. 1974. Language: VIETNAMESE. B&W. 2K restoration

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Originally conceived as a documentary about quan họ, a form of traditional Vietnamese folk singing, We Will Meet Again zooms in on a small village in North Vietnam. Although it is not a musical, the songs in the film play an important role in the courting ritual between two quan họ singers — Nết (Như Quỳnh, one of her first on-screen roles) and Chi (Vũ Tự Lâm). Their budding relationships and the fate of the people around them are intertwined with not only the national resistance against colonising forces but also the internal struggles against the class privileges, greed, and the oppressive bound of gender politics. Rich in images, the film offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Vietnamese pre-1945 with its courting traditions and familial rituals.

(NOTES BY Trà My Nguyễn Hoàng)

Vietnam Film Institute