Pregnant Hau marries the taciturn fisherman Duong, but he is madly in love with Nhan, who had chosen to marry Tam. The two couples, soon to become two families, are neighbours living on either side of the canals that run through the village, between the lagoon and the mangrove… The geography of the place takes hold of the imagination and the mise en scène. Director Bui Thac Chuyên brings to life his romantic theatre, often with humour, when small boats are manoeuvred or scooters break down, and shows the symbiotic relationship of bodies to their environment. A fire is smouldering below the still waters (the peaceful village activity is filmed only briefly). But also, this powerful daydream of space and the elements – water, fire, silt – nourishes the interplay of passions. The gaze, invited to physically cross through this world, catches, at each temporal ellipsis, the feverish obsession of characters bewitched. FM
European Premiere
