Certainly interesting from a film history perspective, being the first feature film to come out of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (aka North Vietnam) following its sovereignty five years earlier. It tells the story of two lovers on the verge of getting married who are abruptly separated by the boundary of a river, and it's got some beautiful cinematography at times, especially out on the water. It's at its best early on in setting up its premise, when we feel the romance between the pair (in one dreamy scene, he tells her "Don't mind them. They can't be like us even if they want to."). There also is a playfulness in the villagers, such as when one girl tells her how ell her wedding clothes fit her, and another jokes that her husband to be measured her body well before having them made.
Unfortunately, what follows is an awfully simple story, and one geared towards demonizing those in the South who were against the Viet Cong. You really don't get insight into colonialism, as this takes place during the civil war that ensued after the French left. There is no warfare though, it's just the tragic separation of these lovers, with the nefarious ways of the authorities in the South on display - offering rewards to those who denounce the Viet Cong, telling anyone separated from a Northern spouse that he or she has married someone else, and even manhandling a child to get information out of her. The activity is led by a police chief whose characterization is very clumsy, between his lusting after the young woman and the allusions to his wicked ways (he gambles with his subordinates, drinks whiskey, has a photo of a pinup girl on his mirror, and tries to buy her love with American items purchased in Saigon). Meanwhile on the other side of the river, we get friendly, cooperative efforts, like digging a ditch together. It's a different perspective, but it's not one that examines the two sides in any kind of thoughtful way.
I wouldn't have minded the political bias as much as it was part of a window into the era, but the story line was just so flat, and delivered to us with weak, amateurish acting. The sound quality was also poor, with regular droputs, and the grammar in the English subtitles left a lot to be desired (though this was far from the biggest issue). Despite a relatively short runtime of 94 minutes, it became tedious to get through. For a far better film made at the behest of Ho Chi Minh, I'd recommend seeing Miss Hu Tau (1963) instead.
