The Third Wife

There are a lot of things go wrong in this movie, but I will go easy on it just as other critics went easy on film criticism under foreign eyes toward Vietnam as (still) a third world country.

First, casting. Actresses and actors in the movie speak Vietnamese, but imagine filming Brave taking its Medieval Scotland context while the voices contributed are in all other irrelevent accent such as: American English, Southern Australian, me trying to speak English 10 years ago... which is wrong in its first phase of cultural research, not to mention sloppy casting. I mean, you can always ask voice talents to cover for this part, which you did not, and this is offensive to Vietnamese from a linguistic aspect.

Segundas, feminism message through a bunch of symbolism and metaphor. I would not spoil anything, instead I would recommend other better performed movie speaking of this feminism topic: The Moon at the Bottom of the Well (Vietnam), Quay of the Spinsters (Vietnam), Red Sorghum (China), Raise the Red Lantern (China).

Thirdly, please do not preprint "Based on a true story" just to regard film makers perspective and dismiss the importance of cultural setting. The silk making technique in the movie neither represents Red River delta region nor Ethnic villages in Vietnam, we do not make it like that, not even Thai people from nation's Northwest region. We do not hang lanterns like that. Our great great great grandparents' funerals were not done like that! The film makers should have hired knowledgeable cultural consultants to cover those parts (and other parts as well).

It all comes down to fusion food philosophy, fusion restaurants do not brand themselves as authentic "I was born in the country, cooked for an eternity then open this place" marketing strategy; then do not use the name of Vietnam, Vietnamese language, hierachy and chauvinism as an excuse for the line "based on a true story" to bait for views and make other foreigners thinking of Vietnam as a country with such cultural aspects.

Nam mo a di da phat if I want to be mad at art I would have gone to war documentaries! Thanks to the pandemic this waste of time happen!

This is well shot and very pretty with glorious distant vistas and plant and insect close-ups. The pace is slow and although the depiction of 19th century Vietnamese rural life picturesque enough there is an awfulness here from start to finish. Unfortunately we are too familiar with tales from China and the Far East and Asia generally even today of the problems caused by favouring the birth of boys over girls to be particularly surprised by the extent of the awfulness depicted here. Yes, it is dreadful but this seems almost prurient in its constant close-ups of very young girls being displayed for very old men and that despite everything, the torture, the killing and the suicides that all is for the best. Beautiful but harrowing.

A girl in 19th Century Viet Nam.

Lots of symbols to decipher and hidden lessons to be learnt here but I guess there're too many for my tastes: if I try hard and still can't make sense of something - it's the author's fault.

This said, the film is beautifully written, shot, acted and produced (while misteriously antiseptic and eerie in the music, scenography, palette and fauna depicted).

Unfortunately the value of a movie is what I get out of it and it wasn't much: women's life in a place, at a time, in specific socio-economic circumstances (something for which history books are far better); less than a dozen of artistically worthy scenes and a bit of boredom.

Watch it with a remote in your hand, fast forward button ready to go. At 4x it is still slow, but acceptable. Did not buy the setting of 19th century. Costumes look like out of an H&M store.

The movie was beautifully made, good actors and the music was excellent. The film was strangely both calm and intense at the same time. It clearly shows the woman's view of the traditions, which is still relevant today.