The acting, direction and photography are all top quality here. I don't know much about life in 19C Vietnam, but I'm ready to believe this is a realistic portrait. It's always hard to tell about the script quality when watching with subtitles but it does the job.
Really a very strong piece of cinema, carrying its message powerfully, but... While I sympathise with everything the director is saying, it's not like any of it is new. Nor is the sheer horror of this (even most privileged stratum of) society confined to 19C Vietnam - alas there are places in the world today where millions of women still live like this (forced marriage of minors, absolute patriarchal domination, etc.). OK, if you really didn't know about this stuff, then definitely worth watching, but there's a price.
As the film goes on, things can only get worse and I was left depressed by it. There's never any hope, never any way out. That's realistic, but it means the viewer too has nothing to hope for and makes the film an entirely negative experience emotionally. The very final scene, involving the hitherto most cheery optimistic character, tells it all.
Really a very strong piece of cinema, carrying its message powerfully, but... While I sympathise with everything the director is saying, it's not like any of it is new. Nor is the sheer horror of this (even most privileged stratum of) society confined to 19C Vietnam - alas there are places in the world today where millions of women still live like this (forced marriage of minors, absolute patriarchal domination, etc.). OK, if you really didn't know about this stuff, then definitely worth watching, but there's a price.
As the film goes on, things can only get worse and I was left depressed by it. There's never any hope, never any way out. That's realistic, but it means the viewer too has nothing to hope for and makes the film an entirely negative experience emotionally. The very final scene, involving the hitherto most cheery optimistic character, tells it all.