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The Vertical Ray of the Sun (A la Verticale de L'ete )
Director : Tran Anh Hung
Cast : Tran Nu Yen Khe, Nguyen Nhu Quynh, Le Khahn, Chu Ngoc Hung, Tran Manh Cuong
(Sony Pictures Classics, 2001) Rated: PG-13 by Jun Kim
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comment on this article Passion Fruit In a dim room, in the early morning hours, an alarm clock goes off and signals the beginning of a new day. A young man groggily rises from bed and rousts his younger sister, who pleads for a few more minutes of sleep. The young man reminds her that it is the anniversary of their mother's death, and that she must get up early to help her sisters prepare for the occasion. What follows in these opening minutes of Vietnamese director Tran Ahn Hung's The Vertical Ray of the Sun is one of the most tranquil and visually seductive openings in any film of recent memory. As the camera moves languidly through their small home, and the dusty voice of Lou Reed croons in the background, brother Hai (Ngo Quanq Hai) and sister Lien (Tran's wife, actress Tran Nu Yen-Khe) leisurely go about their morning rituals: stretching, doing a few push-ups, performing improvised tai-chi, glancing out the window to check the weather. It is the quiet wonder of a morning that is not rushed, allowed to unfold moment by gentle moment. Once Lien and Hai arrive at their family-run cafe, Lien joins middle sister Khanh (Le Khahn) and eldest sister Suong (Nguyen Nhu Quynh) in the preparations for their mother's memorial. Here the film's tactile sensuality closely resembles that of Tran's first film, the beguiling | |
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