‘Glorious Ashes’: Tokyo Review

Dir/scr: Bui Thac Chuyen. Vietnam, France, Singapore. 2022. 117mins

Life in a coastal village in the south of Vietnam is a communal enterprise, with secrets and spaces shared; the rhythms of work slow and easy. But tensions, jealousies and long harboured hurts have poisoned the waters, and darkened the destinies of three women and the men to whom they are bound. The latest from Hanoi-born director Bui Thac Chuyen is an involving, slow-burning fable which vividly captures the specifics and traditions of village life; traditions which tend to favour the men and shackle the women in the community. It’s a thoughtful piece which is elevated by strong performances but which, like the slow-flowing waters of the Mekong river that provide the backdrop and livelihood for the villagers, slightly runs out of momentum over the course of its nearly two hour running time.

 A thoughtful piece which is elevated by strong performances

The film, which was the recipient of the 2017 Busan Asian Project Market award, is the fourth from Bui Thac Chuyen, who is best known for the Venice FIPRESCI prize-winning title Adrift (2009). This picture is adapted from two short stories by Vietnamese author Nguyen Ngoc Tu. It’s a title which could find a life on the festival circuit following its world premiere in competition at the Tokyo film festival (it is the first Vietnamese film to have been selected for the strand). But it may struggle to assert itself in the increasingly competitive arthouse theatrical market.

The central voice in the film is that of Hau (Bao Ngoc Doling, impressive), whose narration, in the form of letters to her mostly absent husband Duong (Le Cong Hoang), guides us through the story. Hau spends long weeks living away from home in a rickety wooden shack on a pole, tending the prawn nets in the delta. But even when he is at home, he is emotionally removed, giving no acknowledgement to her one-sided conversation, no affection, not even any eye contact.

There are few secrets in the village so it is common knowledge that Duong is still in love with the serene and capable Nhan (Phuong Anh Dao), despite the fact that she is happily married to Tam (Ngo Quang Tuan), a worker in the local charcoal factory. Hau’s first inclination is to pick at the still fresh wound of her unhappiness. She is hostile to Nhan, shooting venomous glances across the river to where her rival lives. And she goads her husband by training her pet Myna bird to endlessly repeat the name of his lost love. But gradually, she forms a friendship with Nhan; a lifeline when Nhan’s fortunes change dramatically.

The third individual whose story is woven into this loose tapestry is Loan (Ngo Pham Hanh Thuy), an older woman who is regarded by the villagers as being rather odd. She was the victim of a violent rape, something which understandably traumatised her. When the perpetrator is finally released from prison, she becomes obsessed with him; at first desiring revenge, then later something more complicated. Loan’s complicated motivations are harder to reconcile within this mythic story of a tragedy and a trail of bleak and inevitable consequences.