VietNamNet Bridge – Duc Hanh chats to Tran Le Van, who starred in the film When the 10th month comes, recently declared one of the best Asian films ever made by CNN.

Le Van is best known for her role as Duyen in the acclaimed film Bao gio cho den thang muoi (When the 10th month comes)

When the Tenth Month Comes or (Bao gio cho den thang muoi) in Vietnamese was produced in 1984 by the writer and director Dang Nhat Minh. The film, released internationally under the name The Love Doesn’t Come Back, is a haunting portrait of one woman’s struggle with loss and personal sacrifice during the war.

The 90-minute feature has won awards at the 1985 Hawaii International Film Festival and at the 1989 Asia Pacific Film Festival and was most recently declared to be one of the best 18 Asian films ever made by CNN. It is a lyrical vision of the endurance of Vietnamese women from one of Vietnam’s most renowned directors.

The film’s main character is Duyen, a beautiful young mother whose efforts to shoulder the burden of her husband’s death alone lead to unforeseen complications. Her responsibility to keep the news from her ailing father-in-law forces her to recruit the local schoolteacher Khang into her plans, which involves forging letters from her husband. Duyen and Khang then find themselves drawing closer together.

The film’s title refers to the month in which the Day of Forgiveness occurs – a time when it is said that departed souls can visit their counterparts on earth. It is then when the wandering souls return to comfort the living, and Duyen searches the temple grounds nightly to try to find her husband’s ghost.

The outcome of the film blends an overwhelming desire to remain human and promote kindness during the tragedies of war. Dang Nhat Minh captures the essence of the Vietnamese soul, people’s love of their family, their sense of responsibility and willingness to sacrifice as well as the warmth of the common people.

(Source: Timeout)