Explore award winners and hidden gems from recent years in the Vietnamese Cinema collection at SBS On Demand, which ranges from Trinh Dinh Le Minh's critically acclaimed comedy-drama Goodbye Mother to the award-winning historical drama Third Wife, plus bubbly romance, crime and horror.
Goodbye Mother
M
Vietnam, 2019
Genre: Drama
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Trinh Dinh Le Minh
Starring: Lãnh Thanh, Võ Điền Gia Huy, Hồng Đào, Hồng Ánh, Lê Thiện, Thanh Tú, Hữu Nghĩa
What's it about?
In a film praised for its tender, engaging story of a young man and his family, Van comes back to Saigon from the US with his boyfriend Ian to visit his mother. But the family is unaware of the true nature of their relationship, and as the male heir of the family, everyone expects him to take a wife soon. And to complicate matters, his grandmother, who has Alzheimer's, mistakes Ian for her grandson. Goodbye Mother has won a string of prizes, including audience favourite awards at several festivals, while veteran screen performer Hong Dao won a Best Actress award at the Viet Film Fest for her role as Van's mother, Mrs Hanh. Trinh Dinh Le Minh's debut feature film is an impressive blend of comedy and drama. Visually engaging in both its capturing of the Vietnamese countryside and the quiet moments between Van, Ian and the family (and some not so quiet moments, too), it's a beautiful gateway into the changing face of Vietnamese cinema.
49 Days
MA 15+
Vietnam, 2015
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Nhất Trung
Starring: Nhã Phương, Trường Giang, Hoàng Phi, Hari Won
What's it about?
Dong has been unlucky all his life. Orphaned as a baby, he's now been abandoned by his girlfriend, and a theft has left him penniless. Everything makes him so weary that he decides life isn't worth living. But then he meets three ghosts, who try to make him fulfill their wishes so that their souls can move on. Sympathising with the pain in their lives, Dong decides to help the trio. Can everyone, including Dong, find a happy resolution to their troubles? (49 Days 2, which sees a man named Huy asked for help by a beautiful ghost named Phuong, will stream at SBS On Demand from 21 July). )
Source: SBS On Demand
The Third Wife
MA 15+
Vietnam, 2019
Genre: Drama
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Ash Mayfair
Starring: Nguyễn Phương Trà My, Tran Nu Yen Khe, Lê Vũ Long, Như Quỳnh, Maya, Lâm Thanh Mỹ, Mai Cát Vi, Nguyễn Thanh Tâm
What's it about?
In 19th-century Vietnam, though only 14 years old, May is selected to be the third wife of a wealthy landowner. Her new home seems idyllic, her husband favours her, and she quickly becomes pregnant with what she is certain will be the desired male progeny. But then she witnesses a forbidden tryst that will spark a chain reaction. Described by one reviewer as , The Third Wife is a powerful portrait of the contrast between men and women's roles in a patriarchal society.
My Beloved Stranger
M
Vietnam, 2019
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Trương Chí Bình
Starring: Karik, Thùy Anh, Trịnh Thảo, Trương Thế Vinh, Huy Khánh
What's it about?
Dang DJ (popular Vietnamese rapper, singer and actor Karik) is a charming playboy who has no interest in committing to long-term love. When he meets the stunning Trinh (Thuy Anh), he thinks she is just another conquest to add to his ever-growing list. But Trinh reveals that she is nothing like the other women he’s met. In fact, she claims to be a fairy who has come to Earth from Venus to make love to him as part of a special life-or-death mission that must be completed in the next few hours. Instantly spooked by this declaration, he tries to escape Trinh, but she keep chasing after him, outwitting him every time he attempts to flee. Soon, however, malevolent individuals try to chase them both down.
The Lift
MA 15+
Vietnam, 2020
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Peter Mourougaya
Starring: Yu Duong, Thi Kieu Trinh Nguyen, Mai Bích Trâm, Xuân Hiệp, Neko Bao Tien
What's it about?
After her best friend goes missing after a game in an abandoned hospital, a claustrophobic college girl investigates the mysterious elevator where her friend was last seen, and which may be the door to a terrifying dark world.
Source: Skyline
Rom
MA 15+
Vietnam, 2020
Genre: Drama, Action
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Trần Thanh Huy
Starring: Trần Anh Khoa, Cát Phượng, Thanh Tú, Hải Triều, Anh Tú, Jayvee Mai The Hiep, Mai Tran
What's it about?
Fourteen-year-old Rom works as bookie lottery runner to earn a living - an occupation familiar to director Tran Thanh Huy, . Separated from his parents, young Rom not only dreams of earning enough money to find them, but wants to help the residents of an old apartment building, facing demolition, to keep their homes. The film, which took eight years to make, captures the grit of life on the hard streets, and the importance of hope, in a story that will draw you in.
The Last Egg
M
Vietnam, 2016
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Bảo Nhân, Namcito
Starring: Bình Minh, Diễm My, Việt Hương, Huỳnh Lập, Diệu Nhi, Hữu Châu
What's it about?
Linh San (Diễm My) is a successful single woman who's always said no to marriage. Then she finds out she has a rare ovarian disease, and wants to have a child before it's too late. Her friends decide she should be with her new neighbour, Thien Minh (Bình Minh), leading to plenty of entertaining moments in this romantic comedy.
Accidentally Dad
M
Vietnam, 2020
Genre: Comedy, Family
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Đồng Đăng Giao
Starring: Kiều Minh Tuấn, Oanh Kiều, Khả Như, Ngân Chi, Hữu Châu, Hồng Vân
What's it about?
When successful doctor Tung Son (Kieu Minh Tuan) meets single mother Que Phuong (Kha Nhu) via a car accident, she claims that he is the biological father of her daughter, born seven years ago. Que Phuong needs money, but what starts as a scam soon sees Son forming a bond with the young girl.
Accidentally Dad Source: SBS Movies
Home Sweet Home
MA 15+
Vietnam, 2019
Genre: Horror, Drama
Language: Vietnamese
Director: Tran Huu Tan
Starring: Trinh Tai, Minh Hy, Duy Phuong
What's it about?
Thien Tam (Trinh Tai), the eldest son of a family that lives in a rural part of West Vietnam, was involved in an accident in Saigon, leaving him in a coma. When he recovers, he returns to his family home to find everything has become very strange. The family patriarch, his grandfather, has fallen seriously ill, and his 16-year-old cousin Hai Lam has gone away.
See all of these and more in the .
Source: Skyline
