Em bé Hà-Noi

It's a North Vietnamese drama about the U. S. bombing of Hanoi in December 1972 based on the experiences of a 10-year-old girl, Ngoc Ha (Lan Huong). She meets an air defense officer (The Anh) as she is searching for her father (Ha Van Trong), who is in the military. In flashbacks, we learn that Ngoc Ha's mother, Thu (Tra Giang), and younger sister, Thuy Duong (Quynh Anh), were in a part of Hanoi heavily destroyed by B52 bombs. The script follows Ngoc Ha's experiences in Hanoi and an evacuation area with her teacher, Miss Nga (Kim Xuan). In the end, we learn her younger sister has survived.

"The Little Girl from Hanoi," at its core, is a propaganda film demonstrating Vietnamese resilience against American air power. Hai Ninh made the movie while the war was ongoing and included a lot of news footage within the film, including the outrage of Hanoi residents against some captured American pilots.

"The Little Girl from Hanoi" is a valuable historical period piece that balances the many Hollywood films that have served American propaganda. The Criterion Channel film's subtitles are incomplete and have bad translations, hurting the experience of non-Vietnamese viewers. The style and scene cuts are primitive but understandable given the circumstances.

After viewing countless American films about the Vietnam War, it's refreshing to find a production that comes from the "other side". Not only does it offer an alternative perspective, but it's an authentic document - made on location in Hanoi right as the war was ending in 1975. Like the far more famous Germany Year Zero, genuine rubble and bombed out buildings line the streets; and one can sense the personal relevance and immediacy to everyone involved. It's worth seeing purely as an invaluable historical resource, but is also a genuinely effective film with competent acting and filmmaking. It's old-fashioned and low-budget - like a mix of Italian Neorealism and 1950s war films - but definitely impressive, especially considering the state of the Vietnamese film industry at the time (ie, far from flourishing).

"The Litte Girl of Hanoi" focuses on a young girl who recruits the help of a soldier to track down her father, who is off fighting the war. She recounts her story, and through flashbacks we are shown her previously happy family life with her doting parents and infant sister. These sequences, including a rudimentary but charming animation of an old Vietnamese folk tale, are juxtaposed with scenes depicting the chaos of war - the family are separated, schools and hospitals are bombed, and wounded American pilots are taken prisoner and paraded through the street. It's an effective technique, while the non-linear approach gives the film a welcome poetic quality. The performance from the young girl is surprisingly good, her adorable face communicating both toughness and vulnerability. "I don't cry," she insists, "the tears just come out by themselves."

The film exists to showcase the human tragedy of the war, specifically its impact on civilians, and could reasonably be called propaganda. It's shamelessly anti-American, with the Vietnamese depicted as undeserving victims of an "imperialist" force (yes, that very word is used). An old woman damns Nixon and swears to get revenge, while the young girl dances and celebrates when a B-52 is struck. But can we blame them? "Undeserving victims" is essentially what they were. From the North's perspective, a foreign nation came from nowhere to intervene in their affairs, declare war, and murder their people. The Vietnam War is now generally accepted by Americans as the pointless failure it was, and while their films reflect this it's still very much as an *American* tragedy. The Vietnamese perspective is rarely shown. "The Little Girl of Hanoi" is an important counterpoint to this, reminding us of the enormous toll on the country's civilians. It's a small film but nonetheless raw, beautiful, insightful, and one of a kind. I'm grateful that it gave me a chance to enter the streets of Hanoi in 1975, and can only hope it will continue reaching a wider audience.

A Little Girl of Hanoi is one of the most precious war movies of all time. It is a powerful and moving portrayal of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a child. The film is a complete opposite of the USA propaganda films of the time and is made with the heart of an invaded country.

The film is a powerful and moving portrayal of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a child who is experiencing the war firsthand, witnessing the death and destruction that it brings. However, she remains resilient and hopeful, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.

A Little Girl of Hanoi is a complete opposite of the USA propaganda films of the time. It does not glorify war or demonize the enemy. Instead, it shows the human cost of war and the impact that it has on ordinary people.

The film is made with the heart of an invaded country. It is a testament to the resilience of the Vietnamese people and their determination to survive.

"Daddy why was the turtle carrying the sword?" "It's Long Quan's magic sword. He gave it to the King to defeat the enemy. At that time, wherever our soldiers went, victories were gained and the enemy was defeated. Each time, when the magic sword was brandished with its bright radiance, the enemy was so frightened and ran away."

It was a fine touch to echo the legend of the turtle carrying the sword in the shot of the antiaircraft rocket at the end. There is certainly a sense of resilience and proud defiance that runs throughout this film, but it's at its most powerful when it shows us the devastation of Hanoi from indiscriminate American bombing in 1972 through a child's eyes. As the film includes actual footage it brings to mind European films made at the end of WWII, and as it shows the effect on civilians - most of whom are women and children - it calls to mind the bombing in Gaza today, with Israel trying to hit an unseen enemy and apparently not very concerned about hitting innocent people in the process.

It's also of course refreshing to get a complete perspective shift relative to the countless American films on the subject of the war, even the best of which don't typically show the Vietnamese as three-dimensional people. Here we eventually get to the backstory of a girl's neighborhood being flattened during a bombing run, one that killed her mother and sister, and her searching for her father who's in the army. Before that we see them doing what happy families do, playing together and enjoying each other's company. The parents are caring and the neighbors are helpful, quite a contrast to how we see Vietnamese people in American films. However, it's also true that what a lot of these characters say is so idealized that it often doesn't seem realistic.

And that's the drawback with the film. I often felt just as manipulated as I was moved, as the story itself was simple and it was served up with a healthy dose of propaganda. You obviously can't blame the reaction of the people in the clips of real U. S. P. O. W.'s are being walked through a village to jeering crowds, but I have to say (and maybe for personal reasons), that bit was still staggering to watch. It was also difficult to see the clips of Ho Chi Minh smiling beatifically while passing out cigarettes to soldiers in light of the crimes he and his successor Le Duan committed, the murders of "enemies of the state," the torture in re-education camps, and a dictatorship that many risked their lives to flee from, including several friends of mine. None of that justifies what America was doing in Vietnam and I was very happy to see this point of view, but it's not exactly fair and balanced, or a documentary.

Last point, and minor compared to everything else going on here - as with other older Vietnamese films I've seen, the subtitles are littered with grammatical errors, and while it's not a problem understanding the meaning, that was challenged a little when the little girl was cheering when an American bomber was overhead and saying "The B-52 is firing!" after which it was apparent that what was meant was "The B-52 is on fire!"

I've just seen this film as part of my history degree course and found it to be a very interesting and moving account of the Vietnam war told from the perspective of a young North Vietnamese girl. While I wouldn't label it as out and out propaganda there are elements that reminded me strongly of British WWII flag wavers.

As I have said it is a moving film and there are some very nice touches, notably when the girl plays her violin to block the sound of bombs dropping to placate an infant. There are also some surprises. Having only seen this war as reflected from a U.S P.O.V I was surprised to see the following:

The war was not entirely limited to jungle warfare. This film is an account of the bombing of Hanoi.

In no other film had I seen the domestic side of Vietnamese life; a fairly happy family.

It had not occurred to me from watching other films that the Vietnamese would even know who Nixon was, here they seem relatively well informed; especially women.

I had previously thought that the Vietnamese had only possessed light arms, machine guns etc. In this film we see large missiles being transported (though I did suspect that it was perhaps only one missile being shown again and again or simply empty warheads!)

I do realise that this was a form of propaganda and therefore elements can be questioned, but nonetheless it is very interesting to see things from a different perspective. I would recommend this film to anyone with a serious interest in history or world cinema.