Hoa-Binh

An anti-war film, showing the point of view of those who endure war, pulled from one side to the other, but seeking only "Hoa-Binh", which means peace for themselves, their family and their land.

Little Hung (Phi Lan) is the sole support for his little sister Xuan (Huynh Cazenas) after their father (Le Quynh) is unwillingly drawn into the war by the Vietcong and their mother Cao Thi Thu (Xuan Ha) dies of a rare cancer. The only woman who offers them help is the elderly and compassionate Tran Thi Ha (Bui Thi Thanh).

Raoul Coutard's directorial debut is inspired by his aesthetic sense and visual sensitivity, featuring enchanting landscapes, emotionally charged expressions, but also devastation and brutal, almost documentary-like realism; Françoise Lorrain's screenplay is slow-paced but relentlessly tragic, accentuated by the sparse dialogue; the cast is relatively small, but I was particularly impressed by the spontaneous performance of young Phi Lan.

Worth seeing for a voice in support of the victims of war and for Georges van der Liron's enchanting cinematography, which shows us the natural beauty of Vietnam, despite the war.

This movie does not take sides .Fighting for democracy or communism,it's all the same:children are poor unfortunate victims of man's Madness.

First line:"dad ,what's peace? -Someday,you will find out I've been living in war for 30 years . Last line:What's peace?

Boy:mom,is there a storm brewing? Mom:no more storm over Vietnam;only the sound of planes .

Dad's gone to fight against imperialism and mom stays at home with her two children;soon,she dies of cancer and asks her boy to care care of his little sister.

This is the beginning of an odyssey which recalls sometimes that of the two tragic heroes of the Japanese masterpiece " grave of the fireflies". The brat becomes a paper boy,a shoe-shiner and tries to stay a child in a world gone mad.Some adults are selfish and ruthless ,some others -an European nurse notably-lends a helpful hand .

It seems ,at the end of the movie,that the father has finally understood that a child's smile is worth all the ideological struggles in the world.

Raoul Coutard was a famous N.V. cameraman ;he directed only a handful of movies:this one is certainly the most interesting.

Hoa Binh ("peace") would have meant more in 1970, when the Vietnam War was still going on. It is a film that sees the war not from the viewpoint of the soldiers, but from the poor, innocent bystanders who are victimized by both sides.

Hung is a youth about eight or nine years old. He lives with his younger sister and his mother, who works hard to support them. Hung's father is gone, no one knows where. Hung's mother develops an infection in her leg and takes the children to her sister's home in the country. However, the sister is not happy about being saddled with two more children to feed. The mother continues to work, but her health declines. When she goes into the hospital, Hung decides to take his sister back to the city and look for work.

Along the way, the children meet several adults, from both sides of the conflict. Both sides talk in similar speeches ("we will continue fighting for another twenty years if we have to") while being unaware of the needs of these two homeless children. Hoa-Binh is less anti-war as pro-human.

I had wanted to see Hoa Binh ever since I first read about the film in Something to Declare, a collection of reviews by critic John Simon. Almost twenty years has passed since I first read that review, almost twenty years of watching other movies. In that time, I have seen the children in war story told in Come and See, Diamonds of the Night, Germany Year Zero, Grave of the Fireflies, Ivan's Childhood, and The Painted Bird, all of which I like more than Hoa Binh. Watching Hoa Binh now, I understand its historical importance, but I also feel a bit like I have seen the story before in a different setting, in a different war.

Hoa Binh is a well-made, very well-meaning film that I admire for its humanity. Still, I must admit that I was only sporadically drawn into its story.