À la verticale de l'été

Just finished watching it, late on a Saturday night. Beautiful. Saw SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA but prefer this. Incredibly sensual, tactile, delicate shades of light, spilling over faded walls, around lush greenery, onto rough stone. Such fantastic visuals, could easily leave it playing in perpetual loop with the sound turned down, especially on the 42" LCD I don't have.

Plot? Was surprised at the level of detail, how well scenes knit together, symbols woven through a tapestry I didn't expect. One of the main reasons I prefer it to SOGP. Unexpected tensions arise, complexity swimming below surface tranquility, never quite sure where the plot is going to lead.

There isn't much in the way of conventional resolution, but that didn't matter to me. Some think the pace too slow, but heard similar complaints about IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE which I found unfounded. Doesn't have to be neat and tidy, and often there is more importance in what is not said, than what is spoken. A different mentality from many 'western' films, and certainly not the French 'nothing about nothing' that one reviewer mentioned. All in the details. And the glorious laziness of summer! I want to be there NOW.

A visually-stunning look at the lives of three modern-day Vietnamese sisters and their families, living in Hanoi. The intersection of modernism (in particular, Western) influences alongside tradition is a theme. This does not appear to be a rigid Stalinist society but an austere but comfortable developing one. A sound track which mixes Lou Reed and traditional Vietnamese music accentuates the way tradition and modernity meld in this setting.

And it is the setting which takes your breath away. Even the interiors are visually rich with colors and textures. The film's use of rain, heat, and flowing water all add to the sensuality of the country and the characters.

As the opening credits rolled at the cultural center in Hawaii where I saw this film I noticed it was produced by canal+. "Ah, a french production. I may as well make myself comfortable because not much of anything will happen for the next two hours" I thought to myself. I was only partially right. "Vertical Ray of the Sun" is one of the most languid movies I have seen in a long time, taking it's time to slowly introduce us to the characters and give us a glimpse of their world. There is beauty, drama, sorrow, joy but as with most french productions none of it has any semblance of a plot line. There is no build up, no exposition, and no conclusion. At one point the movie ends and the credits roll. What there is, is a great deal of magnificent cinematography. If you have the chance to view this film take some time to appreciate the way light plays in the background, the contrast of color between foreground and background, the composition of each shot. Then again don't worry about taking your time.. the movie will give you plenty of time to stop and admire.

I would like to point out that the perfection of this movie lies in the imperfection of its story. To those who have said it just dribbles off at the end with no resolution, I personally think thats why its so brilliant! It is very rare that we get the see a slice of life like this--- one so beautiful, enrapturing, and yet TRUTHFUL. Life doesn't have perfect endings and beginnings. Its great to see that movies don't have to either.

That said, my absolute favorite scene is the one with all three sisters and the sweet potatoes! What's yours?

If you understood that "Seinfeld" was about nothing, then you will accept that "Vertical Ray of the Sun" is about almost nothing. For instance, Hanoi is awash in color and brother and sister listen to Lou Reed while they exercise their bodies and exorcise their incestuous longings. Nothing else happens.

Meanwhile 2 other sisters are working through affairs that threaten their marriages but resolve in the film to uncertainty about their future. What is certain is the "violent and passionate undercurrent," as director Tran calls it, with a "mischievous humor to it." I failed to find the humor or the passion, just a ballet of souls languishing in the boredom of marriage or the banality of emotional incest.

Almost certainly influenced by Chekov and his equally subtle 3 sisters, the director feels that "[h]armony, or the art of keeping up appearances, could be the title of the story." That's the real beauty of this melodramatic nap, that passion hidden away from the world disguises everyone involved, so that only a wife could suspect a look or an innocent-looking note. On the surface is a harmony, a café of peaceful meetings owned by sisters whose stories will never be publicly told with passion or humor.

Any movie that calmly shows skin being pulled from a chicken foot or sisters talking furtively about sauteing and eating a penis should be full of passion and humor. It is not. It rather shows the director's appreciation of the Robert-Bresson school of directing where essence comes before adventure, restraint before passion.

Perhaps the director aptly characterizes his movie when he says, ''My thoughts turned back to my childhood in DaNang, remembering the time when I'd be waiting to fall asleep at night, my mind racing from one thing to another, nothing precise. The smell of fruit coming in through the window, a woman's voice singing on the radio. Everything was so vague. It was like a feeling of suspension. If I've ever experienced harmony in my life it was then. It was just a matter of translating that rhythm and that musicality into the new film.''

I vote for "suspension" as this slowly beautiful film's operative word.