I did not have high expectations when I started watching this movie. Being married to a Vietnamese woman, I was mostly interested in revisiting Saigon and feeling the atmosphere of a place I spent some time in. I came out strangely affected, because I came to feel for the characters.
This movie is not great by Western standards. A lot of the story is predictable, and many cliches are used. But the movie is beautifully shot against the backdrop of Saigon, and some very important moments in the lives of Vietnamese people, most prominently Tet, the holiday of the Lunar New Year, are used to mark dramatic events. When you have spent any significant amount of time in Saigon, you will recognize not only the place itself, but also the character of Saigon, where a lot of possibilities exist, if you are willing to work hard, and try to make something of yourself.
The movie is about a budding musician by the name of Vu, a dreamer, who doesn't want money to interfere with his dream of living for music. He is shy, and insecure about his considerable talent. In his band he is overshadowed by Trang, the leader of the band, who has - in the mind of at least one other band member - sold out, and has traded living for making music for making a living from music.
Vu meets a girl, May, who has dreams of her own, but she's pragmatic, and realistic. Both of them are from North Vietnam, which may not seem significant, but it actually is, since the two parts of Vietnam are so very different in character, and it's one of the things that bonds them together. She initially sees him as someone who can help her, and who is easily swayed into doing things for her. By chance she loses her home, and they start living together.
He sings a song for her, and that opens her eyes to him, and she falls in love with him, as he has already with her. They both blossom, and when an expected traumatic event happens, he starts to feel he is responsible for her, and starts to change in order to support her. That is, of course, breaking the rules of the relationship, and things fall apart.
The acting is good, and - in good Vietnamese fashion - sometimes borders on the melodramatic. But it's effective, and very affecting. It helps to have a working knowledge of Vietnam to understand this movie. I enjoyed it immensely.
