A touching and tragic love story during wartime
Cine7 - Vietnamese Film Memories broadcast at 9:10 p.m. on Saturday, July 5, 2025 on VTV3 - Vietnam Television will introduce to the audience the famous Vietnamese film of the 90s "Unknown Eucalyptus Tree".
Released in 1994, the work not only recreates the brutality of war, but also reveals the dark corners of the human soul - where loneliness and pain still linger even in the rear, where there are no bombs falling or bullets exploding.
“The Nameless Eucalyptus Tree” tells a tragic and touching love story set in the northern countryside during the fierce years of the war against the US, portrayed quite realistically in a fiery atmosphere of “all for the front line”. The film focuses on the desire to live and the inner struggles of two lonely people: Bach Van - a widower, father of a martyr, and Binh - a woman whose husband went to fight far away and then died.
They "crossed the fence" in the midst of the village's protest. Also from these two characters, the audience saw a class of people in the rear who always turned to and contributed to the revolution. Mr. Bach Van appeared with an anxious wait for news of his son on the battlefield, then contributed to dismantling the house for the soldiers to get planks to clear the road. Ms. Binh appeared with the image of a wife waiting for her husband to go to war far away, but still worked hard to carry soil to build the dike...
Even though they had to leave their village, like "nameless eucalyptus trees" they still returned to their village roots and their resilient vitality helped them overcome all hardships and live forever. The strongest impression that the film left was the simplicity and boldness of the characters' personalities, the fierceness and depth of the situations.
The film won the Silver Lotus Award at the 11th Vietnam Film Festival in 1996. In addition, the film also won awards such as: Best Actress for Le Vy, Best Cinematography for Nguyen Duc Viet, Best Music Award for Pho Duc Phuong; B Award of the Vietnam Cinema Association in 1995; Bronze Torch Award at the Pyongyang International Film Festival in 1996.
Under the talented hands of the director duo Nguyen Thanh Van and Pham Nhue Giang, “The Nameless Eucalyptus Tree” emerges as a sad symphony about fate, memories and unnamed inhibitions. A film not only to watch but also to feel, to ponder and to remember forever.
Meritorious Artist Le Vi is pregnant but still acts in a movie
Sharing at Cine 7 - Vietnamese Film Memories, Director, People's Artist Nguyen Thanh Van said that the image of the eucalyptus tree is similar to the lives depicted in the film. Eucalyptus can live in the driest, most rocky places - places where other trees cannot live; few people pay attention to the eucalyptus tree, it is hidden somewhere in this life. That image is a metaphor for the people who contributed to the war, they were quiet and silent, not honored as heroes. They were hidden, they were anonymous, but they were indispensable in the war to repel the invaders.
Fates like Mr. Bach Van or Ms. Binh were common in the northern rural society during the war. The fate of women in the rear, men whose children went to the battlefield and died. People who silently contributed.
Director, People's Artist Nguyen Thanh Van added that when filming, Meritorious Artist Le Vy was pregnant. When the filming time was extended, artist Le Vy had to "carry" her pregnant belly to the set to film more scenes, the film crew had to choose the shooting angle and be skillful in setting up the scene to be able to hide her pregnant belly. Even when the film crew did not know that artist Le Vy was pregnant, there was a scene where she had to carry heavy soil, the director suggested a stunt double but she refused and wanted to act out that scene herself, making the whole film crew emotional.
If in “Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds”, Meritorious Artist Le Vy only revealed her potential, then in this film, she truly blossomed, reaching maturity in her acting – a role that can be placed on par with the role of Duyen played by her talented sister Meritorious Artist Le Van. Le Vy’s character Binh is not like the usual resigned women; she is strong, straightforward and ready to face social prejudices, even giving up the past to leave her old village with Mr. Van, embarking on a new journey of life. Le Vy’s powerful eyes, combined with Hong Son’s laconic but profound words, have created a rural couple that is genuine, beautiful and full of inner feelings, the most on the Vietnamese screen.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/cay-bach-dan-vo-danh-va-nhung-ky-uc-kho-quen-post891763.html
Comment (0)