Poetry and intensity in the films of female directors

Scene from the movie “Red Rain”. Photo: Provided by the film crew

Compared to men's films which are often fierce, intense and sometimes heroic, female directors skillfully incorporate softness, delicacy and poetry into each frame, while still maintaining the decisiveness, even the thorniness, required in film.

Before the Doi Moi period, the late People's Artist and director Bach Diep laid solid foundations for the position of women in the film industry, with emotional and humanistic cinematic works such as "Saint's Day" and "Mother's Legend", and was honored with the State Prize for Literature and Arts. Her career is a great source of inspiration for the next generation of female directors.

Entering the Doi Moi period, the cinema industry opened up to many new creative ideas and the role of female directors was further affirmed. In the mainstream film industry, People's Artist Pham Nhue Giang and director Dang Thai Huyen are two typical names. Looking at the works of People's Artist Pham Nhue Giang, viewers clearly feel the poetry and sophistication of a sensitive artistic soul, typically the two films "Deserted Valley" and "Mother's Soul".

Nhuệ Giang’s films delve into the inner world, exploring the spiritual world of women and the small lives with deep empathy. In “Deserted Valley”, Nhuệ Giang gently depicts the silent sacrifice of female teachers in the mountains, without dramatizing, but touching the hearts of viewers with small, delicate details about daily life and love for the profession and humanity.

It is the poetry in her films, expressed through the whispering, simple storytelling, creating a soft cinematic space, that softens the harshness of the subject, making viewers feel the beauty of endurance and sacred maternal love, even in sad stories like "Mother's Soul" with the mother character filled with love.

Lieutenant Colonel, director Dang Thai Huyen again affirms the determination of women in the industry. war movies and post-war. Her works such as “The Returned” and especially the recent “Red Rain” (2025) have exploited historical and war themes, going to the end of the fierceness of the war with a spirit of dedication and strength no less than that of men. She is willing to put herself and the film crew in a harsh environment to vividly recreate and convey the “epic song” about the Fatherland and the Vietnamese people.

And this determination does not contradict but complements the softness in the humanistic details, not only in the Uncle Ho soldier who stopped shooting when he saw the family photo of the republican soldier fall out. Or on the other side, the republican officer prevented the soldier from shooting the girl who was rowing the boat to take the soldiers across the river. In the independent film genre, famous female directors such as Nguyen Hoang Diep with "Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere", Hong Anh with "Island of the Refugees" and Duong Dieu Linh with "Rain on the Butterfly Wings" are films with very distinct colors and creative marks, winning awards at a number of international film festivals. In particular, Duong Dieu Linh delves into the issues of women in contemporary life, with strong feminism and an interesting perspective, truly has a promising future in the artistic path.

The success of the above female directors shows that women are fully capable of creating intense works, reflecting political and social issues as directly and fiercely as their male colleagues, even with sharper details thanks to their gender sensitivity and ability to exploit the depth of character psychology. They not only affirm their personal talent but also bring films that reflect life in a multi-dimensional way, both profound and subtle, strong and fierce. However, despite having prominent names, the number of female feature film directors Vietnamese cinema are still few compared to men. The profession of making feature films often requires long distance travel, long hours of work and great pressure on finances and progress, causing many women to think carefully before committing.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/chat-tho-va-su-quyet-liet-trong-phim-cua-cac-nu-dao-dien-3380839.html