Old apartment building - memories return

Character not in the cast

Reading and watching Quan Khu Nam Dong (book, play) and the movie Quan Ky Nam , one will meet a "character" not in the cast but almost the main character: a collective house in Hanoi , and an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City in the 80s of the last century. With nostalgic film footage and a leisurely pace, Quan Ky Nam slowly captures familiar yet strange images of the old apartment building: Time-faded windows, landings - corridors - balconies... full of furniture, flower pots, in one place a chicken coop; a rooftop on a night without electricity; narrow walls hung with photos of relatives, a broken brick used as a doorstop...

Nhà tập thể cũ - ký ức trở về- Ảnh 1. — Old apartment buildings in Hanoi in the frame of an American photographer

That old, seemingly boring and chaotic space still has its own order of human love and emotions, as the character Khang (Lien Binh Phat) discreetly confided: "It's not easy to find a place with as much joy as this!", when the old neighbor tactfully asked: "How do you feel when you come back here? Are you planning to stay or do you want to fly somewhere else?". It was because in that old space, the young translator found new emotions for himself in the "muse" named Ky Nam, and this will be the place where his soulmate will stick in his mind for life.

Nhà tập thể cũ - ký ức trở về- Ảnh 2. — The old apartment building scene in the movie *Quan Ky Nam*

In contrast to Quan Ky Nam - where the common space has become the private memories of two people, Quan Khu Nam Dong - from book to play, is a portrait of the collective memories of the "first mischievous, second ghostly" boys of the military family in the largest military area in Hanoi, also in the post-war years. If the apartment complex in Quan Ky Nam is a silent witness to the fragile yet strong love between two close friends but separated, then the "character" of the Nam Dong apartment complex is like an "ally" of the mischievous children to preserve the brand "Quan Khu Nam Nam". Two different spaces: one slow and sad, one noisy and mischievous, but both make the audience silent before the inner scars that war has left on the post-war generation.

"The stairs to the small attic, where our memories are kept..."

Quan Ky Nam with its poetically refined frames depicting people and houses in the old residential area and the unfinished love reminds us of the lyrics that musician Duong Thu composed with Tchaikovsky's music 20 years ago: "Still the same door frame, the stairs to the small, quiet attic, where our memories are kept..." (The Day I Left You - Album Chat with Mozart - My Linh). "An apartment building in Saigon built in the 70s, everything is old and the people too, everything is from the last century..., but why do the people in the film seem like I've known them for a long time...", cinematographer Nguyen Huu Tuan shared his feelings when watching Quan Ky Nam .

Nhà tập thể cũ - ký ức trở về- Ảnh 3. — Design of the stage of the largest military residential area in Hanoi in the play *Nam Dong Military* Zone

"Familiarity" is also the source of inspiration for director Leon Quang Le, making him carefully shape each frame for the scene of the movie Quan Ky Nam . His memories were "frozen" at the time he left Vietnam at the age of 13, along with the image of the old residential area - where he grew up in the 1980s. Accordingly, the "memory box" in Quan Ky Nam , for the director himself, is also a way for him to ask for "a ticket back to childhood"!

"The doors and stairs leading to those small, quiet attics" are also a special source of inspiration for American photographer Peter Steinhauer - who has spent 30 years photographing Vietnam, especially the old apartment buildings in Hanoi. "Having lived in Hanoi for many years, I have witnessed and entered these apartments hundreds of times, and photographing them has become an important part of my work. It is a special part of the soul of Hanoi...", he said.

Nhà tập thể cũ - ký ức trở về- Ảnh 4. — Cover of the book *Collective Area - Rediscovering the Dream of Paradise* (Vietnam Education Publishing House, 2025)

In the research book Collective Housing - Finding the Dream of Paradise co-edited by Tran Hau Yen The - Dinh Hong Hai, which has just been published, collective housing once again becomes the "main character" and this time is the exclusive character in the cast. The book is a vivid portrait of Hanoi during the war and subsidy period through the collective memories of many artists who were attached to this unique living space. "The collective housing is a place that has witnessed countless sorrows - joys, bitterness - happiness,... of the people living here. In the current context, although there have been many discussions and many construction solutions proposed by the state to replace the old collective housing, the strong existence of these collective housing is a living proof of a humane urban area - where people are the decisive factor for the vitality and existence of the city", Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Hong Hai said about the motivation that made him and his colleagues strive to make the book.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-tap-the-cu-ky-uc-tro-ve-185251203222516327.htm