Wednesday Night Southeast Asia Movie: Vi谩禄鈥 Nam
April 22, 6:30pm - 8:30pmMānoa Campus, Center for Korean Studies
脙聬谩禄茠 Mai T脙颅nh
(AKA Fool for Love)
Vi谩禄鈥 Nam/USA (2010, 95 min)
Vietnamese w/English subtitles
Director: Charlie Nguyen
Screenplay: Dustin Nguyen
Cast: Dustin Nguyen (as Dung), Kathy Uyen (as Mai), Thai Hoa (as Hoi), Charlie Nguyen (as Antoine)
Van Hai Bui (as Minh), Leon Le (as Son), Johnny Nguyen (as Johnny)
Directed by Charlie Nguyen (THE REBEL), this rom-com, 脙聬谩禄茠 Mai T脙颅nh, follows Dung, played by Dustin Tr脙颅 Nguyen (known best for his role as H.T. Loki on 21 Jumpstreet, which made girls like me swoon in the late 芒鈧80s) in his pursuit of Mai (Kathy Uy脙陋n), an aspiring singer-songwriter. In line with the traditional storyline of a boy in love with a girl out of his league, Dung芒鈧劉s romantic persistence compels him to follow Mai from S脙聽i G脙虏n to Nha Trang. There, under the employ of the flamboyant cosmetics entrepreneur Hoi (played with unceasing comedic energy by Th脙隆i H脙虏a), Dung attempts to woo Mai against the backdrop of Nha Trang, one of Vi谩禄鈥 Nam芒鈧劉s most beautiful coastal cities.
Aside from keeping the audience laughing consistently throughout (yet also, at the appropriate moments, silently holding their collective breath in the anticipation of romantic embrace), 脙聬谩禄茠 Mai T脙颅nh depicts Vietnamese men, both heterosexual and homosexual, and women as layered characters rather than the stereotypes Asians are often reduced to in mainstream film; while there is certainly a suitor you root for, there are no one-dimensional martial artists or harmlessly docile, impotent 芒鈧搈odel minorities芒鈧 here. (The film芒鈧劉s treatment of gender is noteworthy. While Hoi芒鈧劉s character no doubt falls back upon stereotypical conventions of the homosexual and cross-dresser as comic relief for the bulk of the movie, he does reveal more complex character traits as the story progresses, and the film芒鈧劉s other gay male characters range from flirtatious to brooding. One couple announces plans for a Parisian nuptial, and it is the comfort with which homosexuality is treated in these details of the story that is important not only for films in the Vietnamese community, but cinema in general.)
This mixed Vietnamese/Vi谩禄鈥 Ki谩禄聛u production blew the socks off Vietnamese box office sales in 2010 as the highest grossing film of the year and one of the most popular Vietnamese romantic comedies of all time! Directed by Charlie Nguyen (THE REBEL).
-Jade Hidle, diaCRITICS
Ticket Information
Free and open to the public
Event Sponsor
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Mānoa Campus
More Information
956-2688, cseas@hawaii.edu,
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Wednesday Night Southeast Asia Movie: Vi谩禄鈥 Nam Mānoa Campus, Center for Korean Studies
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