NGUOI VIET - In communion with Dang Nhat Minh

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In communion with Dang Nhat Minh
Thursday, December 02, 2004 Story and Photo by Nguyen-Khoa Thai-Anh

THROUGH HIS LENS: Director Đặng Nhật Minh makes films laced with the subtleties of morality and the human condition and came to Berkeley in recent weeks to talk about his passion.

There is a feeling of predestination, of communion that seems to connect people through the arts, people whose lives do not normally intersect, particularly when they live an ocean apart.

But it is more fortuitous when the shared sentiment — call it nostalgia, call it the human spirit, call it -Vietnameseness — can transcend its artistic medium to speak directly to the viewer’s heart. I don’t know whether his status as a well-known, international prize-winning filmmaker or his Huế and Hanoian roots provides the impetus for us to finally connect, but I’m sure my meeting with filmmaker Đặng Nhật Minh was such serendipity.

In my quest to search out the quintessential Vietnamese soul, I have had the good luck of meeting with renowned filmmakers before. Take Tran Van Thuy of “Chuyện Tử Tế,” or “The Story of Kindness” fame, and whose book “Nếu Đi Hết Biển,” or “If You Traverse the Whole Ocean,” has created quite a stir in the older Vietnamese community; or Đỗ Minh Tuấn's “Vua Bãi Rác” or “King of the Garbage Dump,” for example. In the case of Đỗ, I even joined a gathering at the home of director Tony Bùi’s mom, where we ate, sang and talked. I got the filmmakers’ e-mail addresses, but nothing has come of these meetings and fellowship.

That is, until one evening last month when I decided against my better judgment and brought my 2 year-old daughter to the screening of Đặng's “Mùa Ổi,” or “Season of Guavas” in Berkeley. My wife was in class, and I had no choice but to bring my baby along, unless I wanted to stay home. Both she and I were so engrossed in the images on the screen, that, except for a moment when she babbled and pointed to the fruits, we did not have to leave the theater.

It was an up-close and personal, transcendental experience for both of us. Perhaps this childlike faith in human goodness in his films is what aligns us closer to Đặng.

He spoke to us, and certainly at some level has connected with my youngster to have kept her silent, mesmerized for almost two hours.

I believe the director’s statement best exemplifies his view of Vietnam:

“We live in a world which requires of each of us skill and pragmatism. We learn to mistrust our own naivete and to curb our sincerity. We have also lost the wisdom of childhood because there is no longer any room for innocence and spontaneity, there is no more room for people who have kept their childhood spirit. Besides, do we not consider such people as simple-minded...

“Hòa, the main character in “Mùa Ổi,” is one such person. What then would he think of us? In his child’s eyes, how feeble and ridiculous our wealth of resourcefulness and sum of experience must seem...”

He went on to quote from the Bible, the Gospel according to Saint Matthew.

“Verily I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein.”

“Today,” Đặng said, “I am convinced we shall never enter the kingdom of God. That is our tragedy.”

As bleak as his assessment of the situation, having a chance to commune with him on two different days, I’ve gathered a few glimpses of his embattered faith in the goodness of man.

Q: Having talked about the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Ha Noi at the screening, about the way people talk and treat each other which you present in your film as very kind and courteous, do you think Hanoians today possess this civility?
Ñaëng: In Ha Noi these days, one would hear profanity in the streets… Many young people, including girls, would habitually add the ‘f’ word to their normal speech. Be that it may, in “Mùa Ổi” I still let my characters treat one another with respect, with culture, because I think the Ha Noi quality of jasmine (hoa nhài) persist, though the fragrance has lost its essence.

Q: In the movies you’ve made, is there a message for youth?
Đặng: In “Mùa Ổi,” I have one: I believe there is a group of youths made up of the educated ones who have a different outlook on life, with different measure of morality and ethics… and who are willing to take responsibility for things that happen around them (which he illustrates in a scene where Loan, daughter of a high-ranking cadre, apologizes to Hòa’s family for the things her father did).
Although this group of people have not been able to achieve things that they would have liked to, they are the ones who will give Vietnamese society a new face.

Q: Through your visits with American universities, and please enumerate, what are your thoughts about Vietnamese students?
Đặng: The colleges and universities that I have visited in the last month (in chronological order) are: UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, Cornell, University of Massachusetts, Columbia, Yale, Hamilton, St. Mary’s College in Maryland, University of Washington, Seattle University and UCLA. I don’t know where else in the world students can have such ideal conditions that they have here in the U.S.
Through my contact with students, the thing that surprises me is the sense of idealism that they possess. Everyone pursues certain goals that they believe has meaning in life.
They live in a consumer society, yet they do not have high regard for materialism. They like to volunteer, pursue charitable works. They are independent thinkers. I have the impression that they have personal thoughts on nearly every subject. It’s only been a short time, and I already sense their youthful idealism and the spirit of democracy in college life.
All the Vietnamese-American students I have met have integrated fully into American society, but still keep a certain spiritual link with their roots, emotionally and culturally. They are pure, educated and confident. Each time I have contact with them, I feel as if I have met again the character of Loan in “Mùa Ổi.”

Q: What is the one thing you like the most in this trip compared to other visits you’ve made to America?
Đặng: The others were mostly trips I made under the auspices of film festivals, and therefore, I have not found out much about life in America.
America is vast, multifaceted, one cannot understand it fully.
I can only say I have learned somewhat about college life, the American scholastic system. In previous visits, I met with Vietnamese folks who emigrated here, they told me: One of the reasons why they come to the U.S. is so their children can get an education, where they are not discriminated, and in one of the most superior educational systems of mankind. Because of that, they risked untold dangers. Now, I understand why most Vietnamese children have done well in school. That is because they don’t want to nullify their parents’ sacrifices.
More that that, I have discovered in this trip an America that I have not learned much about: that is an America with art museums, history museums, anthropology museums, all kinds of museums.
On top of that there is a system of libraries in the colleges that is so diverse.
Another great acquisition is that I have made friends with Americans as well as Vietnamese. Many I have just met seem to (already) be longtime friends... I’ve come to realize that there are still many good people left in the world.

Q: What projects do you plan for the future?
Dặng: I have a script under submission, awaiting approval from the Board of Censorship (in Vietnam). I have another script that I’m working on with a female Canadian scriptwriter. If this pans out, it will be a co-production with a foreign concern... Writing is something that I do and continue to do.

If for some reason, I cannot produce films, then the task of pen and paper is a pursuit that suits me best - it doesn't depend on anyone else except you.

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