VẮNG BÓNG
Martin Otter
Germany | 2012 | 90 min
World premiere
Language : Vietnamese
Subtitle : English
As a child, the poet Thanh Nguyen lost his sight in an American raid. He grew up, married and had a family. When his wife fell ill, he decided to go begging around the country, accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter. Back home two years later, Nguyen began writing about this experience and started to overcome his disability. Conceived as a confession for two voices (father and daughter), shot through with scenes of absolute clarity, Van Bong is a journey through night. Gradually, the story approaches a universal theme, offering a sort of philosophical handbook on how to survive the darkness.
Striking a balance between spoken word, imagination, memory and dream, Martin Otter seeks to go beyond what can be seen and heard and to enter a different dimension, exploring the inner world of his characters. Shot in highly symbolic black and white, Vang Bong follows a back-to-front route which leads, spiral-wise, down into the human soul.
Carlo Chatrian
Translation BMP Translations
