Trịnh Công Sơn has been called the Bob Dylan of Vietnam. Well … either Vietnam’s Bob Dylan or Don Juan; we aren’t sure which exactly. We do know the man is considered in many circles to be Vietnam’s best songwriter and it turns out Vietnam’s best songwriter was anti-war. Go figure.
It also turns out that Trịnh Công Sơn (Avin Lu young and Tran Luc old) wrote a lot of songs about ladies, too. A lot, a lot, a lot. I’m gonna put the over/under on Trinh’s trim at 10, but –honestly- given how much this film soft-peddled his romantic experiences and still managed to cover several lovers’ Trinhgals, I think it’s fair to say he wasn’t quite as shy and unassuming as the portrayal imagines.
In what qualifies for “present day” (somewhere in the 1980s), Trinh attracts Michiko (Akari Nakatani), an American student who wants to get her degree in Trinhology. This involves following him to his home in Vietnam and meeting his family. Lemme stop here. Pretty young woman meets her idol, the guy she’s devoted her academic life to, who –in turn- happens to be something of a playah; she travels 8,000 miles to check out his home crib, gets in good with his fam, and their relationship is just platonic? Of course it is.
This gives the excuse for the Em and Trinh to go back in time as we meet young, Bohemain Trinh and his Moulin Rouge! pals, hanging out at uni devoting their lives to truth or beauty or whatever. This movie totally confused me because it showed a bunch of twentysomething Trinh chasing ladies in
the early 1960s, yet managed to avoid talking about war for over an hour. What? Did Trinh live in the non-war part of Vietnam? I don’t believe such existed.
Film Trinh comes off as tragic and romantically doomed, often falling for the wrong woman at the wrong time. Personally, I doubt that was the case in reality; I’m betting this was a filmmaking apology of sorts in portraying Trinh as hopeless romantic as opposed to lothario. I’m not entirely sure which interpretation is closer to the truth, nor am I entirely sure that it matters. The tragedy of Em and Trinh has nothing to do with Trinh’s romantic life; the real problem with this film is twofold—problem one: pacing. The film feels long and meandering. A lot of biopics about musicians feel long but are punctuated with “the moment they made it big.” There is no such moment in this film. The second problem is none of the songs were interpreted into English on the screen. Bob Dylan is as much poet as artist; are we not interested in the lyrics of Vietnam’s Bob Dylan?
At the end of the day, I recommend this film only to historians to sort out the truth of the picture; I don’t think it holds much appeal beyond well established fans of Trịnh Công Sơn.
There once was a songster from ‘Nam
Who shunned most spotlights and glam
War was his prattle
Yet his personal battle
Always summoned: “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am”
Not Rated, 136 Minutes
Director: Phan Gia Nhat Linh
Writer: Bong Bot Binh, Thai Ha, Phan Gia Nhat Linh
Genre: The great meander
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of Trịnh Công Sơn
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “If you bothered translating his music, maybe we’d like it too”
