The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000)

With the brilliant Vietnamese summer as a setting Vertical Ray of the Sun is beautiful from beginning to end. The plot centres around three sisters, two of whom are happily married (or so ... See full summary »

Director:

Anh Hung Tran (as Tran Anh Hung)

Writer:

Anh Hung Tran (as Tran Anh Hung)

Stars:

Nu Yên-Khê Tran, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Khanh Le

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Nu Yên-Khê Tran	...	Lien (as Tran Nu Yên-Khê)
Nhu Quynh Nguyen	...	Suong
Khanh Le	...	Khanh (as Le Khanh)
Quang Hai Ngo	...	Hai
Chu Hung	...	Quoc
Manh Cuong Tran	...	Kien
Tuân Anh Lê	...	Tuan
Ngoc Dung Le	...	Huong
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thi Hai Yen Do
Doan Viet Ha
Long Le Vu
Aidan Nguyen
Anh Tuan

Storyline

With the brilliant Vietnamese summer as a setting Vertical Ray of the Sun is beautiful from beginning to end. The plot centres around three sisters, two of whom are happily married (or so it appears). The youngest sister is single and living with her cute older brother, whom she is desperately in love with. A second sister is married to a man who has another woman and child elsewhere whom he loves just as much as his wife -with a few conditions, she agrees to carry on with the marriage. The third sister and her husband are overjoyed to discover she is pregnant, and though he is tempted, her husband remains loyal to her. Charming, slow-paced, face value, family saga film.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | hanoi | sibling incest subtext | extramarital affair | writer | 

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Taglines:

One day. Many lives. A family. Lovers. An eternity. A hope. A delay. A secret. Happiness. Lies. One summer.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some sex-related material

Details

Official Sites:

Lazennec (French, english) [France]

Country:

Vietnam France Germany

Language:

Vietnamese

Release Date:

24 May 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

The Vertical Ray of the Sun

Filming Locations:

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,339, 8 July 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$456,387, 30 December 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte France Cinéma,Canal+,Hang Phim Truyen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Venice Film Festival 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Tell her tell her
Performed by The Married Monk

User Reviews

An enchanting film

This movie reminds me very much of the plays of Anton Chekhov. I.e. it is completely against the traditional aesthetics of American style movies where action, fantasy, humor, over-acting, special effects and the goal of getting as much dollars and viewers as possible are usually the main message there is... So, no wonder that some of the reviewers of this movie here, don't seem to have got at all what this movie is about...

Nothing special happens in the movie, but in the end you feel that you've seen something worth seeing, and even learned something new about human life and social relations.

The acting is good and realistic. The life stories told are nothing but happenings of ordinary life, but the director makes them into beautiful lyric poems that touch your heart.

The beautiful scenery shown alone makes this film worth watching. 9-10/10