Vancouver 09: ADRIFT Review
[Our thanks to Teresa Nieman for the following review.]
One of the best movies I saw this year, Adrift is a mesmerizing and achingly beautiful portrait of romantic frustration, and life in Hanoi--in that order. It opens on a couple's wedding night, but the groom (Hai) has become too inebriated to connsumate things with his new bride, Duyen. Even more troubling is that Hai's overbearing mom seems to be encouraging the two to never have sex, by advising Duyen to let her son "get a lot of rest" each night after work. It doesn't help that Hai himself, an inexperienced man-child, seems uninterested in ever going there either.
As you can guess, this isn't the best foundation for a lasting marriage. Duyen, pretty and optimistic at first, soon begins to feel pushed away and unwanted. On top of that, she doesn't seem aware that her (female) best friend, Cam, has feelings for her in a major way, and has fallen into depression ever since the wedding. As a way of possibly alienating the husband and wife further, Cam sneakily manages to set Duyen up with another man--a smooth-talking, free-spirited womanizer named Tho. And there you have it, the stage is set for a moody, interlocking tapestry of fascinating character studies and riveting situation after riveting situation.
Adrift presents universal themes and relatable human conditions, but it's also an incredibly unique look at modern life in Vietnam. I personally haven't seen many films from the country, and have had what I now know is a woefully narrow view of it. From what I knew, it was either a somewhat impoverished place without the most cutting edge art scene; or a steamy jungle that was the backdrop for many classic American war movies. In Adrift, it's a richly textured and even cosmopolitan metropolis. There's also a sequence where Duyen accompanies Tho and his friends on a beach vacation, that's absolutely stunning. It's almost like an unintentional extended tourism campaign for Vietnam.
VIFF often touts itself as a window to other cultures, and even though I like to think I've seen a good number of foreign films, for me this was just that. A polished, luscious-looking movie from a corner of the globe we don't see enough from, cinematically. Dragons & Tigers program director Tony Rayns actually mentioned how the festival has never had many Vietnamese films submitted in the past, but that he thinks that is starting to change. If Adrift is any indication, that's a very good thing.
One more thing I'd like to note is the soundtrack--it's a mixture of strange, avant-garde music (think Bjork meets Portishead) and evocative instrumental (strings, most memorably). It goes a long way with helping the film feel layered, sumptuous and alive. A lot of the same songs are also repeated throughout, which gives the action onscreen a sort of pulsing, mounting intensity. Despite all this, the film ends quietly and devastatingly without the aid of a big, overblown finale.
I didn't expect much from Adrift, and every year there's at least one film that comes out of nowhere and leaves me speechless. This does a good job of filling that slot, and if it weren't for the slightly-superior Air Doll, it would be my number one pick of the festival. It's been shown at TIFF, Venice and Pusan as well, so I hope this is an indication of--if nothing else--its chances at getting a decent Western DVD release. I can't recommend it enough.
Review by Teresa Nieman
One of the best movies I saw this year, Adrift is a mesmerizing and achingly beautiful portrait of romantic frustration, and life in Hanoi--in that order. It opens on a couple's wedding night, but the groom (Hai) has become too inebriated to connsumate things with his new bride, Duyen. Even more troubling is that Hai's overbearing mom seems to be encouraging the two to never have sex, by advising Duyen to let her son "get a lot of rest" each night after work. It doesn't help that Hai himself, an inexperienced man-child, seems uninterested in ever going there either.
As you can guess, this isn't the best foundation for a lasting marriage. Duyen, pretty and optimistic at first, soon begins to feel pushed away and unwanted. On top of that, she doesn't seem aware that her (female) best friend, Cam, has feelings for her in a major way, and has fallen into depression ever since the wedding. As a way of possibly alienating the husband and wife further, Cam sneakily manages to set Duyen up with another man--a smooth-talking, free-spirited womanizer named Tho. And there you have it, the stage is set for a moody, interlocking tapestry of fascinating character studies and riveting situation after riveting situation.
Adrift presents universal themes and relatable human conditions, but it's also an incredibly unique look at modern life in Vietnam. I personally haven't seen many films from the country, and have had what I now know is a woefully narrow view of it. From what I knew, it was either a somewhat impoverished place without the most cutting edge art scene; or a steamy jungle that was the backdrop for many classic American war movies. In Adrift, it's a richly textured and even cosmopolitan metropolis. There's also a sequence where Duyen accompanies Tho and his friends on a beach vacation, that's absolutely stunning. It's almost like an unintentional extended tourism campaign for Vietnam.
VIFF often touts itself as a window to other cultures, and even though I like to think I've seen a good number of foreign films, for me this was just that. A polished, luscious-looking movie from a corner of the globe we don't see enough from, cinematically. Dragons & Tigers program director Tony Rayns actually mentioned how the festival has never had many Vietnamese films submitted in the past, but that he thinks that is starting to change. If Adrift is any indication, that's a very good thing.
One more thing I'd like to note is the soundtrack--it's a mixture of strange, avant-garde music (think Bjork meets Portishead) and evocative instrumental (strings, most memorably). It goes a long way with helping the film feel layered, sumptuous and alive. A lot of the same songs are also repeated throughout, which gives the action onscreen a sort of pulsing, mounting intensity. Despite all this, the film ends quietly and devastatingly without the aid of a big, overblown finale.
I didn't expect much from Adrift, and every year there's at least one film that comes out of nowhere and leaves me speechless. This does a good job of filling that slot, and if it weren't for the slightly-superior Air Doll, it would be my number one pick of the festival. It's been shown at TIFF, Venice and Pusan as well, so I hope this is an indication of--if nothing else--its chances at getting a decent Western DVD release. I can't recommend it enough.
Review by Teresa Nieman
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