Everything is going to change with or without you, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. In his directorial feature film debut, Phạm Ngọc Lân introduces us to Mrs. Nguyen (Minh Chau), a widower who returns to Hanoi after her estranged husband’s funeral only to find the country she once called home an unfamiliar and strange place. With her husband’s ashes in an urn and his Pygmy Slow Loris (Cu-Li in Vietnamese) on her shoulder, Mrs Nguyen tries reconnecting with her moody niece, Van (Ha Phuong), who secretly resents her and fears telling the truth about her speedy, oncoming wedding. A visual delight, Phạm’s black and white film explores how two women respond to change— with the aging Mrs. Nguyen trying to cling to whatever looks familiar and Van, a young woman entering a marriage and pregnancy, when her life is just starting.

Pham knows good visual storytelling. For me, as a woman who is terrified of the thought of being a mother and accidentally setting down generational trauma, I especially liked the way Phạm use contrasted shots of adults talking amongst each other alongside the shots of the children playing, showing the divide between the “serious” adults and the fun, carefree world of the children.   Interestingly, despite being their teacher, Van and the children rarely interact. It begs the question, what will life be like as Van’s child? With her careless and wild-spirited boyfriend, I’m sure the answer will be anything but “attended to”.

This film feels nostalgic, thanks to Pham’s use of black and white colouring. Especially in the scenes with Mrs Nguyen, from old Vietnamese pop songs and patriotic ballads, music serves her fading connection to the past. Paired with dreamy, black and white cinematography, despite being set in modern times, this film feels like an old Hollywood classic. Except, with touchscreen phones and modern costumes, it is a film set in modern Vietnam. It is so rare to see films about modern life in Vietnam that aren’t marred by the whole Vietnamese war narrative. Instead, we get to see what life is like after, without a huge Western influence.

As we see the world through Mrs. Nguyen’s perspective, black and white colouring reinforces her feeling of being left behind in the past.  Interestingly, although Pham originally intended to shoot the film in colour, the actors who played Van and Quang got into a motorcycle accident on set, and thus, the delay meant Pham had to cut costs and chose to film in black and white. Despite it being an accident, it felt this made the film much more unique, and certain lighting techniques make the set extremely interesting.

This film ticks every cinematographer’s box. However, in terms of the story, I have a few grievances. Firstly, I struggled with the pacing of the film— the conflict between Mrs. Nguyen and Van builds up extremely slow and simply sizzles out. There were opportunities to show Mrs. Nguyen’s past, except that we get dialogue wasted on exposition. Furthermore, where are the consequences? While this story might be focused on Mrs. Nguyen and Van, Quang does some questionable things that never get brought up again. I would prefer this film much better if more “action” were involved.

Nonetheless, a slow story otherwise, I still enjoyed the film’s visual choices very much. It’s clear that Pham is talented and has an eye for artistry, and his Berlinale Bear is very much deserved. I am excited to see Pham’s future.