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The Sound of the Violin in My Lai (Vietnamese: Tiếng vĩ cầm ở Mỹ Lai) is a short film that examines the history and legacy of the My Lai massacre, an incident of the Vietnam War in which hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S. Army soldiers. The film investigates the effects of the massacre, with the story centering on the return of American soldiers Hugh Thompson and Larry Colburn to My Lai on the 30th anniversary of the event.[1]
| The Sound of the Violin in My Lai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Tran Van Thuy |
| Produced by | Mike Boehm, My Lai Peace Park Project |
Release date |
|
Running time | 32 minutes |
| Country | Vietnam |
| Language | Vietnamese |
The film was commissioned by the Vietnamese government. It garnered director Tran Van Thuy the Best Documentary Prize at the Asia Pacific Film Festival in year 2000.
The violin referenced in the title is that of American Vietnam veteran and peace activist Roy Boehm.[2]
Plot
editThe film is about the massacre that occurred in Sơn Mỹ on the morning of March 16, 1968, when the US army killed 504 civilians within 4 hours. Despite its dark theme, the film conveys a message of hope and redemption - and the message of forgetting the past and looking towards the future. The main violinist is a US Air Force veteran, Mike Boehm.
Boehm returned to Vietnam in an attempt to atone for atrocities committed by the US military against the people of Sơn Mỹ. One of Boehm's pursuits is playing the violin - both for living people and for the souls of the dead.
The film was shown on Vietnamese television on the 30th anniversary of the massacre. On the same day, US Ambassador Pete Peterson and former President Bill Clinton apologized to the Vietnamese people for this massacre.
Awards
edit| Year | Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Asia-Pacific Film Festival 43rd time | Best short film | Tiếng vĩ cầm ở Mỹ Lai | Golden crane | [3][4][5] |
| 12th Vietnam Film Festival | Documentary | Silver lotus | [6][7] | ||
| Best Director Award | Trần Văn Thủy | Won | |||
| Vietnam Cinema Association Awards | Documentary | Tiếng vĩ cầm ở Mỹ Lai | Giải A | [8] |
References
edit- ^ Oliver, Kendrick. The My Lai Massacre in American History and Memory. 2006, page 277-8
- ^ "MediaRights: Film: The Sound of the Violin in My Lai". Archived from the original on 2007-11-04. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ^ Ngô Văn Phương 2005, p. 193.
- ^ Bích Vân; Trần Thanh Giang; Nguyễn Đình Toán (2014-07-18). "Đạo diễn Trần Văn Thủy - những thước phim, những cuộc đời". Báo ảnh Việt Nam. Archived from the original on 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ Ngô, Văn Phương (2005). Vì một nước Việt Nam phát triển [For a developed Vietnam] (in Vietnamese). Ho Chi Minh City: General Publisher. p. 193. OCLC 61768089.
- ^ Nguyễn Thị Hồng Ngát 2005, p. 97.
- ^ Thế Thái 1999, p. 86.
- ^ "Trong nước VN". Văn nghệ Quân đội. 1999. p. 119. Archived from the original on 2023-09-16. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
Sources
edit- Ngô Văn Phương (2005). Vì một nước Việt Nam phát triển [For a developed Vietnam] (in Vietnamese). Hồ Chí Minh City: Nhà xuất bản Tổng hợp Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. OCLC 61768089. Archived from the original on 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- Nguyễn Thị Hồng Ngát (2005). Lịch sử điện ảnh Việt Nam, Tập 2 [History of Vietnamese cinema, Volume 2] (in Vietnamese). Hà Nội: Cục Điện ảnh Việt Nam. OCLC 53129383.
- Thế Thái (1999). "Liên hoan phim Việt Nam lần thứ 12" [The 12th Vietnam Film Festival]. Văn hóa Nghệ thuật (Culture and arts) (in Vietnamese) (1–6). ISSN 0866-8655. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
External links
edit- THE SOUND OF THE VIOLIN IN MY LAI Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
- My Lai Peace Park Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
- New York Times summary
- The Sound of the Violin in My Lai at IMDb
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