Glorious Ashes

Glorious Ashes (original title: Tro tàn rực rỡ) is a 2022 Vietnamese-language drama film directed and written by Bùi Thạc Chuyên. It is an adaptation of two short stories, Glorious Ashes (Tro tàn rực rỡ) and Drifting Firewood (Củi mục trôi về), taken from the Đảo (Island) short story collection by Vietnamese writer Nguyễn Ngọc Tư. The film has an ensemble cast including Lê Công Hoàng, Juliet Bảo Ngọc Doling, Phương Anh Đào, Ngô Quang Tuấn, Ngô Phạm Hạnh Thuý, Thạch Kim Long, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hiệp and Mai Thế Hiệp. Set in Thơm Rơm village of Cà Mau, the story revolves around three women, their journey of love and their efforts to keep their men. The imagery of fire and ashes appears throughout as a metaphor for the passion and longing of these women.

Glorious Ashes surpassed 27 other projects to win the top prize of $15,000 at the Asian Project Market, a division of the Busan International Film Festival, in 2017. The film also won the Inaugural Southeast Asia Co-Production Grant by the Singapore Film Commission in November 2019. It was then premiered at the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival and became the first Vietnamese film to compete for the festival's top prize, the Tokyo Grand Prix, in October 2022. The film won the Montgolfière d'or at the 2022 Three Continents Festival, won four awards at the 2023 Kite Awards and five awards at the 23rd Vietnam Film Festival, including the Golden Lotus Prize. In Vietnam, Glorious Ashes opened in theaters nationwide on December 2, 2022. The film was chosen as the Vietnamese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Plot
Set in the poor Mekong Delta coastal village of Thơm Rơm, the film follows the lives of three women, whose love lives are unusual and unique to their nature. The film is narrated from Hau's perspective, as she experiences life with a husband who only has eyes for another woman, and develops her growing friendship with her rival.

Cast
Nguyễn Văn Thạch and Hoàng Thị Thuý appear as neighbors; Phạm Thị Hoa Lan appears as charcoal factory boss; Lê Ánh Hồng appears as Loan's aunty; Huỳnh Ngọc Tâm appears as old man in charcoal; Trương Vũ Phước appears as Hau's father; Phạm Văn Cường, Lý Văn Tiễn and Nguyễn Chí Hữu appear as workers in charcoal factory; Lê Phương Anh Dũng appears as boat captain; Kha Ngọc Hồng Hạnh appears as Nhan's daughter; Trần Minh Chi Nhân appears as singing man on boat; Uyên Nhi appears as Hau's daughter.
 * Lê Công Hoàng as Duong
 * Juliet Bảo Ngọc Doling as Hau
 * Phương Anh Đào as Nhan
 * Ngô Quang Tuấn as Tam
 * Ngô Phạm Hạnh Thuý as Loan
 * Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Hiệp as Duong's mother
 * Mai Thế Hiệp as Monk

Themes
Set in the poor Mekong Delta, the film portrays the love and pain of three women with their men. The imagery of fire and ashes appears throughout as a metaphor for the passion and longing to be "seen" of these women. Bùi Thạc Chuyên said he was fascinated by the power of love of women in the original story by Nguyễn Ngọc Tư.

Production
Bùi Thạc Chuyên worked on the script for Glorious Ashes for two years and took an additional five years to prepare for the project. This is also his first film project since the release of Lời nguyền huyết ngải in 2012. He chose to adapt the two short stories "Glorious Ashes" and "Củi mục trôi về" from the short story collection Đảo by female writer Nguyễn Ngọc Tư because these stories are "full of cinematic quality and beautifully written about women and their relationships with men." Initially, Bùi Thạc Chuyên only wanted to adapt the short story "Glorious Ashes," but after writing, he felt that the two female characters alone were not enough to complete the script, so he continued to explore "Củi mục trôi về" to make "the story clearer and more solid." However, the scriptwriting process was challenging because both short stories are under 2,400 words, with very few characters and a narrative focused on thoughts and feelings. This is the third work adapted from Nguyễn Ngọc Tư's original writings, following Cánh đồng bất tận (2010) and the short film Biến mất ở thư viện (2022). Nguyễn Ngọc Tư also contributed feedback and adjusted the dialogue during Bùi Thạc Chuyên's scriptwriting process. Bùi Thạc Chuyên spent a significant amount of time in advance scouting in Cà Mau, living with the locals and going out to sea with the fishermen to understand their lives and gather material for the film.

Bùi Thạc Chuyên and Trần Thị Bích Ngọc brought the film's script to seek funding at the Asian Project Market program at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. They surpassed 27 other film projects to win the Best Project Award, receiving a financial grant of 15,000 USD. At this festival, Trần Thị Bích Ngọc also announced that the lead male role was being considered for Lê Công Hoàng, the lead actor in the film Cha và con và..., which she also produced. It was also one of the 15 film scripts introduced to investors at the L'Atelier program within the framework of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in early May 2018. In August 2019, the project won the CNC Award worth 8,000 EUR at the Open Doors Hub event within the framework of the 72nd Locarno Film Festival. In November 2019, the Glorious Ashes project won the Inaugural Southeast Asia Co-Production Grant awarded by the Singapore Film Commission, worth 250,000 SGD, and received support from Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua.

The film started shooting in 2021 and is a collaborative project among producers from Vietnam, France, and Singapore. Before filming began, the cast spent about a month in Cà Mau, integrating into the local life in the Mekong Delta with the local people. Many actors mentioned they did not require additional pay despite having to put aside their personal matters, as long as they could participate in the project. Mai Thế Hiệp even cooked meals himself to save costs for the film crew. Musician Tôn Thất An was responsible for composing the film's score.

Release
Glorious Ashes premiered in the Competition category at the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 24, 2022, becoming the first Vietnamese film to compete in the main category of this festival. On November 10, the film had its domestic premiere in Ho Chi Minh City before being released nationwide on December 2.

Promotion
The first trailer of Glorious Ashes, lasting 2 minutes, was released on October 11, 2022, to promote the film's entry at the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Critical response
Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter, wrote "Premiering in competition at Tokyo, the film provides an intriguing look at a part of the world where the old ways, whether in farming, fishing or wives being completely subjected to their husbands’ every last whim, still dominate daily life. But the two-hour drama never quite rises above its earnest and weighty message, which makes it more of a thoughtful pedagogical item than a movie with serious market potential."

Wendy Ide of Screen Daily, describing it as "a thoughtful piece which is elevated by strong performances."