Why does Canh reject Thoas offer of freedom and get off the train - Essay Example

The Legacy of Viet se Wars Represented in Sandy Lives Directed by one of the most prominent Viet se cinematography figures, Nguyễn Thanh Vân, Đời cát (Sandy Lives), tells the saga of a Vietnamese couple, Canh and Thoa, who have been seperated from each other for “twenty” long years due to the war (Sandy Lives 1999). The major legacy of Vietnamese war is its achievement of “triumphant victory” through “patriotic sacrifice” in the name of “national salvation,” however, direvtor Vân brings another perspective of the war to the fore, which is characterised by the various implications war holds for the society, or rather the individual people (Healy 2006, p. 233). Thus instead of merely exploring the glory of victory attained by the collective people of the country, Sandy Lives tries to capture the essence of what it was to be a Vietnamese citizen living during those times.

Therefore, the impacts that war had on personal lives of people as well as the relationship these people had with each other is deftly analysed and portrayed through Vietnamese cinemas such as the one under study here. Such films reveal the fact that wars do not end in the battlefields, but linger among the lives of both people involved in the war as well as their family members, thereby making it amply clear that “wars end at home” (246). The case of Canh and Thoa was similar, where the former starts a new life with another family up north, whereas the latter faithfully waits for her husband to return, thereby ignoring her social responsibility of giving birth to a child, but at the same time, fulfilling her moral obligation of filial piety.

Therefore, it becomes clear that it is this loyalty and faithfulness of his wife that inspires Canh to not run away from his responsibilities, thereby rejecting to take the train ticket, which represents his escape from “marital commitment” to Thoa (247). Thus, this highlights the protagnoist’s belief in his marital commitment as well as reiterates the long lasting “disruptive effects” of war on the “people’e lives” (Miguel & Roland 2005, p. 1).ReferencesHealy, D 2006, ‘Laments of warriors’ wives re-gendering the war in Vietnamese cinema’ South East Asia Research, No. 14, pp. 231–259.

Miguel, E & Roland, G. 2005, ‘The Long Run Impact of Bombing Vietnam.’ [Online] Available from [03 May 2014]Sandy Lives, 2002, motion picture, Sydney Asia Pacific Film Festival, distributed by Australian Video, Australia.