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THE THIRD WIFE
Director: Ash Mayfair Cast: Nguyen Phuong Tra My, Nu Yên-Khê Tran, Mai Thu Huong Maya, Long Le Vu, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Nguyen Thanh Tam, Lam Thanh My MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:36 Release Date: 5/15/19 (limited); 5/30/19 (wider) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 30, 2019 Nobody wins or is even content within the system portrayed by The Third Wife. Writer/director Ash Mayfair's debut feature is a distressing dissection of cultural norms in 19th century Vietnam, in which women and girls are seen as no more important than any other possession—to be passed between families by marriage for familial reputation and financial gain. It's a terrible cycle: girls married off as soon as they're capable of getting pregnant, to create children who will take or become young wives. Mayfair's approach in depicting this way of life is restrained, since the story exists in the moment, not as an overt critique. The point is to show, through a mounting series of small tragedies and the juxtaposition of the natural order with this society's twisted sense of order, this system as inherently flawed. It does not need to be attacked, because it condemns itself. May (Nguyen Phuong Tra My) is 14 years old and has been set up to marry Hung (Le Vu Long), a wealthy landowner. She is the older man's third wife, following Xuan (Mai Thu Huong Maya) and Ha (Tran Nu Yên-Khê). The teenager quickly learns the expectations for her role—primarily, to provide her husband with another son—and the dynamics of the house, neither of which offers her a promising future. A plot eventually emerges, having to do with the forthcoming marriage of Hung's only son (played by Nguyen Thanh Tam) and Xuan's betrayal of her position, but before then, Mayfair presents more of a slice-of-life examination. It's unnerving to see May fall so easily into the role of an older man's wife, who becomes pregnant even before she has an idea about sex, but that sense of normalcy and routine to this situation only elevates its subdued horror. We eventually see how this system brings harm to characters beyond May—from the other wives, to a daughter who prays to become a man, to the son, and, ultimately, to his new bride. Throughout The Third Wife, Mayfair presents the life cycle of moths, which, at first, seems to represent the main character's growth into womanhood but, in the end, finds one of the insects landing on a victim of society's own cycle. While nature brings life, this world only brings literal and figurative death—of youth, of innocence, of freedom, of purpose. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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