The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone (1979)

Original title

Cánh đồng hoang

Directed by

Nguyễn Hồng Sến

Genre

drama film

Country

Vietnam

Runtime

1h 30m

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A couple and their young child live hidden in the flooded Mekong Delta, constantly evading American helicopter attacks during the Vietnam War. The film shows their daily struggle to survive and maintain their humanity under relentless threat from above.

tenseunnervingintimatetendervisceralsomberclaustrophobiccontrasting

What happens

The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone (Vietnamese: Cánh đồng hoang) is a 1979 Vietnamese drama film directed by Nguyễn Hồng Sến. It won the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival. The film gives an "unnerving and compelling .. subjective-camera-eye-view" of life under helicopter fire in a free-fire zone in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. The film cuts to an (American) "helicopter-eye view", contrasting painfully with the human tenderness seen earlier. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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