EN
The environment of this South Asian country is immersed in the water element. The seas and rivers, their intricate delta channels, surrounded by vibrant green jungles, rice fields and floating villages, colourful boats and fishermen - all this creates a poetic essence of Vietnam visuals, projected to nearly every film. It forms also the key to the cultural topography of the country with a turbulent history with alternated and mixed influences of Chinese, French, American and Soviet. The military paradoxically intertwines the lyric, Confucian severity meets Taoist poetry and creates in this "country floating on the water" theatre of dramatic counterpoints. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of the situation of filmmaking in the turbulently changing Vietnam society. She examines the degree of authenticity and impact of non-national initiatives, whether during the French colonial rule, during the protracted war, until the new expansion of cinema after a peaceful reunification of Vietnam and its first inroads into the context of the most advanced film cultures.