''Adrift'' ( vi, Chơi vơi) is a 2009 Vietnamese film directed by

Bui Thac Chuyen Bui may refer to: *Bui (Cameroon department), an administrative subdivision *Bùi, a common Vietnamese surname *Bui Dam, Ghana * Bui National Park, Ghana *An enemy character in the anime/manga ''List of YuYu Hakusho characters#Bui, YuYu Hakusho'' * ...

and stars

Linh Dan Pham Linh Dan Pham (born ; June 20, 1974) is a Vietnamese-born French actress. Biography She was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, but moved with her family to Paris, France, a year later, just before the capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese and Vie ...

, Do Thi Hai Yen,

Johnny Tri Nguyen Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...

and Nguyen Duy Khoa. Hai Yen plays Duyen, a young tourist guide who marries Hai (Duy Khoa), a taxi driver, but her friend and writer Cam (Linh Dan) still has feelings for her. The film deals with issues in modern Vietnam such as

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

and loneliness of the young generation. The film is a co-production between Feature Film Studio n°1 (

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

) and Acrobates Films (

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

). ''Adrift'' was selected to participate in the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

and

Bangkok International Film Festival The Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF) ( th, เทศกาลภาพยนตร์นานาชาติกรุงเทพฯ) is an international film festival held annually in Bangkok, Thailand, since 2003. In addition to fi ...

. At the

66th Venice International Film Festival The 66th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was held from 2 to 12 September 2009, with Maria Grazia Cucinotta serving as the festival's hostess. The opening film of the festival was '' Baarìa'' by Giuseppe Torn ...

, FIPRESCI awarded ''Adrift'' with its prize for young directors and cinemas. At the

Cines del Sur Cines del Sur is an international film festival in Granada, Spain, that focuses on emerging cinemas belonging to what is known as the geo-political south. Film productions (from Asia, Africa and Latin America) which often have limited distributi ...

Festival 2010, the film won the

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

award. The film earned three nominations at the

4th Asian Film Awards The 4th Asian Film Awards was given in a ceremony on 22 March 2010 as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Nominees and winners Best Film *Winner: ''Mother'' ( Cinema of South Korea, South Korea) **''City of Life and Death'' ( China ...

, including Best Screenwriter, Best Cinematographer, Best Composer.

Plot

Set in modern

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, ''Adrift'' begins with the wedding of Duyen and Hai. Duyen is a beautiful tourist guide and translator who marries Hai, a taxi driver who is two years her junior. Duyen thinks the marriage will make her happy but it turns out more difficult, especially since her childlike husband is uninterested in her efforts of intimacy and the marriage remains unconsummated. Cam, secretly in love with Duyen, is bitter about the marriage. Cam has Duyen deliver a letter to Tho, a handsome lothario and tourist guide who physically hurls himself on Duyen when she visits his home to deliver the letter. After Tho reports back to Cam that Duyen is sexually inexperienced, Cam diabolically persuades Duyen to take a temporary job as a translator on one of Tho's beach tours, knowing what will happen. Duyen's time at the beach with Tho results in an affair leading to Duyen's sexual awakening but continued uncertainty about herself, marriage, and life.

Cast

* Do Thi Hai Yen as Duyen (Duyên) *

as Cam (Cầm) *

as Tho (Thổ) * Nguyen Duy Khoa as Hai (Hải)

Plot

Cast

References

External links