''The Vertical Ray of the Sun'' (, ) is the third feature film by Vietnamese-born French director

Trần Anh Hùng Trần Anh Hùng (English: Anh Hung Tran), born December 23, 1962) is a Vietnamese-French filmmaker. Early life and education Hung was born in Da Nang, South Vietnam. Following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, he immig ...

. It was released in 2000 and is the final part of what many now consider to be Tran's "Vietnam trilogy." The film centres on three sisters who live in present-day Hanoi: Suong is the eldest, then Khanh in the middle, and Lien is the youngest. The film takes place over the course of one month, starting on the anniversary of their mother's death and ending on the anniversary of their father's. Tran was inspired to make the film after visiting Hanoi during a break in the filming of ''

Cyclo Cyclo may refer to: * Cycle rickshaw, the pedal-powered version of the rickshaw * ''Cyclo'' (film), a 1995 Vietnamese film by Tran Anh Hung * ''Cyclo'' (Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai album), a 2001 album by Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai * '' ...

'' during the Christmas holidays in 1994. This drama was lensed in Vietnam's capital,

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, as well as in

Hạ Long Bay Hạ Long Bay or Halong Bay (, ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Long city, Cẩm Phả c ...

and the village of Luoi Ngoc, Quảng Ninh Province. The film's original score is composed by

Tôn-Thất Tiết Tôn-Thất Tiết (born 1933 in Huê) is a Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 millio ...

. Additionally, three songs of the noted Vietnamese songwriter

Trịnh Công Sơn Trịnh Công Sơn (February 28, 1939 – April 1, 2001) was a Vietnamese musician, songwriter, painter and poet. He is widely considered to be Vietnam's best songwriter. His music explores themes of love, loss, and anti-war sentiments during t ...

are interspersed through the film, as are songs by

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

Arab Strap Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Reco ...

, and

The Married Monk ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

. ''The Vertical Ray of the Sun'' was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

2000 Cannes Film Festival The 53rd Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2000. French filmmaker Luc Besson was the Jury President for the main competition. Virginie Ledoyen was the mistress of ceremonies. Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier won the ''Palme d'Or'' ...

Plot

On the anniversary of their mother's death, three sisters in contemporary Hanoi meet to prepare a memorial banquet. After the banquet, the calm exteriors of the sisters' lives begin to give way to more turbulent truths, which will affect their seemingly idyllic relationships. The eldest sister has a small boy nicknamed Little Mouse, and botanical photographer husband Quoc, who is prone to long absences from home. The middle sister has recently discovered that she is pregnant to her husband Kien, who is a writer suffering from writer's block. The flirtatious youngest sister constantly fantasises about being pregnant, and lives with her brother Hai, for whom she has a deep affection.

Cast

Tran Nu Yen Khe Trần Nữ Yên Khê (born March 18, 1968) is a Vietnamese-born French actress married to the director Tran Anh Hung. She has appeared in all his films, with the exception of '' Norwegian Wood, Eternity'' and '' The Taste of Things''. Early life ...

as Lien (Liên) * Nguyễn Như Quỳnh as Suong (Sương) * Le Khanh as Khanh (Khanh) * Ngo Quang Hai as Hai (Hải) * Chu Hung as Quoc (Quốc) * Tran Manh Cuong as Kien (Kiên) * Le Tuan Anh as Tuan (Tuấn) * Le Ngoc Dung as Huong (Hương) * Do Thi Hai Yen as Quoc's concubine

Alternate titles

UK title: ''At the Height of Summer''

References

External links

*
Official siteRotten Tomatoes entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vertical Ray of the Sun, The 2000 films 2000 drama films 2000 independent films French drama films French independent films German drama films German independent films Vietnamese-language films Vietnamese drama films Vietnamese independent films Films directed by Tran Anh Hung Films set in Vietnam Films set in Hanoi Sony Pictures Classics films 2000s French films 2000s German films