Reclaiming Vietnam

By this point in the week I was more than a little worse for wear, speed napping whenever I found myself in low light. It was in this tragic state that I accidentally stumbled into Reclaiming Vietnam and happened across my second one woman show of the week.

Bacchic - windsorexpress.co.uk

The first one woman show I ever saw was 'Bacchic' back in May 2008, and although it boasted aerial acrobatics - I was not a fan of the Euripides-based story (nor can I even remember it). This time, I had allowed myself to be more open. Kim Chinh's story was different, she was about to express her own autobiographical story.

As is common at the Fringe you find yourself with tickets to shows you have heard nothing about. You have no idea of what to expect and only have the title of the piece to guide you in your estimations. I had expected to be met with a journey through Vietnam, to learn about the war and to see how it had injured its people. Instead I was thrust into the world of an American and her extended family. Not what I had expected but I ran with it.

edinburghfestival.list.co.uk

Kim began with telling us what she thought about Vietnam and how she dislikes being called Vietnamese. She calls Vietnam backwards, claiming 'I am American' - almost undermining her journey towards loving it before it even really begins. It meant I wasn't really sympathetic with her from the outset, I was annoyed by her for a bit. Why does she hate being Vietnamese? But what was unclear and a little annoying at the beginning did slowly begin to make sense as the piece continued.

It was a piece less about reclaiming her heritage, than forgiving her own family for abusing her trust. She enacts in depth her encounters with three of her cousins as she faces them and tells them that she remembers what they did - they had abused her and molested her and she wanted them to know she had not forgotten. It suddenly became a very personal journey across a backdrop that provided the distractions of war and worry, allowing her childhood abuse to go unnoticed.

reclaimingvietnam.com

I do still struggle with solo shows, interactions with others is part of human nature and body language suggests more about these journeys than a single person can ever give on their own. It was also a little disconcerting to see her confronting her past, but not really confronting her past. It was almost her having discussions with herself in the mirror, rather than her facing up to the men who had betrayed her trust. But then simultaneously, for those more intimate family moments I almost understood it - how can you possibly reenact those intricate and fragile moments of confrontation? I do however, feel it would have been beneficial to share her journey through Vietnam with her travelling partner in the flesh and allow us a break in a rather challenging journey.

reclaimingvietnam.com

The one thing the show achieved was that it did not paint our protagonist as a victim, she was self-aware and looking for answers and at no point did we blame Kim for her past - as is common in cases of abuse. But sometimes this almost worked against her, she would take us back to those moments of fun and lightness. She was dealing with the heavy bits and then distracting us, which perhaps has been the way she herself has moved on from it leaving you to question whether or not she has totally dealt with it or not. But this is less the question I left asking myself. The show was just a little misleading. It led us down the alley of discovery in Vietnam but was cloaked in another story of healing, leaving the Vietnam part, a little unresolved for me.

edinburghfestival.list.co.uk

Much of the piece was mimed. The motorbike Kim sped through Vietnam on, the phone she would call her cousins with, and so on. I'm almost sure that this was due to the artist having a small budget (I mean she'd already flown over from the US for us). But I think that solo shows need that extra aesthetic. I always certainly feel as though I need more to make up for the lack of other actors onstage. The show would certainly benefit from that when touring again.


Perhaps what makes the piece is the fact that the story is true, which perhaps suppresses our verdict as critics and instead opens our hearts to the human at the core of the piece. Not only is it extremely brave, but extremely affecting too, encouraging us to confront our demons and make peace with those things holding us back. Kim grasps her own truths and thrusts them in front of a public audience bearing all for us to judge. As a solo show, it offers a unique portrayal of a woman that has felt alone in her struggle for a long time, as well as offering up her strength in confronting it. Kim is certainly an inspiring woman and despite the reservations I had about the piece, that was the one thing I could not fault.

Kim spoke about her piece to blogger Gareth Vile here: http://vilearts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/kim-chinh-talks-dramaturgy-reclaiming.html 

Last Days in Vietnam

The years of Vietnam were way before my year of birth and it's always proved to be a war I knew nothing about, not being a part of the history syllabus here in the UK. The 98min film opened with some truly overwhelming archive reels of ships completely overcrowded with Vietnamese refugees and desperate victims sprinting alongside planes on runways trying to grab a hold of the tiny hand reaching out from the hold to grab them.

Overcrowded ships fleeing Vietnam

Before I even knew what they were running from, the sheer desperation reflected within those opening moments and throughout the rest of the film, was something I felt extremely overwhelmed by.

I do have to say that with the strong American accents of the more elderly contributors, it was sometimes quite hard to follow what was being said, as archive reels covered our opportunity to lip-read. As such for the first 20mins of the film I found myself drifting off and thinking about the festival, rather than being captivated by what I was seeing. However, as the story picked up, and the contributors came thick and fast, I soon fell right back to where I'd been at the beginning and couldn't tear my attention away. 

The fuel-lacking chinook preparing to throw refugees onto deck

The extraction of the refugees became exciting as we willed the Americans to continue their mission, sometimes acting without orders, to help those in need. The interviews with the servicemen were ones that told of heroic stories that seem almost too Hollywood to be true. From servicemen stealing trucks and filling them with innocents, to helicopter pilots flying around the clock to maximise the numbers they could save. A particularly stunning example, were the efforts made my a Vietnamese soldier and helicopter pilot to rescue his family and anyone else who could make it onto his helicopter. As he flew out over the ocean the fuel gauge dropped dramatically. He finally stumbled across the USS Kirk whose flight deck was far too small to land his chinook. The crew made it clear that he could not land but in desperation the pilot indicated that one by one they would jump from the helicopter to the landing deck. Sure enough, one by one they jumped aboard, caught by the crew of the USS Kirk. After the safe retrieval of men, women and children including a 6month old baby, it became apparent that the pilot would not be able to do the same. And yet, against the odds, flying the chinook with one hand and undressing from his flight suit with the other the Vietnamese father prepared to jump. With a dramatic turn of the helicopter to the right, the pilot jumped from the left window into the ocean below. With no fuel left in the tank, all survived. The crew's recollections brought joy to my heart that I didn't know I could feel for someone I had never met. Who needs Hollywood?! I've never cried so much!



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What followed was a well-edited collage of accounts creating a vivid picture of panic and adrenaline among archive footage from the ground. We heard moving accounts from military personnel who had to leave and evacuate themselves, in order for the ambassador himself to agree to leave the compound, leaving those they'd promised refuge behind. Right down to the last nail biting second, as we share in the devastation at flying away and leaving some behind, we re-lived the torment with them. What a fantastic piece of American history, that no-one seems to know about.

Edited brilliantly, and with music by Gary Lionelli that truly added to both the energy and emotion of the film, I left the cinema with a sense of justice and of pride in humanity. Documentaries are things that constantly remind me of the reasons I believe in humanity and Rory Kennedy's 'Last Days in Vietnam' was a first-class example of how that is possible. To think that many of these military men returned home to jaunts and people spitting in their faces. We may never all agree with the war, but there is absolutely no way we can forget the courage, heroism and humanity of those involved in the evacuation of so many.

I really do hope this comes out on DVD as I'd love to watch this again, particularly as I want my career to follow the world affairs documentary circuit and this is one of the best examples I have seen. If you're Amaerican then you can see the film here: http://www.lastdaysinvietnam.com/ - us Brits will just have to wait.

“A prime example of how documentaries can illuminate our shared memory’s gaps, and how nonfiction can frequently outdo the best thrills Hollywood has to offer.”
—NonFics

Watch the trailer here for a taste of the adrenaline:

Images via: geocities.ws, hollywoodreporter.com