The Sound of the Violin in My Lai

THE SOUND OF THE VIOLIN IN MY LAI

In 1997 a decision was made by the Vietnamese government to produce a documentary film for the 30th anniversary of the My Lai massacre. While many Vietnamese documentary film directors vied for the opportunity to direct this film the assignment was given to Mr. Tran Van Thuy. Thuy is well known and respected for his desire and ability to infuse humanity in all his documentary films. He has won many awards, nationally and internationally, for the documentaries he has produced.

Tran Van Thuy points to the billboard promoting the Sound of the Violin in My Lai for the film festival held in Hue, Viet Nam where the film won the Silver Lotus Award.

In November, 1997, Thuy read a Newsweek article, ‘A quiet war over the past’, which related the heroism of Hugh Thompson and his helicopter crew when they rescued villagers in the midst of the massacre and who were ultimately responsible for stopping the massacre. The article mentioned ’60 Minutes’ was bringing Hugh Thompson and his gunner Larry Colburn back to My Lai to be re-united with villagers they had rescued thirty years before.

"On the water of the Tra Khuc River, the sound of his [Mike's] violin rises as a prayer for the war, for those who fell down in muffled pain 30 years ago. Unlike the toll of Hemingway's bell, his violin is also for the people of today, to give them more strength to do the right thing: to forgive and to know how to deal with sufferings."
Yen Be, in the Vietnamese newspaper Thanh Nien

With that meager bit of information Thuy began knocking on doors in Hanoi in an attempt to find anyone who knew more about this event. At one point he talked to Chuck Searcy, who at the time was the Vietnam project director for Vietnam Veteran’s of America Foundation. Chuck asked him if he knew me and went on to tell Thuy about the humanitarian programs I was facilitating in My Lai on behalf of the Madison Quakers.

"This is a film that both Vietnamese and Americans can watch with emotion but without being divided, and it is therefore a film that can unite us in looking forward to a future where such things are never repeated."
From a Vietnamese man who attended the premier screening of the film.

By this time, mid-February, 1998, I was back in Hanoi. Thuy invited both Phan Van Do, project coordinator for the Madison Quakers projects in Vietnam, and me for supper at his house. His film crew was there and there many intense, emotional conversations during the evening. Mr. Son, for example, the sound-man, told me of working and fighting on the Ho Chi Minh trail for more than ten years and being sprayed with Agent Orange many times. Then the war ended and it was time for Son and his wife to try to start a family. Both of them were frightened because they had seen what happened to their friends who had been sprayed with Agent Orange; children born with horrible defects and ridden with cancer. Despite this they decided to have children and all their children are healthy. Son cannot explain this and now feels a kind of survivors’ guilt.

"The sound of the violin lingers on the mutual grave of the victims in the past, and is more meaningful than any other message in words: that the past cannot be forgotten, but the present needs to lean forward towards friendship and forgiveness."
Do Ha Thanh, in a review of the film.

Threading through these conversations were questions by Thuy. Did I take part in the massacre? Why am I doing humanitarian work in My Lai? What did I do during the war? And so on. He talked about being frustrated with the documentary he was to produce for the 30th anniversary of the massacre at My Lai. He felt he had no direction to take the film. Finally, late in the evening, I happened to mention I had played my violin at the My Lai Memorial in 1992 as an offering to the spirits of the dead. His eyes lit up and he asked me “If I find a violin for you could you play it?” I said I already had my violin with me in Hanoi. He jumped up and hugged me and kissed me and shouted something in Vietnamese which I learned later was “The film is finished”. He had found his direction for the film, “The Sound of the Violin in My Lai”.

"At least this is a documentary in which there is a dialogue between the two sides ≠ Viet Nam and America. This is very different from the other [Vietnamese] documentaries, which are a monologue of our voice, our will, and our thoughts, and none of the Americans' about the war, even though both sides were involved in a war which caused pain for both countries."
Phan Lac Nhi, journalist,
in an interview with Tran Van Thuy.

“The Sound of the Violin in My Lai” was released in Hanoi in early 1999. It was well received by both Vietnamese and Americans who attended the premier showing of the film. Since then the film has received a number of awards including the Best Short Film award in 2000 at the prestigious Asia Pacific Film Festival. Click here for quotes by attendees and press.

"This [film] is not to reopen wounds but to reopen minds. This film will serve the cause of mankind for many generations."
U.S. Ambassador to Viet Nam, Mr. ‘Pete’ Peterson, after seeing the film.

Tran Van Thuy holds up the statuette he received for winning the Best Short Film Award at the prestigious Asia Pacific Film Festival in 2000.

For myself, it was an honor to be chosen to take part in this film. Probably the most important part in the film for me was when I addressed the people of Vietnam to tell them that we children who went to war at the urging of our government and even our parents who told us this was the right thing for us to do.

This film has been used in a pilot program in fifth grade classes in Vietnam. The very last sentence in the teachers guide is the exhortation to students “Everyone must fulfill their responsibility to gradually make the world peaceful.” What better legacy could one ask for in a film?

"Dear Mike: I was so moved of watching the film The Sound of the Violin in My Lai. It is the most emotional film that I ever watched. I was born six years before the war was ended, and I really did not know much about the war and especially that tragedy in My Lai. One of the important factors that makes the film become so emotional and memorable is you with your truly words and emotion as well as what you are doing now for Vietnamese people in My Lai. Just a short note to say thanks to you, and I believe your first impression in me is lasting."
Ms. Phan Lien Huong

REVIEWS BY VIETNAMESE NEWSPAPERS
• The Sound of the Violin in My Lai, from the Vietnamese paper Thanh Nien
• What is needed beyond tears, from the Vietnamese paper Toui Tre
• The Vietnamese Association of Cinematography on seeing The Sound of the Violin in My Lai
• Article from Viet Nam News

TRAN VAN THUY BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1940 in Nam Dinh.
1965-1966: graduated in Cinematography, Viet Nam Film School.
1966-1972: combat cameraman.
1972-1977: graduated in Film Directing, Moscow Film College.
Since 1977: working for Viet Nam Central Documentary Film Unit and Viet Nam Cinema Association.

FILMOGRAPHY
Tran Van Thuy has written and directed more than 20 films—among those that have received international recognition are:

MY PEOPLE, MY VILLAGE (Nhung Nguoi Dan Que Toi): 35mm, B/W, 40 minutes; filmed during 1968-1969 on the battlefield of South Vietnam; Golden Dove Prize at Leipzig International Film Festival 1970; Silver Lotus Prize at Viet Nam National Film Festival 1973.

BETRAYAL (Phan Boi); 35mm, B/W, 80 minutes; completed 1979; Silver Lotus Prize and Best Director at Viet Nam National Film Festival 198-.

HA NOI IN ONE’S EYE (Ha Noi Trong Mat Ai): 35mm, color, 45 minutes; completed 1982 but banned from screening till 1987; Silver Lotus Prize and Best Director at Viet Nam National Film Festival 1988.

DECENCY - How to behave (or The Story of Kindness) (Chuyen Tu Te): 35mm, color, 45 minutes; Silver Dove Prize at Leipzig International Film Festival 1988; selected for Festival du Reel, Paris 1989; Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 1989; Festival Fribourg 1989; Festival Nantes 1992; International Film conference Sydney and Melbourne 1993; bought by 10 international television networks.

THE BLIND MASTER EXAMING THE ELEPHANT (Thay My Xem Voi); video, 180 minutes; made during 1989-1990 in Europe (the UK, Germany, Belguim, Italy, France, etc.) In November 1989, Tran Van Thuy was invited to serve as a member of the Judging Panel at Leipzig International Film Festival.

TOLERANCE FOR THE DEAD (Mot Coi Tam Linh); 35mm, color, 50 minutes; co-production with Channel Four Television; 1994.

ONCE THERE WAS A VILLAGE (Co Mot Lang Que); 35mm, color, 60 minutes; co-production with NHK Japan 1994.

A STORY FROM A CORNER OF THE PARK; Video, 30 minutes; 1996.

THE SOUND OF THE VIOLIN IN MY LAI (Tieng Vi Cam O My Lai); 35mm, color, 30 minutes; produced 1998. Best Documentary 1998, Silver Lotus Prize, Best Short Film-Asia Pacific Film Festival 2000.