ESSAY:
‘said more’: an essay on the film Hoa (2022)
by Jenji Mizuta09/23/2022
In a letter to his grandmother constructed in the form of a visual poem, Trâm Anh (Andy) Nguyễn paints a vivid picture of not only his perception of his grandmother, whom grasps onto her memories by reading her memoirs everyday, but the emotional toll a family member of a demented grandparent faces as well. Throughout, Andy uses unique filmmaking techniques and poetic storytelling to ensnare us into the film.
“In certain sequences, there are shots in black and white with high noise, like a degrading memory
and mental state.”
Serene yet visceral, Hoa’s visual language and juxtapositions create powerful illustrations of the toil both Andy’s grandmother and Andy himself face. Hoa knows her brother, Ông Câu, to be her only living sibling but as a matter of fact he had died in a motorbike accident the month before. The family has chosen not to tell Hoa to spare her from more heartbreak.
In certain sequences, there are shots in black and white with high noise, like a degrading memory
and mental state. Similarly, many of the photos displayed, whether actually from her past or not,
are representative of her memories and present conscience. They call upon Moriyama Daido;
fittingly as well because of Daido’s focus on human memory and capturing their very essence.
Andy’s photographs effortlessly place us into Hoa’s mind by grasping and communicating a
melancholic and introspective atmosphere.
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Hoa is closely connected to the color purple, an important color of the city Huế, Hoa’s birthplace. She wears purple as a reminder of her home, not too unsimilar to how she reads her memoirs to maintain a grasp on her memories. In fact, purple became a defining color of Hoa making the absence of her purple áo dài in recent memory striking. The color purple has a notable absence from the short film after the segment about her connection to purple, not recurring outside of photos in her memoirs until the very end. With this association of purple, the short film effectively uses purple to bring a sense of wholeness when shown for a final time in the closing moments of the short film.
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Throughout the short film, the perspective is of the director. Trâm Anh Nguyễn narrates as
though it were our own inner monologue contemplating our own despair regarding an ill
grandparent. We are immersed and hypnotized into the film and experience every single sting of
emotion on a level not often struck in classical filmmaking. Immediately into the monologue of
the film, Andy strikes us with two harrowing phrases relating to dementia, “I hope the last time I
see you won’t be the last” and “Do you remember me?” Originally beginning with a birthday
celebration, we’re then plunged into Andy’s conscience and forced to confront dementia’s effects
on the caretaker and the sufferer.
The audio of ‘Hoa’ is extremely stark. Aside from the narration, it is completely diegetic; no sound occurs outside the world in the image on screen. The silence is like a human brain in late stage dementia; almost static. It isn’t until near the end we hear any non-diegetic sound. The chirping of birds is heard whilst Hoa is sat wearing her purple áo dài by a bouquet. ‘Flower’ being the meaning of the name Hoa. With all these elements, the birds chirping is like bells ringing in the mind in the event of remembering a cherished memory, only for the chirping to cease as the memory slips away once again.
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Written, Directed, and Edited by Nguyễn Hữu Trâm Anh
Cinematography by Nguyễn Hữu Trâm Anh
Here’s the link to watch the full short film: Hoa
Hoa is closely connected to the color purple, an important color of the city Huế, Hoa’s birthplace. She wears purple as a reminder of her home, not too unsimilar to how she reads her memoirs to maintain a grasp on her memories. In fact, purple became a defining color of Hoa making the absence of her purple áo dài in recent memory striking. The color purple has a notable absence from the short film after the segment about her connection to purple, not recurring outside of photos in her memoirs until the very end. With this association of purple, the short film effectively uses purple to bring a sense of wholeness when shown for a final time in the closing moments of the short film.
“We are immersed and hypnotized into the film and experience every single sting of emotion on a level not often struck in classical filmmaking.”
The audio of ‘Hoa’ is extremely stark. Aside from the narration, it is completely diegetic; no sound occurs outside the world in the image on screen. The silence is like a human brain in late stage dementia; almost static. It isn’t until near the end we hear any non-diegetic sound. The chirping of birds is heard whilst Hoa is sat wearing her purple áo dài by a bouquet. ‘Flower’ being the meaning of the name Hoa. With all these elements, the birds chirping is like bells ringing in the mind in the event of remembering a cherished memory, only for the chirping to cease as the memory slips away once again.
Written, Directed, and Edited by Nguyễn Hữu Trâm Anh
Cinematography by Nguyễn Hữu Trâm Anh
Here’s the link to watch the full short film: Hoa
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