Bi, Don't Be Afraid!

Phan Dang Di / Vietnam, France, Germany / 2010 / 90 min

Description

Events in a young Hanoi family flow and freeze in time in this finely observed feature debut from the screenwriter of 2009’s ADRIFT. Bi is an inquisitive 6-year-old who loves to play in an ice factory. His mother and beautiful unmarried aunt are a stable presence, but his father avoids the household, drinking at a food hall and visiting a young masseuse. Running free with little parental supervision, and spending time with his seriously ill, taciturn grandfather, Bi slowly begins to open the doors to the hidden realms of adults, whose secrets and frank sexuality are fully visible to us. This is definitely not a movie for children. Bi’s aunt dutifully considers marriage to a contractor (and even has outdoor sex with him), but secretly lusts after a young student. Bi’s father continues his obsession with the masseuse, while his mother pointedly ignores her husband’s infidelity and cares for her ailing father-in-law with growing intimacy. Despite its very earthy and quotidian atmosphere, BI, DON’T BE AFRAID! suggests an allegory of three possible ages of man: child, husband and ancient wanderer. Bi’s restless curiosity about the forces of nature reveals a world that is in constant flux and yet can be frozen in memory, like the maple leaves that Bi drops in water to freeze. What doesn’t freeze is the repeating cycle of wandering fathers, the electricity that lights hidden chambers, and the flow of water. A beautifully understated film that will linger in your memory, BI won two International Critics Week prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. Frako Loden

Credits

• Director: Phan Dang Di
• Producer: Claire-Agnès Lajoumard, Nguyen Hoang Diep, Tran Anh Dung, Henri & Dominic Scriven, Oliver Ropke
• Cinematographer: Pham Quang Minh
• Editor: Julie Beziau