Red Rain: The Triumph of Truth, of Compassion

I am attached to "Red Rain" with a sad memory.

That was in 2024, when the film crew asked me to help send a document requesting support from some businesses in transportation, logistics, etc. The document sent by the film crew was left in silence, with no response from any business. I myself remained silent and did not dare to comment on the crew, because I myself did not believe in the success of a film about a revolutionary theme funded by the State.

But...

Many students were never able to graduate.

In our Hanoi University of Science and Technology campus today there are many beautiful trees and flowers, a green space. There is a small statue there to commemorate a generation of student soldiers who left that day.

When I think of the image of him in the army with a star on his cap, I think of my uncle - martyr Le Minh Tan, a classmate of my father in high school. The soldier, a student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, left his lecture hall, followed the call of the Fatherland and heroically sacrificed himself on the front line of his hometown Kham Duc, Quang Nam - a revolutionary land, where there were the most heroic Vietnamese Mothers in the country...

I also remember Uncle Tu Thao - my mother's Radio University classmate, who died on the battlefield in Laos...

Relief of a student soldier at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and image of martyr Le Minh Tan before going to battle

My parents' generation had many martyrs who could never graduate, could never do their projects, could never carry their school bags to class, and could never date, let alone fall in love... So that today, generations of students from Polytechnic and many other universities will never have to hold guns again.

The place where the uncles and aunts said goodbye to each other has now become a beautiful and romantic road of trees and flowers. I still wonder if there are any students waiting for their lovers here who know that from that place, there were many soldiers who left and never returned, leaving behind pens and compasses waiting forever…

Below is one of 10 photos reconstructed by a group of young technicians from black and white photos of 10 youth volunteers who died at Dong Loc T-junction. That girl did not have the conditions for makeup and beauty like now... The reconstructed photo is really beautiful.

Reconstructed photo of martyr Nguyen Thi Nho - 1 of 10 martyrs who died at Dong Loc intersection

I must affirm that my thoughts above after watching Red Rain are really redundant, or one could say… nonsense.

First of all, it must be affirmed that in 1972, there were very few student soldiers in Quang Tri citadel. And the total number of students enlisted in the battlefield in 1970-1971 was about 10 thousand people, divided equally among all fronts and battlefields, not concentrated in Quang Tri alone. As I have given some examples above, my parents' uncles and friends sacrificed themselves in many different fronts and battlefields.

Furthermore, it is even more inaccurate to say that student soldiers or intellectuals or pupils fought poorly or were not brave enough to sacrifice a lot.

This has been affirmed since the days of the nationwide resistance war that broke out on December 19, 1946, to protect the young revolutionary government that had just been established on September 2, 1945. At that time, the capital Hanoi became a typical example for the whole country.

The French colonialists could not do anything to the Capital Regiment - a Regiment that, when it withdrew to the Viet Bac resistance base to continue the long-term resistance, was described by General Vo Nguyen Giap in his memoir "Unforgettable Years": The faces were seasoned and darkened by the color of gunpowder smoke, but the youthful, gallant features of Hanoi intellectuals had not yet faded...

Going to see the movie Red Rain, entering the theater, I saw that there were almost no promotional images inside and out, but there were a lot of people watching. There were many old people, probably after a long time not going to the movies, also came to the theater because of Red Rain, also patiently lined up with GenZ kids to buy popcorn...

Then when watching the movie, the grandparents and the grandchildren were the same. If the grandparents were moved, the grandchildren would cry.

Our movies are real, war is real, pain is real, victory has real sacrifice. Fighting is sacrifice, is separation. Our soldiers are music conservatory students, so in hand-to-hand combat, of course they will lose to the professional paratroopers on the other side, but we win and are respected by the enemy for our spirit, for justice...

The film has a very real scene and is re-created from a true story. It is about a squad leader from Thanh Hoa who is worthy of being the eldest brother, shielding soldiers from bullets and then sacrificed himself. Before sacrificing himself, he took out some bloody silver coins and asked his comrades to pay his party dues... Money can buy many things but buying the emotions of viewers from young to old is really difficult, no amount of money can buy it.

See in it the image of a Fatherland

Red Rain will certainly become the highest-grossing and most popular Vietnamese film ever. Vietnamese cinema records will certainly be broken by Red Rain. But what is behind that record?

"Our people have a passionate love for the country. That is a precious tradition of ours. From ancient times until now, every time the Fatherland is invaded, that spirit boils up, it forms an extremely strong and huge wave, it overcomes all dangers and difficulties, it drowns all traitors and invaders ."

President Ho Chi Minh once affirmed that. It is clear that when watching Red Rain, every Vietnamese person from old to young sees in it the image of an invaded Fatherland, the image of comrades, relatives, kin, fathers and brothers who sacrificed to protect the Fatherland, to protect the most ordinary rights of every Vietnamese person today. That is the right to stand in the open air to breathe fresh air, the right to "spread their wings" of freedom.

Yet in Red Rain, soldiers only get to breathe that fresh air in the brief moments before they die.

The little bird in the movie did not fly away. Did it not dare to fly away or was it attached to the soldier? I would explain that it did not fly away because outside was raining bombs and bullets. The safest place for it was in the bunker and trench with the soldiers. As long as the soldiers remained, there would be survival, hope, and a creature like it would also remain...

Semiconductor student class of Polytechnic University in the summer of 1970, before the boys went to war. Photo archive

The grandchildren, relatives of the martyrs, and even ourselves, never imagined and knew that our fathers and brothers had lived and fought so bravely, overcoming all difficulties. We only thought, "Ah, our family has a martyr" . Every martyr once had a dream - to go to university, to sing about love and happiness, to dream about a house and children...

And these days, wherever we go and talk, people always mention Red Rain, and cry when they hear the simple lyrics:

“… The war will end if you don't come back.

Mom, cheer up, you have a heroic son.

Bring youth to sow freedom for the country

For me, that's it, what could be more beautiful… ?”.

Red Rain is therefore not a victory of box office records or revenue but a victory of truth, compassion, and courage. It is also a victory of self to speak the truth, another great "red" victory in the Ho Chi Minh era.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/mua-do-chien-thang-cua-su-that-cua-long-trac-an-2439116.html