Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
{{Short description|2023 film by Phạm Thiên Ân}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
| image = Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell 2023 film poster.png
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|vi|Bên trong vỏ kén vàng}}
| director = Phạm Thiên Ân
| writer = Phạm Thiên Ân{{cite web|url=https://www.quinzaine-cineastes.fr/en/film/inside-the-yellow-cocoon-shell|title=Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell|publisher=Quinzaine des cinéastes|language=fr|access-date=27 May 2023}}
| producer = {{plainlist|
- Trần Văn Thi
- Jeremy Chua
}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
- Lê Phong Vũ
- Nguyễn Thị Trúc Quỳnh
- Nguyễn Thịnh
- Vũ Ngọc Mạnh
}}
| cinematography = Đinh Duy Hưng
| music =
| production_companies = {{plainlist|
- JK Film
- Potocol
- Deuxième Ligne Films
- Zorba Production
- Fasten Films
}}
| distributor = CJ CGV
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2023|5|24|Cannes|2023|8|11|Vietnam|2023|9|20|France}}
| runtime = 179 minutes
| country = {{plainlist|
- Vietnam
- Singapore
- France
- Spain
}}
| language = Vietnamese
| budget =
| gross = {{USD|352,927}}{{cite Box Office Mojo|id=10399622|title=Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023)|access-date=12 December 2024|publisher_hide=yes}}
}}
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell ({{Langx|vi|Bên trong vỏ kén vàng}}) is a 2023 Vietnamese-language drama film written and directed by Phạm Thiên Ân, in his feature directorial debut. It is a co-production between Vietnam, Singapore, France and Spain.
It had its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2023, and won the Caméra d'Or, which is awarded for the best first feature film. The film was released in Vietnam on 11 August 2023.
Plot
Thien's sister-in-law Teresa dies in a motorcycle accident in Saigon, although her five-year-old son Dao survives the crash. Thien takes both Dao and his sister-in-law's body to the rural village where he grew up. There, he sees life in the countryside in a series of loosely connected events. A funeral and other Catholic ceremonies are conducted. Thien meets an old man who fought in the Vietnam War, who tells his stories of surviving when so many did not. He goes out hunting with his host and bonds with Dao, and awkwardly reconnects with Thao, a childhood friend he had attempted to form a romantic relationship with when younger, but who has since become a nun. He arranges for Dao to be taken to the school where she works, where most of the students are highlanders.
Thien leaves the village rather than stick around for an event, and begins aimlessly searching for his missing brother Tam, perhaps to learn of his fate, and tell him that the wife he abandoned was dead and his son needed to be cared for. He also learns that his brother had briefly gone to seminary and had considered becoming a priest, before deciding to marry instead. He shows a wedding picture of the two found on Teresa's body in a village he thinks might be connected, and talks with people there, but the search is ultimately fruitless.
Cast
Production
The film was produced by Van Thi Tran for JK Film (Vietnam) and Jeremy Chua for Potocol (Singapore), in coproduction with Deuxième Ligne Films (France), Zorba Production (Vietnam) and Fasten Films (Spain).
Pham Thien An's 2019 Cannes short film entry, Stay Awake, Be Ready, which won the Illy Short Film Award in the Directors' Fortnight section, inspired Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.{{Cite web |last=Admin-Ngs |date=10 June 2022 |title=Stay Awake, Be Ready |url=https://paintingwithlight.nationalgallery.sg/southeast-asian-shorts/stay-awake-be-ready/ |access-date=31 July 2023 |website=Painting with Light |language=en-US}}{{cite web|url=https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/miff-2023/inside-yellow-cocoon-shell/|title=Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell|publisher=ACMI|access-date=31 July 2023}}
On RFI Vietnamese radio, the "cocoon shell" is said by director Pham Thien An to be a metaphor or symbol for people trapped chasing after fame or fortune and to escape the "shell" requires some soul-searching revolving around the question of 'What to live for'. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHOUy-r27Fw&ab_channel=RFITi%E1%BA%BFngVi%E1%BB%87t Hành trình đi tìm "lẽ sống" trong phim "Bên trong tổ kén vàng" của đạo diễn Việt Nam Phạm Thiên Ân], Pham Thien An responds to RFI, Video on RFI channel on YouTube, 24 May 2023
Release
The film was selected to be screened in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/04/cannes-directors-fortnight-2023-line-up-2-1235329293/|title=Cannes Directors' Fortnight Unveils 2023 Line-Up: Michel Gondry, Hong Sangsoo, 'Good Time' DoP Sean Price Williams Make Cut – Full List & Film Details|work=Deadline Hollywood|date=18 April 2023|access-date=18 April 2023|first=Melanie|last=Goodfellow}} where it had its world premiere on 24 May 2023.{{Cite web |last=mraultpauillac |date=10 May 2023 |title=The Screenings Guide of the 76th Festival de Cannes |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2023/the-screenings-guide-of-the-76th-festival-de-cannes/ |access-date=10 May 2023 |website=Festival de Cannes |language=en-US}} It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section and screened there in October 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/program/prog_all_list.asp?allYear=2023|title=The 28th Busan International Film Festival: Selection List|website=Busan International Film Festival|date=5 September 2023|access-date=11 September 2023|language=en|archive-date=15 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915141852/https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/program/prog_all_list.asp?allYear=2023|url-status=dead}}
World sales are handled by Cercamon. The film was theatrically released in Vietnam by CJ CGV on 11 August 2023.{{cite news|last=Ly|first=Mi|date=12 July 2023|title=Phim đoạt giải Cannes 'Bên trong vỏ kén vàng' chiếu ở Việt Nam|url=https://tuoitre.vn/phim-doat-giai-cannes-ben-trong-vo-ken-vang-chieu-o-viet-nam-20230712112151289.htm|newspaper=Tuổi Trẻ|language=vi|access-date=2 August 2023}} Nour Films distributed the film in France on 20 September 2023, under the title L'Arbre aux papillons d'or.{{cite web|url=https://www.nourfilms.com/cinema-independant/l-arbre-aux-papillons-d-or/|title=L'arbre aux papillons d'or|publisher=Nour Films|language=fr|access-date=20 September 2023}} The film was given a limited release in the US by Kino Lorber starting on 19 January 2024.{{Cite web |last=Slater-Williams |first=Josh |date=24 May 2023 |title='Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell' Review: A Hypnotizing Vietnamese Drama Goes on a Quest for Transcendence |url=https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/inside-the-yellow-cocoon-shell-review-1234866045/ |access-date=27 January 2024 |website=IndieWire}}
Reception
=Critical response=
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Following its own alluringly inscrutable path between past, present, reality, and dreams, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell rewards patient viewers with an absorbing spiritual odyssey."{{cite Rotten Tomatoes|title=Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell|type=m|id=inside_the_yellow_cocoon_shell|access-date=15 February 2025|publisher_hide=yes}} Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 94 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite Metacritic|id=inside-the-yellow-cocoon-shell|type=movie|title=Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell|access-date=8 March 2024|publisher_hide=yes}} On AlloCiné, the film received an average rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 26 reviews from French critics.{{cite web|url=https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-315394/critiques/presse/|title=Critiques Presse pour le film L'Arbre aux papillons d'or|website=AlloCiné|language=fr|access-date=8 September 2024}}
Guy Lodge of Variety called it "challenging but seductive art cinema that invites comparisons to such titans as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Tsai Ming-liang and even Theo Angelopoulos, without feeling derivative of any."{{cite magazine|last=Lodge|first=Guy|date=25 May 2023|title='Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell' Review: A Spiritual Wander Through Rural Vietnam Makes For a Transfixing Debut|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/festivals/inside-the-yellow-cocoon-shell-review-1235607307/|magazine=Variety|access-date=27 May 2023}} Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the movie five stars out of five, describing it as a "jewel of slow cinema (that) is a wondrous meditation on faith and death."{{cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Bradshaw|date=5 March 2024|title=Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell review – jewel of slow cinema is a wondrous meditation on faith and death|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/05/inside-the-yellow-cocoon-shell-review-jewel-of-slow-cinema-is-a-wondrous-meditation-on-faith-and-death|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=5 March 2024}}
=Accolades=
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title}}
{{Caméra d'Or}}
{{Silver Screen Awards for Best Film}}
Category:2023 directorial debut films
Category:Vietnamese drama films
Category:Vietnamese-language films