Taking you from the streets of Vietnam to the beautiful 2012 Saja Bridal Wedding collection, this week’s Happenings cater to the feminine side with a touch of war hero and a sprinkle of underground hip-hop. I think I’ll be wearing a white dress to the movies.
SAIGON ELECTRIC, VIETNAM’S FIRST HIP-HOP FILM
When : October 7, 2011
Where: In select U.S. cities Nationwide
How: For more information, visit www.saigonelectric.com
Saigon Electric, directed by Stephane Gauger, takes audiences to the streets of Vietnam to showcase the best underground talent in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Hip Hop film aims to expose the youth culture that is seeping onto the streets of Vietnam, and provide movie-goers with a fresh new look at the dreams and struggles of Asian youth.
REMAINS OF THE DAY: Reviewer Susan Soon He Stanton finds beauty and sensuality in Uyen Nicole Duong’s Daughters of the River Huong, an epic tale journeying from the ancient Kingdom of Champa to French colonialism to modern day New York City, all told through the eyes of an alluring but flawed heroine.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: Plugged In
STORY: Susan Soon He Stanton
Over the course of a tumultuous century, the stories of four generations of Vietnamese women unfold in a historical epic that shifts from Imperial City of Hue, war-torn Saigon, Paris, and ’90s New York City. For such an entertaining read, the amount of history author Uyen Nicole Duong packs into her pages is impressive. Even while painting a larger picture of Vietnamese culture, the focus never strays far from these daughters of the River Huong.
At the heart of the story is Simone, a petulant Indochine Lolita, who reveals the lives of her ancestors tracing back to the extinct Kingdom of Champa. Beginning with the Mystique Concubine, a paddle girl discovered by a king, to her daughters, Madame Cinnamon and Ginseng, and Simone’s mother, these survival stories trace the journey from the last Vietnamese monarchy to French colonialism, revolution and independence.
