The Vertical Ray of the Sun PG-13

6.9K ratings
Price: $21.50
Available: Usually ships in 5-7 business days
Format:  DVD-R
item number:  K7S5
Made-on-Demand

DVD-R Details

  • Rated: PG-13
  • Video: Color
  • Encoding: Region 0 (Worldwide)
  • Released: November 6, 2012
  • Originally Released: 2000
  • Label: Sony Pictures Home

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring , , , , , , , &
Directed by &
Screenwriting by
Composition by
Produced by
Director of Photography:

Entertainment Reviews:

Certified Fresh82%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 55

Upright86%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 2,937
As impenetrable as the film seems at times, it's also visually stunning ... and the performances are uniformly good. Full Review
Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Oct 12, 2001
...Scenes of such delicate beauty that you almost want to climb into the frame....The music and the film itself feel like expressions of a single sensibility: gentle, enigmatic, and sad...
New York Times
Jul 6, 2001
Rating: 3/4 -- The Vertical Ray of Sun is beautiful, languorous, passive -- it plays like background music for itself. Full Review
Chicago Sun-Times
Sep 14, 2001
...Few filmmakers of the past 20 years have mesmerized as much in their use of crisp, color-drenched photography....[Tran] puts you in the action... -- 3 out of 4 stars
USA Today
Jul 6, 2001
Rating: B -- The story is pure melodrama but Tran photographs it with a sense of grace that doesn't judge... Full Review
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sep 27, 2001
Rating: 3.5/5 -- a gorgeous dream half-remembered.
Film Threat
Nov 12, 2003
THE VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN is a wholly enveloping experience. Gentle, ravishingly beautiful and awash in everyday sensuality...
Los Angeles Times
Jul 6, 2001

Description by OLDIES.com:

In this critically acclaimed Vietnamese drama from 2000, three sisters living in modern-day Hanoi ? Lien, Suong and Khanh ? prepare a banquet for the anniversary of their mother's death. Upon the ending of the banquet, the three sisters' personal lives go through different stages of distress, dealing with strife in their personal relationships and the revelation of a mysterious man who lingered throughout their mother's life. Directed by tran anh hung (The Scent of Green Papaya), THE VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN is a beautifully shot film that transports you into another world. Newly remastered.

Product Description:

Set in Hanoi, Vietnam, THE VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN is a rich visual banquet overflowing with lush, artful images that unfold with the same languorous slowness with which the the film's enigmatic characters and relationships develop. Three sisters, Lien (Tran Nu Yen-Khe), Khanh (Le Khanh), and Suong (Nguyen Nhu Quynh), and their brother, Hai (Ngo Quang Hai), come together to prepare a feast in remembrance of their deceased parents. They end up discovering that they each harbor important secrets.

The two older sisters, Suong and Khanh, are both married, one to a novelist and one to a photographer. Though their marriages seem quite tranquil and happy on the surface, there is trouble brewing for both sisters. Their scenes of dreamy domesticity become more poignant as the fragility of this bliss--which the sisters try to hide both from themselves and from each other--is revealed. Their younger sister, the gorgeous Lien, lives with their brother, Hai, a struggling actor. Lien is both naive (she isn't quite sure how a woman gets pregnant) and very sensual. At night she sneaks into her brother's bed; she claims it is to stay warm, but there's an ambiguous sexuality in her feelings for her brother which adds another layer of complexity to the film.

Director Tran Anh Hung's first two films, THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA and CYCLO were also masterful explorations of Vietnamese life; THE VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN is perhaps the most elegiac and serene of the three, weaving a very delicate fabric of relationships which are as elusive as the dappled, changeable Hanoi sunshine.

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This product is made-on-demand by the manufacturer using DVD-R recordable media. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-Rs (except for some older models made before 2000) - please consult your owner's manual for formats compatible with your player. These DVD-Rs may not play on all computers or DVD player/recorders. To address this, the manufacturer recommends viewing this product on a DVD player that does not have recording capability.
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Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 55,617
  • UPC: 043396413917
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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