Memoryland
A FILM BY Kim Quy Bui
POST-PRODUCTION GRANT - FALL 2019
The 3 stories of Send-off, Nether-World, This-World take place in 3 different strips of time, space & locations, closely connected by death.
"Send-off" tells the story of Moc Mien’s husband, who was killed in a construction site and incinerated at Cremation Chamber No.4. An old woman named Me took her last breath in the illusion of being farewelled by her kin. Tho, an old man living in the same village, dug a grave for her so that she could rest on her homeland. However, her son decided to escort her coffin to the Cremation Chamber No.4.
"Nether-World" tells the story of Tuong, Me’s husband, who is required to visit the land of the dead and retrieve his identification papers kept by his wife. Moc Mien has to bring her husband’s ashes back to the graves of the ancestors and takecares of incense-burning rituals. She struggles against the boredom of being a lonely widow in a desolate village filled with ghosts. "This-World" tells the story of Tho and Thi, an old couple who don’t want to have their bodies cremated after death. They secretly hire Son – director of an all-in-one package funeral service company – to arrange their funeral ceremonies.
Meanwhile, Moc Mien has just left her home for the city where she meets Tuong and lives with him.
After that, his sudden disappearance sends her into the depth of despair. She commits suicide in their shared house. At the end, Tuong comes back home, eats Moc Mien’s ashes and dies. His dead body is incinerated at Cremation Chamber No.4.