4/5 stars
Inspired by stories from her own ancestors, Vietnamese writer-director Ash Mayfair’s debut feature is a beautifully realised tale of tradition and the search for identity in rural 19th century Vietnam.
Nguyen Phuong Tra My, who was discovered following a nationwide casting call, stars as 14-year-old May, who is married off to a wealthy landowner, Hung (Le Vu Long). As his third wife, May initially struggles to navigate the pecking order in her husband’s hierarchical household. Where does she rank between his two other wives, Ha (Tran Nu Yen Khe) and Xuan (Mai Thu Huong Maya), Hung’s parents, or his three children?
Before long, the young bride falls pregnant with Hung’s child, and is suddenly elevated to the most prized and important member of the family … provided she sires a boy. As the months pass before the birth, May uncovers family secrets, forges her own alliances and rivalries, all while discovering her own body, and who she is as a woman.
Instantly reminiscent of Zhang Yimou’s exquisite Raise the Red Lantern, The Third Wife is similarly entranced by the minutiae of May’s surroundings, how the family operates, but also the elaborate rituals and customs that have since disappeared from Vietnamese life. The film unfolds with an elegance and grace that is echoed by the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside, and the performers who inhabit it.
Nguyen is entrancing in the title role, carrying the full weight of the production on her slight shoulders, as she evolves from naive waif to erudite young mother before our eyes. With precious little dialogue, her expressions perfectly convey her fear, confusion, and ultimately resolution.
Elsewhere, Mai is equally compelling as the troubled second wife, Xuan. Despite siring two daughters, her position within the family will only be cemented if she gives her husband a son. This frustration leads to a series of poor decisions, which threaten to destabilise the entire household.
Mayfair deliberately presents Hung as a distant, almost enigmatic presence on the very fringes of this community. He is rarely seen, except when conjugating with one of his wives, but his word dictates everything that happens in their lives … until it doesn’t.
The Third Wife is a story about pushing back against such an outdated, patriarchal structure, at a time when there was no alternative in place to support such rebellion. That it achieves this with such a deft and delicate touch is the film’s crowning achievement.
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