Featuring at the Brisbane International Film Festival 2019 is The Third Wife, a poetic look into the marital life of a fourteen year old. Vietnamese Writer/Director Ash Mayfair depicts ancient traditions through a delicately interwoven story that focuses on central protagonist May, played by Nguyen Phuong Tra My. Breathtaking cinematography is featured in the film and this can be credited to Chananun Chotrungroj. The Third Wife is a film that is worth watching because it allows you to delve into the complexities of restriction versus impulse and tradition versus modernity.
The Third Wife has clearly been created with specific framing choices in mind along with a particular flow of editing. Whilst there is a slow pace to the film this does not make it dull by any means, and in fact allows the viewer to soak themselves into the environments brought on by eye-pleasing cinematography. This film is clever in construction and the technical elements are on point. Not only is every frame absolutely stunning, with a shallow focus for more intimate moments, but the framing and pacing of the film helps you understand the characters and story better than the dialogue itself.
This film doesn’t need to have much dialogue when each and every shot so clearly depicts the intricacies of the character dynamics at play. When fourteen year old May is married to an older man, there are certain traditions, such as eating an egg yolk off her belly button on the first night, that are portrayed in such an artistic way despite the unusual nature of the act. As the audience explores May’s life, we begin to see the hidden desires of May and the women around her. Due to the fact that May isn’t the first wife out of the three there are inevitable jealousies that arise.
To a modern audience the subject matter may appear to be controversial, but given the way that the content is portrayed within the film I would beg to differ. The Third Wife is a heartachingly beautiful character study on a fourteen year old marrying an older man, falling pregnant and trying to understand her own desires, particularly for another one of the wives in the household. For a young girl trying to understand herself and the world around her, I did not fully register the wants of the character until wife Xuan, played by Mai Thu Huong Maya, lathers soothing gel onto the stomach of May. May’s response to this closeness from Xuan demonstrated her own need for connection, and her lack thereof between herself and her husband.
This movie is articulate with the filmic elements it utilises and speaks to audience members across all ages. Other aspects of the film include a suicide resulting from shame of not following tradition, hidden desires that are acted out in private and unrequited love. There is plenty to sink your teeth into with The Third Wife, and so much to explore with the depth of characters and intricacies of the plotline. If you’re not one for slowly paced films and don’t enjoy the luxury of beautiful cinematography I wouldn’t recommend this film, however, if you have an appreciation of how film operates through what is present within the frame and you’re willing to pay attention to the details to piece it altogether then I would be saying to get tickets to this film.
Screening Times:
Saturday, 5th October - 6:30pm
New Farm Six Cinemas
Tuesday, 8th October - 6:30pm
Dendy Cinemas Coorparoo
Joanna Letic