X
- 2024
- CJ CGV Viet Nam
- 2 h 59 m
- 2024
- CJ CGV Viet Nam
- 2 h 59 m
Summary After a car accident claims the life of his sister-in-law and leaves his 5-year-old nephew an orphan, a thirtysomething man named Thien (Le Phong Vu) leaves Saigon for a trip back to his rural hometown. During his meditative, wandering visit, Thien wrestles with his own agnosticism in the face of others’ religious beliefs, summons memori...
Directed By: Thien An Pham
Written By: Thien An Pham
- 2024
- CJ CGV Viet Nam
- 2 h 59 m
- 2024
- CJ CGV Viet Nam
- 2 h 59 m
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary After a car accident claims the life of his sister-in-law and leaves his 5-year-old nephew an orphan, a thirtysomething man named Thien (Le Phong Vu) leaves Saigon for a trip back to his rural hometown. During his meditative, wandering visit, Thien wrestles with his own agnosticism in the face of others’ religious beliefs, summons memori...
Directed By: Thien An Pham
Written By: Thien An Pham
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
94
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
94
100% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The panoramic intelligence of this film is a wonder.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell reminds us that confusion is often a necessary first step toward enlightenment, and that bafflement and beauty often go hand in hand. This is a lesson that Thiên must learn as well. The gift of this movie is that it invites us to learn it alongside him.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 27 User Ratings
7.4
78% Positive
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
11% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
11% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 27 User Ratings
7.4
78% Positive
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
11% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
11% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Vietnamese magical realism that channels Apichatpong Weerasethakul. A very deep look at religious syncretism in the country and an ordinary young man's search for peace for himself and his family. Amazing.
Report
Great movie with a deep and calm storyline. Should be watched if you have the energy to really think about the meaning of certain phrases.
Definitely something to watch during 2024!
Kristoffer Öhrn
Report
A three-hour drama whose slender story serves as the skeleton for a formally exquisite examination of loss, faith, family, and connection, it's the year’s first masterpiece.
Cinema as an art form is made infinitely richer via films like Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell. As we let it linger in our minds just as the camera does up until one final unbroken shot, you drift somewhere you've never been before and may never be again.
This is challenging but seductive art cinema that invites comparisons to such titans as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Tsai Ming-liang and even Theo Angelopoulos, without feeling derivative of any.
The protagonist may feel cut off from the world, but the film is deeply in harmony with it.
There’s something singularly fulfilling in a film, like this one, that truly demands that most precious commodity: our attention.
This is not a narrative. It is a long, leisurely look at a man sinking into... something. It is certainly the longest that most of us will look at third world lifestyles. You will feel more at home in Saigon than anyplace else you see here. Perhaps the message is that our busy lifestyles prevent us from truly seeing and feeling everything that's around us. There are so many small details we're missing, and all the time in the world to miss them in. Perhaps this movie is about finding and then letting go of all that.
Report
Finding meaning and purpose in life can be a long and solitary journey, especially if one doesn’t know how or where to look. So it is for a single, lonely thirtysomething seeker (Le Phong Vu) living in Saigon after moving there from his rural mountain village after most of his family emigrates to America. He feels empty and lost as he looks for a suitable path to follow, but nothing turns up, leaving him increasingly adrift and unfulfilled. However, when a family tragedy occurs, he must return home to pay final respects to a deceased loved one with his young, orphaned nephew (Nguyen Thinh) in tow. The journey thus becomes a metaphor for his search, an absorbing meditation on life, love, death, finding oneself and letting go of old ghosts from the past, including an old flame (Nguyen Thi Truc Quynh) who now has a more serious commitment. This odyssey is fittingly depicted cinematically with a series of long tracking shots and deliberately slow pacing to emphasize the extended time it takes to make such a measured, thoughtful and revelatory passage, one beautifully enhanced by positively gorgeous cinematography. It’s the kind of film that gives similarly situated viewers much to think about, particularly given that they’re likely to relate to the circumstances of their on-screen counterpart. However, writer-director Thien An Pham’s debut film – winner of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Camera Award for best premiere feature – could benefit handsomely from some judicious editing, especially in the second half. While this release is definitely a feast for the eyes, some sequences nevertheless go on needlessly long and could have been cut by about 20-30 minutes to reduce its patience-trying three-hour runtime. This shortcoming aside, though, “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” gives audiences a revealing look at the work **** new talent with tremendous potential, one who successfully brings both beauty and inspiration to an insightful finished product. As trite as it may seem, finding our place in the cosmos rests more with the journey than the destination, as the protagonist discovers for himself, a realization many of us can no doubt relate to.
Report
I don't understand the meaning of this film. The only interesting aspect was the scenes throughout Vietnam. The subtitles sometimes displayed too quickly, making it challenging to fully understand what is going on. I'm not sure what all the hype was about. The ending was disappointing and confusing.
Report
Production Company
JK Film,
Potocol,
Deuxieme Ligne Films,
Zorba the Imaginary Friend,
Fasten Films,
Singapore Film Commission,
L'Aide aux Cinémas du Monde,
Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC),
Institut Français,
Purin Pictures,
Visions Sud Est,
Locarno Open Doors,
Città di Bellinzona,
Normandie Images
Release Date Jan 19, 2024
Duration 2 h 59 m
Genres
Awards
International Cinephile Society Awards
• 3 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Pingyao International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations