Controversy over the role of Ut Kho and the hot scene in 'Tunnel'

Earning 120 billion VND after less than 2 weeks of showing, The Tunnels has created an earthquake at the Vietnamese box office in recent days. With its impressive achievements, Bui Thac Chuyen's film has become a "miracle" for the war film genre of domestic cinema.

Rarely has a work about wartime attracted so much attention from young people. However, this is also the time when controversies began to arise around the story that Tunnels tells, about the images, the small fates in the "steel land and copper wall" - the brave guerrillas who lived, fought silently and made miracles in the dark tunnels, or about the prism through which the director illuminates the deepest aspects of humanity, right in the midst of falling bombs and stray bullets...

The focus of controversy in recent days is the character Ut Kho, played by young actress Diem Hang Lamoon.

Controversy about Ut Kho

The Tunnels is set in Cu Chi in 1967, a time when the area was targeted by the US military. Here, a guerrilla team led by Bay Theo (Thai Hoa) tried to hold out at the Binh An Dong base. They were tasked with guarding medical equipment, but in reality, they were protecting the Viet Cong's strategic intelligence group.

Ut Kho is the “youngest” in Bay Theo’s guerrilla team. The young girl has a petite figure, is emotional, and loves to sing. After hours of intense training and fighting, she and her teammates have warm, happy moments of artistic activities. Ut Kho’s clear voice seems to light up the dark tunnel, healing the spirits of the soldiers who have just experienced a life-and-death moment.

Like many other young people in their 19s and 20s, the first feelings of love also blossomed in the young girl's heart. Until one night, Ut Kho had her virginity stolen by a comrade without even seeing the other person's face. Everything went on silently until she and Ba Huong were cornered by the American military's raid.

The tunnel collected 133 billion VND as of the afternoon of April 15.

In the moment of life and death, Ut Kho chose to give up. She “confessed” to her teammate that she was pregnant, and it was unclear who was the owner of the fetus in her belly. Both of them were lucky to escape death. Ba Huong tried to find the culprit and clear Ut Kho’s name, but failed, so she had to convince team leader Bay Theo to “take responsibility”.

The storyline of Ut Kho has been discussed and dissected by audiences, especially movie lovers, on social networks in recent days. Besides comments praising the authenticity with which Bui Thac Chuyen depicts the fate of people in the context of wartime, there are also many opinions that this storyline creates a distorted view.

The image of Ut Kho having her virginity stolen by her teammates has caused a backlash from some viewers. They question the appropriateness of the scene, and are worried that it could tarnish the beautiful image. The detail of the character silently enduring a rape by a masked man, without any resistance or proactive reporting, has caused viewers to constantly ask questions. Not stopping there, the detail of the youngest sister, in the midst of life and death, weakly choosing to give up her life because "she's going to die anyway", has also caused discussion.

Bui Thac Chuyen's intention

It is not difficult to understand why Bui Thac Chuyen boldly told the sensitive story of Ut Kho, causing controversy. Facing mixed reviews, the father of Tunnels affirmed that he did not put these scenes in the film with the intention of shocking viewers.

What he aimed for was to portray ordinary people in the war, not to make them into great, divine figures. They were essentially just young people, full of ambition but also full of emotions, sometimes making mistakes. It was their efforts to overcome fear and those difficult challenges that made their silent dedication and sacrifice great.

“The film actually leaves a lot of space for the audience to fill in. I don’t lead the audience, I don’t force them to think like me. That’s how the film has a certain distance and objectivity,” Bui Thac Chuyen talked to Tri Thuc - Znews.

The tunnels are controversial because of the appearance of some hot scenes.

Putting aside the arguments about logic, showing the emotional aspects of everyday life is essential to create a realistic picture of the soldier's life. As the director shared, The Tunnels does not paint the image of heroes, but a bloody and tearful war of ordinary people, flesh and blood. They do not fight to become legends, but only for a simple desire: to protect their loved ones, to preserve every inch of the Fatherland.

From that perspective, Ut Kho’s experience and overcoming of the incident with her own emotions, despite the conflict in the eyes of her teammates, is still an honest portrayal of humanity. And humanity is not perfect: they also make mistakes, also have moments of “lost way”. The tragedy that happened to Ut Kho is also a reflection of injustice in society, when at any time, women can become victims of unfair treatment, in the case of the Tunnels , sexual assault.

There, the appearance of Ba Huong or Captain Bay Theo brought light to Ut Kho's life. That was when Ba Huong was determined to "even if he died, he must bring him to a military court" to demand justice for his comrades, that was when Bay Theo took responsibility for being Ut Kho's husband and the father of the child.

For Ba Huong, the silence of enduring mental trauma needs to end.

As for the captain, he clearly understood that no one was sure of life or death in such dire circumstances, so the important thing was to make up for the youngest sister, so that she could have a husband and the child could have a father...

Diem Hang Lamoon transforms into Ut Kho in the movie.

That is probably also the humanistic spirit that The Tunnels wants to convey, when intentionally directing the lens to the way soldiers face and overcome events, tragedies or even their own mistakes.

It reminds viewers of the classic quote from Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms : “The world hurts us all. But many of us rise again where we have fallen. The world destroys those who do not. It destroys the best, the gentlest, the bravest, and it does not spare.”

Or Nguyen Khai's "The Lost Season" also wrote: "Life arises from death, happiness appears from sacrifices and hardships, in this life there is no dead end, only boundaries, the essential thing is to have the strength to cross those boundaries".

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/tranh-cai-vai-ut-kho-va-canh-nong-trong-dia-dao-3353679.html