Hon vong phu on AllMovie

In an allegorical film meant to convey the durability of a people, Vietnamese director Lam Le follows a mysterious written message to Paris, a message passed on by a female missionary and a French soldier before they die -- and meant for the eyes of a woman living in Saigon. Their moment of death came in the aftermath of the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and the subsequent division of Vietnam into north and south in preparation for elections. For two decades, the message either invokes fear or nostalgia in the hands of many before it is placed in a crevice of a rock near the spot where the writers of the message died -- by the daughter of the woman to whom it was written. This rock is called the "Waiting Stone" and has magical qualities because it is a meteorite. Legend says that lovers and friends must both part at the "Waiting Stone" and must one day return to it, dead or alive.