She is Hmong, living in the mountains of north Vietnam. A young woman on a journey to recover the biological mother she once lost. On the way, she discovers secrets of a family she thought she knew...
In the panel discussion after the screening, Ngo Quang Hai, the film's director, talked about the ending of the film. After she embarks on this journey, she realizes that she needed the security provided by the familiarity of the little window in her modest home. After traveling for days and covering hundreds of miles searching for her biological matter, she discovers that there are certain secrets that she would rather not know, rather not reveal. She acknowledges that she hopes to return to the square window, where she sits gazing out into the world, observing from the safety of her home, where she is comfortable and protected.
Pao confesses this to the audience in a voice-over as the audience is shown scene after scene of the ending images. However, these visual offerings suggest something different from what Pao, the narrator, recounts to the audience, for one of the very final scenes of the film shows her walking hand in hand with her lover down a wide, open road. This stunning image presents a contrast to the little window of security in the wooden house. The road is wide and long, and she is ambling comfortably down this road (interestingly, it is strikingly similar to the road which her father worked on years before) without any fear or hesitation.
For me, the visual is a stronger testament to the changes that Pao has undergone during her journey. She has grown in ways that are deeper and more complex than even she can articulate.
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