Weiblichkeit und nationales Selbstverständnis : die Darstellung der Frau und ihre Funktion in der vietnamesischen Filmkunst von den 60er Jahren bis heute

The Second Indochina War (the so-called ’Vietnam War’) and its consequences are an omnipresent theme in Vietnamese cinema. As such, Vietnamese film can be seen as a counterpart to western, especially American war film. This study deals with Vietnamese film from its beginnings to the present. It provides an overview of characteristics of Vietnamese cinema with a special focus on the unique conception and constellation of characters, which forms a clear contrast to the concepts found in western (war) movies. On the basis of an analysis of Vietnamese culture and history and analyses of selected film examples, the author seeks to explain the large number of female heroes and discusses whether the Vietnamese films under investigation can be considered examples of ’feminist film’.