Buffalo Weaving Season" is one of the impressive cinematic works of Vietnam directed by Viet Kieu - Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh.
The film was produced in 2003, released in 2004, and tells the story of a young man named Kim leading a buffalo to avoid floods.
The buffalo herding trip is also a journey of maturity for Kim, from a gentle, clumsy boy to knowing how to swear, drink alcohol, smoke and taste women.
Buffalo Boy Season" created a buzz at international film festivals, with a series of major awards, such as: Special Prize at the Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland), Best Director Award at the Chicago Film Festival (USA), Grand Prix of the Amiens Film Festival (France), Special Prize of the Amazonas Film Festival (Brazil).
The film impresses with many scenes typical of the Mekong Delta, in which the large scene gathering up to 300 buffaloes is prominent - one of the rare scenes in Vietnamese cinema. Participating in these scenes, actors such as Kieu Trinh (as Ban), The Lu (as Kim, male lead) have had many "cry and laugh" memories.
According to actress Kieu Trinh (as Ban), performing the scene of herding a herd of buffaloes through a flooded field is one of the biggest challenges for the film crew.
Besides, when the delegation had to collect buffaloes from many provinces and carefully select the "outward appearance" to ensure uniformity.
The preparation process is very hard, and there are potential risks when the actors have to directly work with a large and difficult-to-control buffalo herd.
Not only facing the chaos of the buffalo herd when gathering 300 animals in the same area, the actors also had to directly participate in scenes that contained many risks.
Kieu Trinh recounted the first time practicing riding a buffalo, due to lack of experience, she jumped onto her back, causing the buffalo to startle and throw her to the ground.
The fall caused the actress to get a sprain and have to limp for a month.
Since that time, I have been haunted, every time I film with a buffalo, I have to ask the buffalo owner to stand close by so that if something happens, I can have time to rescue them," she shared.
Kieu Trinh recounted the "heart-stopping" moment when the mother cow suddenly rushed to find her child and turned towards her while filming. Fortunately, the crew intervened in time and no incident occurred.
Meanwhile, The Lu (as Kim, male lead) also went through an experience that almost became a serious accident when filming a scene on the river.
That is the scene where the character brings his father's body back on a small boat, amidst the gloomy sky and waves.
While the delegation was filming, a boat of people suddenly capsized, causing the delegation's canoe to immediately switch to support and rescue people. Fortunately, The Lu was brought ashore safely immediately afterwards.
Actor The Lu said that working with buffaloes requires great patience when the animal often "performs" unintentionally, causing scenes to be interrupted many times.
He had to directly coax and get used to it again so that the buffalo would cooperate. In conclusion, the actor humorously said that "cooling the buffalo is more difficult than coaxing your lover".
Despite facing a series of "cry-laughing" incidents, these experiences have contributed to creating authentic and vivid films about the life of the Mekong Delta.
The large scene of 300 buffaloes not only impresses visually but also shows the level of investment and the "brave" spirit of the entire crew.
The movie Buffalo Boy will be re-introduced to audiences in the program "The Face of Vietnamese Cinema 40 years of Doi Moi period", within the framework of the 4th Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF IV).
