Yis Hawj (Leem Lis) was betrothed to her sickly maternal cousin, Kim Lis (Xeeb Lis), when she was only three years old. From that time onward, she lived with her fiancé's family, though she occasionally returned to visit her biological mother.
Yis, however, had no love for her fiancé. She was also constantly irritated by Kim's older brother, Teem Lis (Vej Lis), whose persistent teasing and pestering often got on her nerves.
One day, while Yis was on her way to visit her mother, she tripped and fell near a bamboo-pipe water system. A young man named Kuab Yaj (Ceeb Hawj), who happened to be nearby, immediately rushed over to help her.
Seeing that Yis had twisted her ankle, Kuab worried that it might swell badly. He quickly searched for a medicinal herb, chewed it in his mouth, and carefully placed the crushed herb around her injured ankle. He then tore a piece of cloth from the sleeve of his hemp shirt and used it to wrap the herb securely around her ankle.
Before Kuab left, Yis asked him to give her some drinking water.
As they spoke, the two found themselves drawn to one another. Although their encounter was brief, there was an unmistakable warmth between them, and both seemed reluctant to part.
The two eventually fall deeply in love, only for Kuab to discover that Yis is already engaged. Worse still, her wedding is fast approaching.
Both Kuab and Yis are devastated by the news. Yet Yis decides to honor the marriage arrangement made by her parents and future parents-in-law. Despite loving Kuab, she feels bound by her obligations and believes she has no choice but to follow through with the wedding.
Teem, meanwhile, becomes suspicious that Yis and Kuab are secretly courting one another. Although he would prefer to marry Yis himself, he despises Kuab, and having his younger brother marry her seems far more tolerable than allowing her to be with Kuab.
After Yis's marriage, she secretly meets Kuab. The two share a drink of each other's blood, making a solemn vow that they will love only one another.
Teem is furious whenever he sees Kuab and eventually hires two Chinese men to murder the young man.
After Kuab is killed, Yis falls into a deep depression and becomes seriously ill. Her mother-in-law brings in healer after healer to treat her, but none can cure her mysterious illness.
While Yis lies sick in bed, Kuab's spirit returns to her. Every day, his spirit comes to take her on outings, and every day, someone witnesses Yis seemingly playing and flirting with no one.
Those who see her are terrified. To them, it appears that Yis is communicating with a spirit.
One day, Teem decides to follow Yis.
By the time he finds her, she has already collapsed and fainted. Teem carries her home, and the family summons a shaman.
During the ceremony, an egg is tied to the ceiling with a string while the shaman enters a trance and begins chanting.
Suddenly, the egg begins spinning rapidly.
A gun is fired.
Blood splatters across the wall.
The spirit of Kuab is killed.
That afternoon, Kim and a friend become unconscious after drinking too much rice wine. Teem, also drunk, sneaks into Yis's room and rapes her.
Later, Yis discovers that she is pregnant.
Soon afterward, Kim begins coughing up blood and eventually collapses. Before taking his final breath, he apologizes to Yis.
He tells her that he had been awake on the night Teem entered her room. He knew what his brother was doing, but because he desperately wanted a descendant for the family, he deliberately chose not to stop him.
Kim dies in Yis's arms.
According to the Hmong custom portrayed in the film, when an elder brother dies before his younger brother, the widow is expected to marry the younger brother. Likewise, if the younger brother dies first, his widow would marry the elder brother. The purpose of this tradition is to keep the children within the family.
After Kim's death, the elders of the family agree that Yis should become Teem's wife.
Teem is delighted by the decision.
Yis, however, has no choice but to comply.
Many months later, Yis secretly brings her child to Maim, Kuab's sister. She asks Maim to take the child to Teem.
Yis also gives Maim her red paper umbrella.
“Give this to Teem,” she tells her. “When he sees the umbrella, he will understand.”
Maim asks Yis where she is going.
Yis simply answers, “I don't know.”
Maim finds Teem and gives him the child.
Teem is both surprised and delighted to see the baby. When Maim hands him Yis's red paper umbrella, he takes it and falls into a deep remembrance of Yis and the life they once shared.
The story then comes to an end.
Yis and Kuab are together once again, appearing happy and carefree as they play with one another.
My Thoughts
I have not seen Leem Lis's previous movie, Nkauj Nyaab Pob Txhaa, so I cannot make a comparison or say whether this film represents an improvement from his earlier work.
Overall, I think this Hmong-Chinese production has room for improvement in several areas, particularly the acting, cinematography, and editing.
I could tolerate many of the film's shortcomings, but there were times when the actors' and actresses' performances felt stiff. The editing also made the film feel very choppy. A few scenes seemed as though the editor simply pieced several different takes together without creating a smooth transition between them.
There were also several scenes filmed among bamboo groves where the director seemed not to notice that a bamboo stalk was positioned directly in front of one of the lead actors' faces. Small details like this can be distracting and take away from the viewing experience.
As for the storyline, I understand that the film is based on a true story. However, I felt that the director stayed so close to the real-life account that the plot lacked the excitement and dramatic payoff that a film could have provided.
In particular, I felt that the character of Kuab Yaj was treated unfairly.
Even if the events happened this way in real life, a filmmaker has some freedom to adapt the story for the screen. The director could have changed certain elements of the plot while still preserving the heart of the story, especially to give the main character some form of justice.
Instead, Kuab suffers one tragedy after another.
First, the living Kuab is murdered at the hands of Teem. Then, even after his death, Kuab's spirit returns—and is killed again during the shaman's ceremony.
Afterward, Teem sexually assaults Yis and impregnates her.
By the end, it feels as though evil has repeatedly triumphed over goodness, while the character who deserves the greatest sympathy suffers the most.
I also think it would have been helpful if the movie had included either Hmong or English subtitles. I found the dialect difficult to understand at times, and I had to watch certain scenes more than once to fully understand what was happening. This was especially true during scenes in which characters were sick, in pain, or speaking softly and unclearly.
Despite these flaws, I hope Hmong-Chinese filmmakers continue making movies.
Many of us living in America are unfamiliar with the stories and legends preserved within Hmong communities in China. Films like this provide an opportunity to introduce audiences to those traditions and to uncover stories that many of us may otherwise never have the chance to hear.
For that reason alone, I hope they continue telling these stories—and, with time, continue improving the quality of the films they produce.
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