“[A] finespun debut feature”
— A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“Gorgeously intimate, evocative, and melancholy…this is the rare debut that derives its Freshness not from inexperience but from a balance between compassion and restraint that most filmmakers take decades to achieve.”
— Jessica Kiang, Variety
“An exquisitely filmed movie that recalls such ’90s art-house classics as
The Scent of Green Papaya and Raise the Red Lantern… sumptuous”
— G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
THIS SEPTEMBER, DIRECTOR ASH MAYFAIR’S
“GORGEOUSLY INTIMATE, EVOCATIVE AND
MELANCHOLY STORY OF FEMALE SUBJUGATION[1]”
SET IN 19TH-CENTURY VIETNAM ARRIVES ON DVD
THE THIRD WIFE
Street Date: September 10, 2019
DVD/Digital: $24.95
DVD Bonus Features Include Audio Commentary with the Director,
the Short Film “Grasshopper” by Mayfair and More
SYNOPSIS
In 19th century rural Vietnam, 14-year-old May becomes the third wife of wealthy landowner Hung. Soon she learns that she can only gain status by asserting herself as a woman who can give birth to a male child. May’s hope to change her status turns into a real and tantalizing possibility when she gets pregnant. However, her path is fraught with danger when May starts to develop an attraction for Xuan, the second wife. As she observes the unfolding tragedy of forbidden love and its devastating consequences, she must make a choice: to either carry on in silence and safety, or forge a way towards personal freedom.
With collaboration from artistic advisor Trần Anh Hùng (director of the mesmerizing The Scent of Green Papaya), Ash Mayfair’s debut feature signals the emergence of a young female director-writer whose aesthetic sensibilities, cinematic language and extraordinary ability to illuminate the past will captivate audiences.
Winner of the NETPAC Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, the TVE “Another Look Award” at San Sebastian and the Gold Hugo in the New Director’s Competition at the Chicago International Film Festival, and an Official Selection at international film festivals including Busan, Vancouver, Palm Spring, Santa Barbara and many more, THE THIRD WIFE has garnered acclaimed throughout its festival and theatrical run. John Berra of
Screen Daily called the film “supremely atmospheric [and] sensuously elegant…a finely detailed and quietly devastating tapestry.” Andrew Bundy of
The Playlist said, “Mayfair’s debut film is an astonishing achievement for a first feature…a work every caring cinephile should see”. And, Neil Young of
The Hollywood Reporter calls Mayfair’s feature film debut “aesthetically entrancing [and] sensitively poetic”.
BONUS FEATURES
Bonus short film: Grasshopper (Directed by Ash Mayfair | Vietnam | Vietnamese with English subtitles | 15 minutes) –A young girl saves a pig’s life and incidentally changes her own.
Ash Mayfair Audio Commentary
NYAFF Chat — Interview with director Ash Mayfair
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type: DVD/Digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu)
Running Time: 96 minutes
Rating: R
Aspect Ratio: 1.49:1 Widescreen
Audio: 5.1 Surround Sound/2.0 Stereo
Language: Vietnamese with English subtitles
About Film Movement
Founded in 2002 as one of the first-ever subscription film services with its DVD-of-the-Month club, Film Movement is now a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide. Film Movement’s theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Ettore Scola. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com. Visit www.filmmovementplus.com for more information about Film Movement Plus, the new subscription streaming service from Film Movement.
