Madame Lien, who has inherited and maintained a small shipyard on the river for generations, is an unforgettable character. In the first ten minutes, we are made to wonder when the story will begin, and then slowly and finally, with a sense of urgency, she reflects on her life, sometimes reciting poetry, while being aware of its end. By closing in on her rich use of words, images, voice and expression, this documentary is a condensed portrayal of a person’s life and the social history of Vietnam, the decline of the industry, and the relationship with the people who have worked there and whom she has cared for.

Madame Lien’s Factory provides a vivid portrait of a Vietnamese grandmother, whose struggle in life puts value and honor in family and society as she draws nearer to life’s end. She is a feisty character in control of a family business she once defended from a communist takeover with her sheer guts and determination. These qualities defined her life as it went into its many detours and continue to carry her through to old age. Her ebbing life parallels the dying business of making traditional boats, crafted by generations of workers that her family nurtured and must disband upon her foreseeable death. This is the gem of this documentary. The energetic main character is subtly overlaid with the many contradictions of life in Vietnamese society. While bold on the outside with her business dealings, she is tender inside while caring for those who helped sustain the vanishing craft of boat-making. The documentary, honed in cinema-direct style, is lush while sparsely directed, allowing the camera to fill the screen with the visual articulation of life. The disciplined observation the camera makes pays off as the documentary provides a candid peek into a personal life, where all histories have their beginnings.