Chapter 03: An Unfinished Story

Dung reminds me a lot of Chi Pheo.

Both was pushed into a life of violence and wrong-doings, numb to love and emotions, but always harbor a passion for a righteous life. Deep down, they have always wanted to feel love, and even more importantly, to feel needed. They want to belong, to be a part of something bigger than themselves, to have someone to mourn them and miss them once they are gone.

Once they are gone.

The biggest difference between Dung and Chi Pheo is that Chi Pheo had his bursting moment. He had a chance to scream out his injustices and plead for a second chance at life, which Dung never did. The child within Dung was killed even before it got to live. Dung died an indignant death - an ironic death as the very moment he decided to discard his past and be better than his status quo, his past caught-up to him. He was killed under the blade of someone he killed - both physically and mentally.

To many, this makes for an extremely abrupt ending. “But they have only just met”, “what is Linh Phung going to do?”, “ he is not going to weep is he, they only knew each other for less than a week”, “but then what does this death even mean?”

“Is this it?”

The moment Linh Phung haunting dragged himself outside of the theatre, standing in the exact spot Dung took his last breath, my heart dropped a beat. Not because I mourned the love story that could have been or was it because a little bit of myself died when Dung died, but because I knew Linh Phung would move forward, because life can only move forward.

People often question: “They have only met for a few days, it is unrealistic to set up such an ending to push for an emotional climax. It is just unrealistic.” To me, it is only unrealistic if we force Dung and Linh Phung to be a couple. It is only unrealistic if we view them as the love of each others life, or soulmates. In reality, Dung and Linh Phung are merely two lonely souls who happen to cross each others’ lives in times of dire needs. They are not really lovers, maybe not even friends, but perhaps acquaintances whose relationships lie somewhere on the spectrum of human’s connections. Dung came into Linh Phung’s life and brought with him emotions both have never fathomed, but no matter how strong those feelings are, they are fleeting. They might leave Linh Phung waking up next morning with questions and regrets, but ultimately, it was merely a fleeting storm that soon fades away.

Song Lang feels like a violent yet silent storm that wrecks havoc inside but ultimately left the viewers in the same old positions with unexplainable regrets and loneliness. Dung and Linh Phung’s relationships, while beautiful, was merely a deviation in the grand scheme of things, and by the end of the movie, both cannot seem to escape the dreadful reality they have set out for themselves.

But what happened, happened - both the good and bad. Dung achieved realizations about his ultimate goal inside, and Linh Phung finally understood what it means to feel love. What he decided to do with that powerful yet fleeting emotion is ultimately up to himself.