In an old house in Hanoi, Bi, a 6-year-old child lives with his parents, his aunt and their cook. His favorite playgrounds are an ice factory and the wild grass along the river. After being absent for years, his grandfather, seriously ill, reappears and settles at their house. While Bi gets closer to his grandfather, his father tries to avoid any contact with his family. Every night, he gets drunk and goes and see his masseuse, for whom he feels a quiet strong desire. Bi's mother turns a blind eye on it. The aunt, still single, meets a 16-year-old young boy in the bus. Her attraction to him moves her deeply.

Set in colonial French Indochina during the 1930s to 1950s, this is the story of Éliane Devries, a French plantation owner, and of her adopted Vietnamese daughter, Camille, set against the backdrop of the rising Vietnamese nationalist movement.

Tu Hau is a common woman from a fishing village whose husband has gone away to fight in the revolution. She takes care of her young daughter as well as her aging father-in-law. Soon, her peaceful village is attacked.

The story in the film is about the love between a man and a woman from the same village, Hoan and Can, who have two children together. But this love affair encountered many difficulties and pressure from family and social customs, forcing Can to leave his hometown and go to the mountains. As for Hoan, she was also prevented by her husband's family because they were afraid of having to redistribute their land. The film shows viewers the relationships and behaviors of Northern farmers in the context of the 1960s.

Feature film on romance and social life of the minority ethnic in the Northwest of Vietnam. Mị and A Phủ, a Meo (Hmong) couple, freed themselves with the aid of communist leadership and joined the rising against the French in August 1945. Based on the short story of the same title by Tô Hoài.