Visual Review #5: Short

Carol Nguyen’s short, “No Crying at the Dinner Table,” is an exploration of an immigrant family’s generational differences and trauma. The film starts with a shot of the family, a father, mother, and sister, at the dining room table. The filmmaker is sitting outside of the shot, talking to the family in Vietnamese. They are discussing the interviews they each previously did with Nguyen and that they’re all going to collectively listen to the interviews together as a family.

The film then begins to show each family member’s interview, beginning with the mother’s. She discusses how she only hugged her mother once in her whole life. She tells how she regretted the lack of physical intimacy she had with her parent whom she loved, but told how that’s just how it was in Vietnamese culture.

The sister’s interview comes next and she tells of her relationship with her grandparents and how close she was with them. When they died, it was the first real loss she had experienced.

The father’s interview tells about how he wasn’t able to save his uncle from killing himself. It was a deeply traumatic event that he still feels very guilty about.

After the end of the interviews, the film concludes by depicting the reactions of the family as they hear their relative’s personal experiences that they all can deeply relate to. The mom and sister cry, adding meaning to the title of the short.

The mise en scene in the short is incredibly important. It is very naturalistic or realistic. The set is a simple kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom. It looks how a house is typically expected to look. There is also very little background noise throughout the entire short. Without music, Nguyen emphasizes the interviews and the facial expressions of the subjects.

The props used throughout this film are minimal but crucial. Each family member has a mug placed in front of them at the table, making it feel like a home. There is also a radio, which the interviews are being played from. In the end, a box of tissues is added to match the tears of the mother and sister.

The settings changed based on who was being interviewed. The mother is in the kitchen, the sister is in her bedroom or bathroom, and the father is in a different bedroom and dining room. These different settings separate the different family members and their stories.

The camera movement throughout this short is minimal. This film is mostly composed of combined shots. There is very little camera movement during shots. The frames will close in on the faces of the individuals or their hands to depict their movements but they do not zoom in during the frame. The camera just moves closer between frames. This type of camera movement helps to really focus on the individual and their words.

The short ends with music, blocking out the voices and sounds of the family as they hug each other. By only adding music in this scene, we can feel that the family has come together to reconcile their generational differences and comfort each other in their trauma.

Nguyen effectively creates a solemn and quiet tone throughout her short through her use of mise en scene and limited camera movement. She brings her family together through this film and helps to cross the bridge between her mother, father, and sisters.