Hearing

On silence, noise and the things we (do not) say to one another.

Ninh’s job is to install decibel meters: sensors that register sound levels and issue a warning when they are too high.

His days are filled with longing. He lives with his mother, who is separated from his father and no longer speaks to him. As he hopes the two of them will reconcile, he is also struggling with his relationship with his ex-wife, Ngoc, the mother of the two young children he loves so dearly.

As Ninh installs meters in noisy bars and private homes, he witnesses how silence swallows people and relationships. How can he stop the same thing from happening to him?

Following his debut feature Taste and the short film Scent, Lê Bảo has established himself as a director with a clear interest in human experience through the senses. Here, sound and communication take center stage. With its carefully composed tableaux and hints of mystery, Hearing is a film that is both beautiful and wistful in its portrayal of what remains unsaid.