Meritorious Artist To Uyen: 'Luu Quang Vu is my deepest love'

Sharing about her first marriage, the actress of the movie "The Ringed Bird" said that even after the divorce, she still loved Luu Quang Vu.

In 1962, the film The Ring-necked Bird was released, stirring audiences across the country. The setting of the film is a hut of a father and daughter on the riverbank. The father rowed a boat to ferry revolutionary cadres across the river, while the daughter, Nga, often flew kites or jumped rope as a safety signal for soldiers to cross the river. Once, when she was discovered by the enemy, before dying in the line of fire, Nga managed to release the ring-necked bird she had raised for so long back into the sky.

The touching image at the end of the film haunted many generations of audiences about the heroic tragedy of the Vietnamese people during the war. The actress who played the daughter was Meritorious Artist To Uyen. When she played Nga, she was only 13 years old. More than 50 years later, at the age of nearly 70, artist To Uyen sadly recalled the ups and downs of her life associated with her role in the classic film.

While living at the Hanoi City Cultural House, the female artist was noticed by director Nguyen Van Thong for the role of Nga in the film Con chim vong khuon. To Uyen said that she had to overcome dozens of strong candidates when the director challenged her to act. Therefore, when she was accepted for the role, the child actress performed with all her might, despite the difficulties.

"I had to learn how to row a boat, learn how to swim, and learn how to pick strawberries to get into character. At that time, I don't know what motivated me to act out the scene of jumping from a tree into the water or rolling along the dike with only a little straw underneath to ease the pain," the artist recalled the days of filming The Ringing Bird.

To Uyen at the age of 13 in the movie "The white-necked bird".

After three months of filming, the crew paid for food and accommodation, and the salary for the role of Nga was enough for the artist to buy a chicken and a dozen eggs as gifts for her family. But what she received more than that was fame at a very young age. The White-ringed Bird won the jury's special prize at the Carlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czechoslovakia) in 1962.

After the success of the film, the artist attended dance school and then became an actress at the Vietnam Feature Film Studio. She continued to appear in many classic films such as Noi Gio, Chung Mot Dong Song, Vo Chong Anh Luc, Sao Bien...

Becoming famous too early at the age of 13 brought To Uyen much happiness as well as suffering.

In addition to the love of the audience, To Uyen is also happy because she has a poetic love with poet Luu Quang Vu. Their houses are close to each other, and they both participate in the art troupe, so they are close. When To Uyen studied at the dance school, Luu Quang Vu joined the army. The distance was shortened through letters sent to each other. In his confidences, Luu Quang Vu always calls To Uyen "my little Nga" or "the black bee with blue eyes".

At the end of 1969, they got married. When To Uyen was pregnant with Kit (later journalist Luu Minh Vu), every day Luu Quang Vu took his wife to work on his old bicycle. The couple often stopped at a cafe to sit and sip. Luu Quang Vu looked at To Uyen lovingly and then wrote poems for his wife.

"Among many boys who admired him, I chose Vu because we were close since childhood. I realized that Vu was talented since those days. In love, there are few people who love as passionately and intensely as Vu," To Uyen reminisced.

However, the happiness did not last long. When their first son was born, the love story of To Uyen and Luu Quang Vu faced the storms of life. The female artist said that at that time her husband had just been discharged from the army and had no job, and she was away from home filming continuously. The actress's salary was not enough to cover her living expenses, so taking care of her son had to rely on the help of both families.

While in the limelight of her acting career, To Uyen encountered much jealousy and envy. Surrounding them were also slanderous words that why the beautiful and talented To Uyen married a man who only knew how to write poetry like Luu Quang Vu. The youth of both of them caused them to lose their happiness in the face of harsh public opinion. Luu Quang Vu quietly took his wife to court for divorce. In the poem he gave to To Uyen before their separation, the late poet mentioned the reason for their breakup: "What you need, I don't have. You don't care about the winds I give you."

Meritorious Artist To Uyen at the 2015 Vietnam Film Festival.

After the divorce, To Uyen began a difficult period of raising her child alone. The lack of material things was not as painful as the mental trauma when, not long after the divorce, Luu Quang Vu moved in with the poetess Xuan Quynh.

When their love was budding, in a letter to To Uyen, Luu Quang Vu mentioned the support of "Ms. Quynh" (poet Xuan Quynh) for their love. Unexpectedly, later, the close neighbor of both of them became Luu Quang Vu's second wife. To Uyen said that every day she still had to witness the happiness of her ex-husband and another woman in the house next door.

"I broke up with Vu when I still loved him, so how could I not be sad when I saw the person I loved living with someone else?"

The actress said that at first she stubbornly lived next to Xuan Quynh - Luu Quang Vu's room as a way to practice strength. After two years, unable to bear the pain, To Uyen took the initiative to move out, officially accepting that Luu Quang Vu no longer belonged to her. "I once carried Luu Minh Vu to the South and then came back. Many times when I ran out of money, my child was sick, and the agency disciplined me without reason, I just wanted to commit suicide to escape the pain of this life," the artist laughed with red eyes.

When To Uyen confided these things, artist Duc Luu - famous for his role as Thi No in the film Lang Vu Dai Ngay That - sitting next to her used a handkerchief to wipe away her tears many times.

"To Uyen has sacrificed a lot in both her career and love life in exchange for peace for her and her child. Uyen is gentle and does not like to compete. Raising a child alone is hard, but she still helps her friend take care of the child. The children of many artists and literature professors who are now nearly 40 years old were all taken care of by To Uyen when they were young," said artist Duc Luu.

Despite all the suffering and despair, To Uyen shared that she still did not stop loving Luu Quang Vu.

To Uyen said that after the divorce, she had a few fleeting love affairs but Quang Vu was still the man who made her ache every day. In To Uyen's bag full of belongings, there were many photos of the family of three smiling brightly together. The artist said that she always carried photos of her ex-husband and son as a way to feel that they were always by her side.

From left to right: Late poet Luu Quang Vu with his son Luu Minh Vu and his first wife - Meritorious Artist To Uyen

"The day I heard that Luu Quang Vu had died, I ran straight to the hospital morgue, opened the coffin lid, held his hand and cried without words. At that time, I only wished for a miracle to bring Vu back to life. I didn't care who he lived with anymore. Vu was still too young, his talent was still at its peak," artist To Uyen sadly said about the moment she saw her husband's face for the last time.

In the play Sita by Luu Quang Vu, there is a scene where a young man and a young woman fall in love but cannot be together. They make a promise to be together in the next life. Unfortunately, the girl dies young, and the boy is the one who buries his lover in pain. To Uyen said that the play is adapted to the lives of Luu Quang Vu and her. The only difference is that in real life, the girl is the one who stays behind to see the boy off. During the days of extreme suffering, To Uyen wrote: "After sending you off, I only have half left. Half of the lake surface separated, half of the birds singing."

Now nearly 70 years old, To Uyen chooses to live quietly, leaving the past glory behind. She finds joy in the role of a person in charge of rural education promotion projects, bringing computer knowledge to many children in remote areas.

According to VnExpress