Rapid rising water in the river can potentially break the dike and cause disastrous flood endangering the villagers. Miss Dung, Chairman of the Commune, must find a way to persuade people to destroy the minor dike and sacrifice some parts of their houses and land in order to protect the main dike.
On a festive spring day in 1940, two young quan họ singers fall in love. But their relationship is soon ruthlessly disrupted by class injustices, imposed upon both—and many other Vietnamese—by the ongoing French colonial rule and the looming Japanese occupation.
