The Rebel

1922, Vietnam under French colonial rule. Groups wanting independence are mounting attacks, and the colonial administration employs Vietnamese agents to suppress them. Le Van Cuong is the most capable of those agents. After an assassination attempt, the unit captures Thu, the daughter of the resistance leader. During the interrogation Cuong changes sides and takes her out. Now both are fugitives, with the colonial police and Cuong's former superior after them. Charlie Nguyen's film was among the first attempts in Vietnamese cinema to make martial arts on an international scale, and it was cited as the most watched production of the year in the country. Johnny Tri Nguyen both acts and does the fight choreography. The story does not simplify heroism: the man who changes sides is somebody who tortured his own people for years.