I gather that the woman Hai's new lady friend refers to is the same one whose diary Doyen was searching for references to her grandfather. Could someone comment on the significance of this bit of family history to the plot? Was the girl's allusion, very late in the film, somehow meant to answer questions Doyen had raised? I have a feeling I'm missing something.
shareTo thebucketrider: I hope this find you well since it seems no one has given any answer. (Other readers: My answer may contains spoilers please do not read if you have not watched the movie!)
The stories of Duyen's grandparents added to the film another story of marriage dissatisfaction in Vietnam and it's about the acceptance of Vietnamese women when there were times (and maybe even now) Vietnamese men used to have many wives and it was ok to have concubine(s). Duyen's grandmother knew that her husband had another "wife" but accepted that fact, ignored that, quietly live her life and still takes care of her husband (who is now sick) maybe until the day he dies. The woman whose the diary belonged to, the grandfather's secrete wife, also lived a lonesome life. Although the man probably bought the house for her and visited her occasionally, she died alone without no one noticed until a week later in winter time (through what the young girl who likes to bath told Hai about the ghost lived in his house).
I think the movie is brilliant way to portrait Vietnamese women in a Confucian society, where individuals are being trapped in social relations and traditions. While some accept that fact, some are yearning to break through those obstacles.