Two years following his mother’s suicide, a downtrodden writer receives a letter alluding to an inheritance in Vietnam. Questions abound, he embarks on a dangerous trek for answers, while in the past his mother battles insurmountable odds as a nurse in Nanking.

SYNOPSIS:

Mother’s Matchbox is an incredibly tragic and gripping period piece set around the rape of Nanjing in 1937 and the Vietnam conflict in 1967. A two-pronged narrative that centers on the events leading to Valerie Beldon’s suicide, and her son’s vapid search for answers in a hostile, unfamiliar land. It’s also a fictional retelling of the sacrifices of Minnie Vautrine, John Rabe and John Miller during the rape of Nanjing. A relatively forgotten period of history that has been lost to egregious attempts by other filmmakers. Mother’s Matchbox is also my first go at a female protagonist in a leading role.

Synopsis:

The film opens to Valerie’s tragic suicide. She runs a warm bath, glossing over family pictures and old letters before ingesting a cyanide capsule taken from her special matchbox.

Two years pass. It’s 1967. Valerie’s son Lucas is finding it hard to sell any of his manuscripts with the looming Vietnam conflict. After receiving a strange letter alluding to an inheritance in Vietnam, Lucas contacts his uncle Arty, a once respected colonel in the military, and convinces him to pull some strings. Lucas embarks for Vietnam under the guise of a journalist.

Flashback to 1937. Nanjing. A much younger Valerie accompanies her missionaries throughout the bustling city. We are introduced to the little Mio as she stumbles upon the familiar matchbox, which she pockets. German entrepreneur and Nazi party member, Otto, along with his Chinese translator Fu discuss business in a textile factory. A Japanese truck driver Toshiro watches the missionaries enter campus grounds. Artillery is heard in the background, foreshadowing an impending danger. Father Paxton welcomes Valerie and her staff before providing them a tour of the facilities.

Lucas arrives in Vietnam at Bien Hoa Air Base. He’s chauffeured into Saigon and left to his own devices. After stumbling into a G.I bar, Lucas convinces a Frenchman to possibly secure him passage to the hamlet of Tri An. Lucas is instead tricked into playing a game of Russian roulette.

Things in Nanjing have gotten much worse, as illustrated by Valerie’s increasingly dire journal passages. The outskirts outside the city have been devastated by Japanese soldiers. The Chinese are in full retreat. Valerie and Father Paxton treat many civilians suffering bayonet wounds. Mio is unfortunately one of these civilians. Valerie, along with Paxton’s help, convinces the remaining staff to enforce a safe zone.

Lucas wins his game of roulette and, with the substantial bet placed on him, he’s provided two bodyguards in the form of brothers: Son and Bao. They make their way north through dangerous territory and reach the hamlet of Tri An but it has been burnt to a crisp. With a little convincing the local natives provide them a canoe and point them in the direction of another hamlet, Lam Dong. Lucas and his bodyguards trek upriver and eventually settle down on shore for the night. The next morning, after being caught off guard by a French/Vietnamese patrol, Lucas is reinforced of the validity of his inheritance.

Valerie and the campus staff present the Japanese with their safe zone proposal. Otto starts to take more stock in the wellbeing of his workers, providing them extra pay and work documents. We come to realize just how compromised the safe zone is when 7 street girls offer themselves up to the Japanese, in defense of Father Paxton.

Lucas, Bao and Son arrive at the hamlet of Lam Dong after an arduous trek through the jungle. Lucas fears that his inheritance is lost for good until a child recognizes him. Bao translates. A villager in Tri An named Mia had memorabilia of Lucas. Lucas is close to getting answers. The villagers of Lam Dong point them in the direction of an abandoned Viet Cong van which they commandeer. Deeper into Vietnam they head. Bao is forced to swerve the van off the road and into a minefield. A mine explodes and the van comes to rest on its side.

All of Otto’s textile workers are either dead or in hiding. The factory is empty. Otto is forced to contact his partners in Germany. Valerie finally gets the frail Mio to speak about her gruesome ordeal, with Fu translating. How the Japanese soldiers raped her mother and slaughtered her father and her brother. After returning with supplies, Toshiro is accused by the Japanese of bribing officials for food. He is almost executed before Otto and Fu step in. Otto tries to bribe the soldiers. The soldiers decline but Fu manages to reason with them. Fu exchanges his life in turn for Toshiro’s and the supplies. Fu is executed by the Japanese in front of the entire campus. Mio comforts Valerie in her fragile mental state by giving her the matchbox she found.

Lucas, Bao and Son are alive, but Bao is injured. A V.C patrol fires on them as they make their escape into the jungle. Son fixes up his brother as Lucas accidentally stumbles on a mass grave. Further in the jungle they are caught off guard by a military patrol and captured. Bao is taken to a medical barracks as Lucas and Son are brought to a command barracks. Lucas is interrogated by the commanding officer and illuminated of the situation. That it was the military who accidentally bombed Tri An. That the V.C is preparing for an offensive. And that his inheritance is so close he can practically taste it. Lucas and Son charm their way into the medical barracks and say their goodbyes to Bao before sneaking off into the jungle.

Nanjing is a hellscape. Otto scrounges every last coin, including his wedding ring, to give to Toshiro for supplies. The medical staff is forced to dispose of the dead in mass fire pits. Valerie has reached the end of her rope. In a bid to instill a little humanity in her, Paxton discloses his darkroom and extensive film collection. In a very raw scene, Otto gives Valerie a cyanide capsule. Valerie intends for Mio to have it, just in case. One night the Japanese plan a coordinated attack. Mio is captured in the frenzy. Valerie frantically scouts down the soldiers and tries to rescue Mio but Valerie is beaten to a pulp. When she tries to give Mio the matchbox containing the cyanide capsule she is beaten even further. Finally, Valerie gives her life in place of Mio’s, but the soldiers decline. In a gut-wrenching scene Valerie begs, sobs and pleads but the Japanese will not take her. They drive away with Mio as Valerie collapses from her injuries.

Back in Vietnam Lucas and Son stumble into a hamlet being liberated by the Viet Cong. They are weeding out and executing dissidents. Son manages to get Lucas behind enemy lines and they are led into a Viet Cong encampment. Lucas is propped in front of an older and bolder Toshiro, of all people. We come to understand that Valerie lived a second life with Toshiro following the events of Nanjing. Together they had a child, Mia, who was accidentally killed in an American air raid. Mia is Lucas’ half-sister. Toshiro is not convinced of Lucas’ resolve, denying him his inheritance, until Lucas entreats him to a game of Russian roulette. During the game Lucas tries to talk sense into Toshiro, but he’s too far gone. Having witnessed too many atrocities and lost so much, Toshiro ends his life with a shot to the head.

In a tiny hut occupied with a couple of captured villagers and a small child from Tri An, Lucas finds his fortune in the form of Valerie’s diary and Mia’s will. At first surprised, Lucas comes to accept his responsibility, for the child who carried the diary and will is also Mia’s child. His step niece. Lucas and Son argue for the release of the captives and eventually return to Saigon. Through Valerie’s dairy Lucas comes to understand her life decisions and finally gets the answers he so desperately searched for. The film ends with Lucas and his step-niece leaving Vietnam accompanied by flashbacks of the bittersweet lifepaths of those who endured years ago, which all culminates on the significance of his mother’s matchbox.