Tony Nguyen’s ENFORCING THE SILENCE highlights the life of Lam Duong, a Vietnamese community activist shot in broad daylight on July 21, 1981 by an anti-communist group believing in Duong’s political beliefs as a threat to be eradicated. The film masterfully follows Duong’s life from the start of his residence in the United States, piecing together interviews from past colleagues and classmates and his activism especially in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco leading up to his death.

 

ENFORCING THE SILENCE captures the sentiment for the loss of a man who actively turned the struggling Vietnamese community around him into a positive network of fighting individuals, spreading the knowledge of the power of community activism to those that knew him. The documentary acknowledges Duong’s viewpoints and its siding with ideas in support of a Vietnam under communist leader Ho Chi Minh, which may be off-putting to most people familiar with home countries tainted by its citizens thrown into refugee status as a result of shaky political rule. But Nguyen’s representation of Duong’s beliefs through an intelligent sequencing of his life events and correlating community activity influentially sheds light on this man who only wanted to see peace in his country.

     

From images of Duong’s launching of the first Vietnamese Youth Development Center (VYDC) to raw footages of community passer-bys in the heart of San Francisco, a message of community struggle and Duong’s will to fix it indubitably jumps from the screen to the audience. Nguyen’s narration throughout the documentary adds a storytelling element that brings to the film the organized but engaging sequencing that is ideal for the spelling out of such a story. What may be one of the film’s most intriguing assets are the interviews that Nguyen captured and placed into the film in such a way that complemented his narrations. These interviews recognize Duong as a man who solely meant well, immensely benefiting his community in bringing Vietnamese youth together. Duong’s positive effect on those involved in the VYDC is undeniable. And although the same cannot be said of his following in political views, his memory is still unquestionably cherished by community leaders. ENFORCING THE SILENCE is powerful in commemorating the life of a man whose impact is infinitely respected.