The film is a true reflection of the Soviet Union in the 1970s, which is often considered Russian people's most prosperous period of the 20th century, or even since the early 19th century. When you have little to worry about in terms of material things, the only thing you have to do is... contemplate and imagine. But I think that this is the reason for the collapse of the Soviet regime. Because when people lose the habit of working, illusions begin to invade their souls. They gradually become lazy and life begins to seem meaningless. I know that around 1989, a Soviet leader went to Singapore to ask for a loan of 50 million USD to save the economy, but Mr. Lee Kuan Yew refused. So, as we know, the Soviet regime collapsed in the next two years.

In fact, the wealth of the Soviet Union and the prosperity of the communist bloc created illusions for Vietnamese society from the 1970s until about 1988. When this film was made, Vietnam had just been reunified. The South Vietnamese economy, although stagnant since late 1974, still contributed to the hope of most Vietnamese, especially those in the North. My maternal grandfather, my mother and an [elder] aunt-in-law took the (~2000km) train from the poor North to the Mekong Delta to buy rice as early as 1976. This was of course extraordinary given the circumstances of Korea or Vietnam itself before 1975. Images of trains or buses packed with people were very familiar at that time. Israel-style agriculture combined with a capitalist economy has kept South Vietnam among the Asian economic tigers. Although the North Vietnamese government tried to propagate its evils, in reality, it was the North cadres who were seduced by it. It is a fact that the disease of delusion "killed" the entire generation that came of age in the 1970s and 1980s. They were arrogant, shameless, cowardly, lazy, depraved... which were the vices described in contemporary literature. The media at that time continuously "sang" the refrain of proletarian friendship, the victory of communism over capitalist forces or the day of advancing to a communist society not far away : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. However, after Perestroyka, no one cared about those things anymore. Take the Soviet-Vietnam relationship for example : In 1975, the Vietnamese government used a special plane to secretly transport 17 tons of gold from the South Vietnamese treasury to the Soviet Union to pay off its debt. This event was only revealed by Frank Snepp in the 2010s, although before that, public opinion believed that President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu had stolen. Of course, because of arrogance, at that time the Soviet government converted those 17 tons of gold into flour and books to aid Vietnam. But in 1988, when the economy began to collapse, the Soviet Union asked Vietnam to pay its debt, and Vietnam immediately demanded that the Soviet Union pay back the land rent for the embassy in Hanoi (previously, out of friendship or... arrogance, this amount was consistently zero).

That dispute actually froze Soviet-Vietnamese relations. After the Russian government was established, Vietnam agreed to pay its debt in oil and gas, that is, the Vietsovpetro joint venture was responsible for exploiting oil and gas in the East Sea of ​​Vietnam to supply to Russia, with only a small part being kept. Russia was responsible for training Vietnamese technicians and sending people to maintain equipment, even providing helicopters. My generation benefited from the fruits of this cooperation, as Russian films shown on the central television throughout the 1990s were free and plentiful, and at the same time, gasoline prices in Vietnam at that time were extremely affordable. I still think that a few delusional people won't be a problem, but if the majority are like that, it's definitely a disaster.