Film Review: Journey From the Fall
©2006 by Annabelle A. Udo
Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
$2.59
$2.69
$2.79
San Francisco Premiere
USA/Thailand 2005 | 134 mins | Color 35mm | English, Vietnamese w/E.S.
"Journey From the Fall" screens at the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco on Thursday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m.
From "Apocalpyse Now" to "Full Metal Jacket", American moviemakers have made many memorable films about the Vietnam War, however, being American they have approached the subject from a unilateral perspective. This ethnocentric point of view has led to the phenomenon where Vietnamese people often serve as no more than the backdrop of the American drama that occurred in Vietnam. "Journey From the Fall," this year's festival closer directed by Ham Tran, gives its audience a completely different perspective being the first Vietnamese American film to deal directly with the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
The film beautifully opens up with the grandmother's narration of a well-known Vietnamese folktale about Le Loi, a warrior king. According to this legend, Le Loi used a sword sent from heaven to hold off Chinese invaders back in the mid-1400s. After his final victory, as Le Loi was boating in Hanoi, his sword leaped from its scabbard and into the mouth of a turtle. The turtle plunged underwater with the sword, never to be seen again, and the lake has since been known as Ho Hoan Kiem which means the "Lake of the Returned Sword".
“Journey From the Fall” tells the story of the Vietnam experience after the news crews left, after the mob scenes at the gate of the U.S. Embassy, and after the helicopters were being pushed off the aircraft carriers. It is a gripping film that follows the refugee experience of Long Nguyen, a high-ranking officer in the South Vietnamese army, who, against his wife’s wishes, chooses to stay and fight for his country. Nguyen ends up having to endure a brutal imprisonment in a series of re-education camps designated by the Communist government. His decision to stay in Saigon with the enemy at the gates could be likened to the captain who chooses not to abandon ship. The film captures a futile point in Vietnam’s history that no matter what one did, there was no guarantee of survival and always hell to pay.
As for the outstanding acting by Long Nguyen (who plays the character of the same name), as well as Kieu Chinh, Diem Lien, and Nguyen Thai Nguyen, the subject matter itself wasn’t just something they read out of a book, but rather a story they had experienced in their own lives. The Closing Night Gala in San Francisco takes places March 23 with director Ham Tran and the cast of Journey from the Fall at the screening and Awards Gala to be held at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.
Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
$2.59
$2.69
$2.79
San Francisco Premiere
USA/Thailand 2005 | 134 mins | Color 35mm | English, Vietnamese w/E.S.
"Journey From the Fall" screens at the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco on Thursday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m.
From "Apocalpyse Now" to "Full Metal Jacket", American moviemakers have made many memorable films about the Vietnam War, however, being American they have approached the subject from a unilateral perspective. This ethnocentric point of view has led to the phenomenon where Vietnamese people often serve as no more than the backdrop of the American drama that occurred in Vietnam. "Journey From the Fall," this year's festival closer directed by Ham Tran, gives its audience a completely different perspective being the first Vietnamese American film to deal directly with the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
The film beautifully opens up with the grandmother's narration of a well-known Vietnamese folktale about Le Loi, a warrior king. According to this legend, Le Loi used a sword sent from heaven to hold off Chinese invaders back in the mid-1400s. After his final victory, as Le Loi was boating in Hanoi, his sword leaped from its scabbard and into the mouth of a turtle. The turtle plunged underwater with the sword, never to be seen again, and the lake has since been known as Ho Hoan Kiem which means the "Lake of the Returned Sword".
“Journey From the Fall” tells the story of the Vietnam experience after the news crews left, after the mob scenes at the gate of the U.S. Embassy, and after the helicopters were being pushed off the aircraft carriers. It is a gripping film that follows the refugee experience of Long Nguyen, a high-ranking officer in the South Vietnamese army, who, against his wife’s wishes, chooses to stay and fight for his country. Nguyen ends up having to endure a brutal imprisonment in a series of re-education camps designated by the Communist government. His decision to stay in Saigon with the enemy at the gates could be likened to the captain who chooses not to abandon ship. The film captures a futile point in Vietnam’s history that no matter what one did, there was no guarantee of survival and always hell to pay.
As for the outstanding acting by Long Nguyen (who plays the character of the same name), as well as Kieu Chinh, Diem Lien, and Nguyen Thai Nguyen, the subject matter itself wasn’t just something they read out of a book, but rather a story they had experienced in their own lives. The Closing Night Gala in San Francisco takes places March 23 with director Ham Tran and the cast of Journey from the Fall at the screening and Awards Gala to be held at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.
posted by Filipina Veritas at 5:43 PM
<< Home