Three Seasons (1999)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Tony Bui

Writers:

Timothy Linh Bui (story)
Tony Bui (story)

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An American in Ho Chi Minh City looks for a daughter he fathered during the war. He meets Woody, a child who's a street vendor...

Plot Keywords:

Poetry | Leprosy | Vietnam | Song | Rickshaw

Awards:

7 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Ngoc Hiep Nguyen	...	Kien An
Ngoc Minh	...	Truck Driver
Phat Trieu Hoang	...	Huy, Dao's Headman
Diem Kieu	...	Singing Lotus Woman
Hanh Kieu	...	Giang
Duong Don	...	Hai, Cyclo Driver
Huu Duoc Nguyen	...	Woody, Child Street Peddler
Hong Son Le	...	Binh, Cyclo Driver
Ba Quang Nguyen	...	Don, Cyclo Driver
Huu Su Tran	...	Ngon, Cyclo Driver
Duc Hung Luong	...	Minh, Cyclo Driver
Harvey Keitel	...	James Hager
Diep Bui	...	Lan the Hooker (as Zoe Bui)
Hoang Trieu	...	Man Who Chases Lan #1
Tran Long	...	Man Who Chases Lan #2

Also Known As:

Ba mua (Vietnam)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements.

Runtime:

113 min | USA:104 min | Germany:105 min (German version)

Country:

Vietnam | USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Vietnam

Company:

Giai Phong Film Studio

Trivia:

_Harvey Keitel_ was casted as Captain Benjamin L. Willard in Apocalypse Now (1979) but was replaced by Martin Sheen after the first week of filming. In "Three Seasons" he sits in a bar called Apocalypse Now (written in the same font as the film).

Soundtrack:

Black Night

Beautifully simple and culturally significant

There are not very many movies that can put the viewer into the trance that this one did. It left me wondering why more American films can't be made like this, with subtlety and an eye for simplistic beauty and peace in nature. The many scenes at night in the rain-soaked city only provide a stark contrast to the scenes with lotus flowers and singing, thus making them more effective and fresh. Above this, the characters were intriguing. None had a life even remotely like mine, and this is probably likewise for 99% of Americans, who live in a fast-track, needlessly complicated, and mostly material world. Materialism exists in Three Seasons, but is seen as the enemy (the plastic lotus flowers) or (in the case of the prostitute) something to overcome. I left the theatre feeling somewhat wistful that there are not more films like this being produced today.