Three Seasons (1999)

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:

Good Ol' Rock-N-Roll

An unusual marriage of the visual supporting the emotional elements in this very moving exploration of love and a country grappling with the integration of old and new cultures.

The maturity of this young film maker was startling to me. The obviously gorgeous and varied visual feast for one's eyes combined with small subtlteties such as the nipple of the whore's breast showing through the pink nightgown that the cyclo driver gave her.. just a second.. but a revealing moment since all the clothes she dressed in as a whore never revealed her as much. Another example was in the story of the lotus flower girl and the leper.. the more she wrote his poetry the more his face appeared out of the shadows and became lit. The marriage of the visual and lighting movement reflecting the feelings of the characters is rare to see and something to be studied again in this film. And a moving performance by Keitel clearly searching for his humanity. And a perfect bit of casting with the woman who played his grown daughter. The director's sense of timing- not rushed, letting each story unfold, carrying one on the precarious wave of the confused mix of the country's old and the new, the thought provoking issues of the various different kinds of love portrayed..parental love,romantic love, poetic love, the love of beaty where it realy lies....all rare in film making today. Profoundly disturbing scenes of the street children. Nothing like this from a young American film makers that I've seen. And as a worldwide distributor of film, TV and video who tries to support new filmmakers I've seen a fair amount. I would like to know where the poetry came from and how to find it for myself to read and savor it even more.Bravo Tony Bui. Bravo Timothy Bui.