The Beautiful Country (2004)

After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.

Director:

Hans Petter Moland

Writers:

Sabina Murray (story), Lingard Jervey (story),

Stars:

Damien Nguyen, Bai Ling, Thi Hoa Mai

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Damien Nguyen	...	Binh
Bai Ling	...	Ling
Thi Hoa Mai	...	Wa
Nick Nolte	...	Steve
Tim Roth	...	Captain Oh
Chapman To	...	Chingmy
Temuera Morrison	...	Snakehead
Xuan Phuc Dins	...	Pham
Thu An Nguyen	...	Old Woman
Ka Duy Pham	...	Cousin 15 years old
Minh Trang Ngo	...	Cousin 14 years old
Dang Quoc Thinh Tran	...	Tam
Thi Kim Xuan Chau	...	Mai
Tang Vu	...	Head Servant
Thu Anh	...	Mrs. Hoa

Storyline

One of the consequences of America's involvement in the Vietnam war, was the children of GI's by their Vietnamese wives and lovers. For years those women who were involved with Americans were social outcasts, treated as collaborators while their children, even when living with grandparents, endured taunts and abuse. This is the story of one such love child, Binh, being forced from his village at 17, going to Saigon to find his mother, then trying to escape to America with his much younger half brother, Tam, in 1990. The film lingers on the rigors of the voyage: the sampan, the Malaysian detention camps, the illegal refugee ship, and the underground economy with near slavery in New York City. It finally opens up when Binh leaves New York for Houston to find his father.

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Plot Keywords:

texas | ship | china | vietnam war | new york city | 

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Taglines:

An epic story of hope.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language and a crude sexual reference

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Norway USA

Language:

Vietnamese English Mandarin Cantonese Malay

Release Date:

13 March 2004 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Gi tis epangelias

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$25,900 (USA) (8 July 2005)

Gross:

$442,612 (USA) (7 October 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dinamo Story, Sunflower Productions, Nordic Film och TV Fund

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Cinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Although the movie is set in 1990, most cars in the background are newer.

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Quotes

Steve: We had a boy. He was just a baby. He had the eyes of an old man, even at 2 months. Maybe they all do, we didn't know.
Binh: Why you no go back?
Steve: Go back? See the old sights? No, I left her to take care of the child alone. I didn't think she needed a blind man to look after.

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Connections

Referenced in Simple Lies (2005)

User Reviews

I understand the difficulty of the journey to America

My son, Tam, and I were reunited on July 24, 2003, after a separation of 36 years. His mother, Huong, tried to flee Vietnam in May, 1975, but due to circumstances beyond her control, she missed the boat which was to take her and Tam to freedom. The communists caught the boat on the Saigon River, and sank it, killing all aboard. Huong finally decided to stick it out and worked hard to raise the money to come to the US. After arriving with Tam in 1994, she died of a stroke later that year. By a stroke of fortune, Tam, in 2003 found someone (an American) who could access my name in the Navy records. Within a few days of locating my name, the navy received a request to forward a letter from Tam. Needless to say, as I never knew if Tam or his mother had survived the war, I was stunned when I opened the large manila envelope from the Navy Department. The rest is history, and we are together. Tam lives and works near Los Angeles, and I recently retired and moved to a close-by state.

The movie, "The Beautiful Country", which I first viewed last night (3/12/07) really struck home. I feel like "I'm one in a million".