Lost in Paradise (2011)

Khoi, a naive twenty-year-old, travels to Ho Chi Minh City from the countryside to begin a new life. It's his first time in the big city and he's looking for a place to live. He befriends ... See full summary »

Director:

Ngoc Dang Vu

Writers:

Ngoc Dang Vu, Manh Hai Luong

Stars:

Manh Hai Luong, Vinh Khoa Ho, Linh Son Nguyen

Cast

Credited cast:
Manh Hai Luong	...	Lam
Vinh Khoa Ho	...	Khoi
Linh Son Nguyen	...	Dong (as Linh Son)
Phuong-Thanh	...	Hanh
Hieu Hien	...	Cuoi
La Quoc Hung	...	Long
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Nguyen	...	Dan em cua Danh

Storyline

Khoi, a naive twenty-year-old, travels to Ho Chi Minh City from the countryside to begin a new life. It's his first time in the big city and he's looking for a place to live. He befriends Dong, a handsome extrovert who offers to share his apartment. When Khoi goes to check the place out, he meets Lam, who also appears to be living there. Khoi decides to stay, but while he showers, Dong and Lam - who turn out to be boyfriends - run off with all his cash and belongings. It's not long before Lam is himself abandoned by Dong, and winds up back on the street as a prostitute. Meanwhile the penniless and disillusioned Khoi takes on menial jobs to survive. Lam and Khoi are eventually reunited, and despite Lam's past actions, the two become closer and closer - even though Khoi becomes more and more troubled by Lam's dangerous source of income. At the same time, Cuoi, a mentally handicapped man abandoned by his family, attempts to befriend a female prostitute. Her pimps do not take kindly to ...

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | mentally handicapped | duckling | gay asian | male nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

Vietnam

Language:

Vietnamese

Release Date:

14 October 2011 (Vietnam)

Also Known As:

Lost in Paradise

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,338

Company Credits

Production Co:

BHD Co., Vietnam Media Corp & Vietnam Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Duck Egg Hawker: [before placing a duck egg into boiling water] What are you listening to? The ducklings inside the eggs are crying.

User Reviews

A heartfelt masterpiece.

I've heard a lot of hype about this movie being the first homosexual movie and usually when people hype things it turn out bad. However, I loved this movie; it lived up to my expectations and beyond. The storyline was touching, I was engaged and I felt what the people on screen were feeling. It left me speechless and I'm so touched by it!

For me, this is not the first homosexual movie in Vietnam, the first one I have seen was "Trai Nhay" which was more of a comedy and a pretty darn good one too. However, it does take a lot of gut to come out with a heartfelt homosexual movie in such a narrow minded society.

A lot of actors in this movie really surprised me. For example, I have seen Luong Manh Hai (Lam) acted before and I have to admit that this time he was superb. By far his best role, I honestly was convinced that he was gay. His partners Ho Vinh Khoa (Khoi) is another story, honestly, if I was gay this is the type of guy I would go look for. I felt that he was not portraying a character but he really is the character. He have all of these unique characteristics that people look for in the ideal world.

Although, I loved the heartfelt relationship and physical attraction between two very hot men, some of the conversations came out a little blunt. In addition, unless the director can connects the prostitute and smiley boy story with Lam and Khoi, then it was unnecessary to book Phuong Thanh and Hieu Hien.

Phuong Thanh as usual is not a very good actress; if her role was given to someone else I honestly would have cried. Hieu Hien however, blew me away, I have seen him in numerous other projects and he is not very good; in this one I really felt his pain.

Overall, this is a must watch movie. I'm proud that Vu Ngoc Dang can produce such a heartfelt and beautiful masterpiece. If this movie comes out in a movie theater near where I live I will definitely be promoting it.