filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Winifred
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
evening1
Can a teenager find his identity if he's always scraping to locate his next meal? This unusual and extremely exotic coming-of-age film seems to tackle this question amidst the subsistence rice paddies of 1940s Vietnam. The Lu Le is excellent as Kim, a shirtless and angry 15-year-old. His father, Det, taught Kim to play the flute in happier days but now serves mainly to keep him (and his machete) in line. Kim's mother is cold and rejecting. We learn a lot about why at Det's pivotal death-boat scene. Kim's unfolding epiphany is powerful. This psychological struggle takes place in a highly threatening environment. On the human side you have French-backed soldiers demanding high taxes, and local herder-gangsters practicing cut-throat competition, rape, and abduction. Nature is equally brutal. The primitive, unlighted terrain has its attractions but is also hellish with torrential downpours, oceanic floods, and a tremendous amount of mud. I'm glad I caught this on the TV channel of the City University of New York. At least now I understand why they call those beasts "water" buffalo!
ccthemovieman-1
Frankly, I am surprised I hung with this movie because it's pretty slow. It's not a real "entertainer," except for two things: 1 - the camera-work is nice at times; 2 - the story is quite different from anything we are accustomed to in the West. But after two-thirds of this story had elapsed, it was tough going the rest of the way. It's not an uplifting story, either. It left me feeling depressed. Yet, it IS a memorable film and I'm glad I watched it.I mean, as one reviewer says here "Vietnamese dude leads a bunch of buffaloes in search of grass. That's it."Yes, in one sense he's right, but obviously there is more to it than that. We get glimpses of this guy's father and mother, friends, enemies, thieves, sex, loyalty and abandonment and generally what life must be like for those in this story of people who live in this odd environment. With all the water around them, they couldn't bury their loved ones until the dry season came. They wrapped them up and put them on poles, and hopes the crows didn't peck away at the bodies. Yes, you wouldn't want to live here, at the southern tip of Vietnam with these rainy, long flood season. Lugging a couple of Water Buffaloes through waist-deep muddy water for miles can't be a great existence, either.I agree with another critic here who labels this story as "lyrical." For the most part, I liked watching and listening to "Kim" (The Lu Le) give his outlook on various topics and the dialog between he and his father often was humorous. Hey, how many times have you/did you sit around and smoke "weed" and play the flute with your dad?This is a culture far removed from mine, which is one reason why I stayed with this film - to learn something while witnessing some very foreign sights and sounds to me. I would recommend this only to people who know what they are getting into (something slow, and very different) or who just plain love most Asian films.
rooprect
OK, let's have a plot summary: Vietnamese dude leads a bunch of buffaloes in search of grass.That's it.(The DVD packagers are going to have a hell of a time selling this one.)But I assure you that the symbolism, the poetry, and the commentary on the conflict of the human condition is absolutely enthralling. You have to be looking for it, though, because it's quite subtle.We are shown a land & a culture of savagery. We travel with rogues, rapists and murderers. Even the lead character is vulnerable to lapses in moral character. But through it all, he maintains the utmost dedication to his buffaloes and to those kind humans whom he encounters along the way. To me, it's one of the most honest portrayals of moral conflict in human beings. True, we are savage and brutal, but there is also honor, if you dig down deep enough.The Vietnamese reverence for water buffaloes is something I never understood, but now I do. Eat your heart out, Francis Ford Coppola (who had a water buffalo slaughtered in "Apocalypse Now" and blamed it on a local tribe. Yeah, right).If you can find a copy of this rare gem, definitely give it a watch. There's a lot more to it than you'd ever expect.
marta2046
A film of quiet power, beautifully shot and well-acted.The deceptively simple story takes place during the French Occupation of Vietnam, shortly before the beginning of World War II.Kim, the 15-year old son of impoverished Vietnamese rice farmers, must take the family's two starving buffaloes on a river journey to an area where there is still grass for them to eat.Despite the tiny budget, the execution of the film is lyrical but realistic. It's hard to believe that this is the director's first film.The images lingered in my mind long after the film ended. Hope to see more from this director.
