The Beautiful Country
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Movie Reviews of The Beautiful Country
Movie Review: What Cinema is Made For
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a powerfully moving film that realistically portrays its subject. I will be using showing this to my students. Bravo to the director, and also to Nguyen and Nolte who gave phenomenal performances. This is the kind of film the medium was made for.Movie Review: A Must See
Summary: 5 Stars
Powerful movie,an incredible story. I wish all Amerasians could reunite with their fathers. The movie is unforgettable.Movie Review: Thoughtful and reflective film
Summary: 5 Stars
A beautiful moving story, that encompasses sadness,love,understanding and hope. Lovely soundtrack to accompany it.Movie Review: The Beautiful Country
Summary: 5 Stars
Sensitive, intriguing, hooks you into the story of this kind man looking for his place in the world.Movie Review: The Ugly Journey to America.
Summary: 4 Stars
The Beautiful Country is a little seen and limited released film that has good intension like Heaven and Earth(Joan Chen, Tommy Lee Jones). It's a vivid portrayal of Vietnamese and Chinese refugees surviving the journey to America in the early '90s. Even tough Tim Roth and Nick Nolte had made a mere cameo performance, they had receive ludicrous top billing, while this film belongs to new comer Damien Nguyen who carried the film and the mesmerizing Bai Ling who shared some heartbreaking scenes with him was equally powerful.
Binh(Damien Nguyen) plays the offspring of an American soldier(Nick Nolte) and a beautiful Vietnamese woman. He's been abandoned by both parents and left to be raised by his grandparents who treat him like a stranger, because he's mixed race. Bihn eventually head to the Saigon city to find his estranged mother who works as a maid for a healthy family. Their reunion was a heartfelt experience, but a tragic accident forced him to take his half kid brother to flee the country.
While being kept in the Malaysian refugee camp, Binh befriends Ling(Bai Ling), a refugee from China, who dreams of becoming a singer when she goes to America. During this period, they had to endure a lot of hardship and torment, but they eventually escaped and got onto a boat that would take them to America. Tim Roth plays the captain who's seen it all and has no tolerance for anyone who disobey him. During the days floating on the ocean towards America, they had to face life threatening storms and battles amongst the refugees, and the most tragic thing happened when Binh's kid brother died of fever. Also, Ling and Binh gradually becomes sexually involved with each other. Will they be happy together and fulfill their dream lives in America? And will Binh find his biological father in Texas?
This film spent most of the screentime on the days prior to arriving America. At times it seemed a bit slow-paced and it's not really a film about being in America anymore. I must say that Bai Ling is increasingly become a great actress, and she's the most versatile Chinese actress in America since Joan Chen. She's played a villian, hooker, politician, vampire, and her stunning turn as an ageless feutus-eating abortionist in Three Extremes: Dumplings. I think she's just perfect to play Ling in this film, because the role is a fearless broken soul, and she can speak English with an authentic Chinese accent. I prefer seeing her in starring roles in B-movies rather than the small roles in A-movies.