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| Directed by Tony Bui; Starring Don Duong, Ngoc Hiep Nguyen, Manh Chong Tran, Harvey Keitel, Zoe Bui, and Huu Duoc Nguyen |
Three Seasons ran off with an unprecedented three prizes at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (defeating running faves like The Blair Witch Project) and I can see why. It is a beautiful film that perfectly blends dreamt beauty and the harsh realities found in present day Vietnam. No this film does not even once try to point any fingers into the Vietnam War or even act like it ever happened with the exception of there being an ex-American soldier character in it.
Three Seasons more or less keeps up with four stories, interlocking at times. The main story is that of a cyclo driver named Hai (Duong) that falls in love with a prostitute he drives around named Lan (Bui). He does not really yearn for her body like most do, but for her dreams. In fact when given the chance, he attempts to give her the thing she wants: a night’s sleep in an air-conditioned hotel.
The next story is about a young lotus picker (N.H. Ngoyen) that is befriended by a poet teacher (Tran) that sees her as the beauty that can put his prose on paper since he lost his fingers. This story is probably the one that is most touching and beautiful, especially in scenes in which we are just treated to watching the women pick the lotus flowers in a stream in small boats while the elders sing songs of the past.
The third and fourth stories go hand in hand, intertwining a few times. A small boy named Woody (H.D. Ngoyen) that sells trinkets from a box sets out to find the American he believes stole the box from him (Keitel). Meanwhile the American is on a search for the daughter he left behind in Vietnam after learning that her mother had died. This story is easily the lesser of the four as most of it seems like it has been done many times before.
The film is the equivocation of why cinematographers are important to a film. The cinematography is remarkable and reminds me of British masters like Roger Deakins and John Seale. The film is masterfully directed and well written. It does get slow moving at times but quickly makes up for it by stunning the eyes with stunning images. What is really surprising is that this is the first film from director Hui, an American born in Vietnam. His work looks to be an impressive start towards a promising future.
