| THREE SEASONS Director: Tony Bui "Growing up I only saw the Vietnamese depicted in war films, as faceless people running through jungles with guns. That's not what I saw when I went there. I wanted to bring their humanity out in a way that hasn't been shown - the universality of the human spirit" Tony Bui This multiple Sundance winning film has a pleasing, melancholic mood and humanistic grace in its dealings with old and new culture clashes in Vietnam. Set in Saigon (Or Ho Chi Minh City), the film deals with a series of (at times) interrelated characters and their stories in relation to three primary seasons. Each of the characters, a cyclo driver, a local prostitute, a young woman who picks and sells white lotuses, a reclusive leper, a young urchin boy and an American ex-Marine all move slowly about the city trying to rectify or ameliorate their past and present situations. In this way the film’s elemental theme is that of healing but it’s not weepy as the “self help” underpinnings might lead one to believe. Instead it has an absorbing cerebral temperament with a neo-realist tone that floats along from scene to scene. The film weaves each section together. It begins in the 'Dry season' in which the cyclo driver (Don Duong) befriends and woos -- in his own benevolent inimitable way--the local prostitute (Zoe Bui), who he is quietly determined on getting straight. In the 'Wet season' the little urchin boy (Nguyun Huu Duoc) shuffles around hotel lobbies selling items from a suitcase tied around his neck until he sets it down in a bar and has it stolen. This film is rounded out with the 'Growth season' in which the lotus picker (Nguyen Ngoc Hiep) cultivates a trusting relationship with the older master who employs her by writing down poetry he dictates to her - their relationship is less contingent on intimacy and more on an intellectual bonding of souls. The one recognizable actor is Harvey Keitel who does a credible job as the ex-Marine who has come to find his daughter. His important role here though, at least to director Tony Bui, was as executive producer. Keitel seems to always come through and show indefatigable support for up and coming filmmakers. First time director Bui shows a talented hand at setting an absorbing pace and eliciting good performances from the mostly Vietnamese cast. And the shimmering cinematography by Lisa Rinzler (who shot Menace II Society) gives the city of Saigon and areas around a romantic look. If the film has a drawback it’s this romantic portrayal of Saigon. By presenting the gloomy situations of poverty and prostitution in a romantic light it may be a drawback for some who prefer a realistic portrayal of the area. A couple of scenes too could be wrongly construed; for instance, one scene that’s made to look like an erotic massage is in fact a Vietnamese healing technique shot in soft light. However, since Three Seasons is the first film at Sundance to win the Grand Jury, the Audience and the Cinematography Award it shows that it is capable of pleasing the hearts, the minds and eyes of most audiences. And maybe more importantly it’s an American financed film about Vietnam that thankfully has a focus outside the context of war. - Matt Langdon |