Three Seasons Review
by Pedro Sena (shamen AT pacifier DOT com)February 28th, 1999
FILM TITLE: THREE SEASONS
DIRECTOR: TONY BUI
COUNTRY: USA/VIETNAM 1998
CINEMATOGRAPHY: LIZA RINZLER
MUSIC: RICHARD HOROWITZ
CAST: Don Duong, Ngoc Hiep Nguyen, Manh Cuong Tran, Harvey Keitel, Zoe Bui, Huu Duoc Nguyen, Diem Kieu
SUPER FEATURES: Fabulous film. Hard to resist and very well done.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Seen at the 22nd Portland International Film Festival, in Portland, Oregon)
Some films have glitz. Some have actors. And we rarely tire of seeing these things. And then there are some films that just "are" and are not trying to be anything symbolic or meaningful, except to "exist". This is one of those films.
THREE SEASONS has a series of threads, or stories, that do resolve themselves rather well. However, if this film is a sign, this is about the way that Vietnam has grown since the end of the war, and how it has become a more modern country, while also showing us what it has not left behind. I am not convinced that the film is really trying to bring across anything of a statement, since the film maker is obviously well defined in terms of what his vision is, and these kinds of films, one goes to see for its vision, not its gut wrenching story. This is here also, but in many ways, it is a sort of poetic justice, that the Vietnamese culture may be starting to create for itself.
Of the four stories, one can hardly separate what this is leading to. They do cross each other's paths here and there in rather subtle ways, but never to interfere with each other's path. So one could easily define this as a "day in the life", and a photographic style that is so caring and understanding that it helps us really fall for the beauty of the film. It has heart and then some. One could hardly expect any more from a film.
One story centers around a young girl who has joined a group of women to pick up lotus flowers and then go sell them in the streets. Unlike the older women, she decides to sing a different song one day, and she attracts the religious leader, who is very ill and has stayed away from the public for some time. Even though there is no hint of it, I suppose that we could think of him as a war casualty. The young man has lost his fingers and can not write poetry which he used to in his younger days. His face, and no doubt his body, are terribly disfigured. And the young girl is allowed to visit him. She has a liking for poetry and words and takes on the job of writing down the stuff that he recites. As he dies in the end, she takes it upon himself to put into action one of his visions, or dreams. A really beautiful little story that gives us at least one thing that we take for granted in life, that we rarely work with. Make a poem out of life, and live it through. The second story is the one that seems slightly out of place, but must have been added to the whole, and it does not take anything away from the film. An American comes back to Vietnam to see if he can meet up with the woman he had lived with (or married - not clear), and had fathered a child. His campaign is hitting dead ends until the day before he is to leave when he meets a young girl that looks like is the one he is looking for. Apparently it is, and he ends up in a restaurant talking to her. He had sat in front of the restaurant the whole time in the film, probably as some sort of memory that this was not a restaurant way back then, and was the location that got him what he has come to realize was a gift. The third involves a small child who walks the streets selling small items for his boss. One day he meets the American and his box of goodies is stolen. He gets punished by his master, and continues his journey looking for the box. Eventually he finds it, and along side comes another young girl, who will be his companion. This is the story that hits us the strongest, and in of itself may be the one that has the largest point to make about anything.
And the fourth story is the one that we can not get away from. A young prostitute is making a living and has high hopes and dreams that one day she will not have to walk the streets again. A cyclo driver decides to help her as much as he can and drive her whenever she needs. But her dates do not seem to be picking her up, as much as they dump her. Her hopes are dashed and this is something that she does not wish to face. The cyclo driver gets a chance to make some money and fortune is on his side. He buys her for the night, and gives her a dress, that is rather old fashioned compared to the clothes that she wears. And instead of him wanting to make love to her, he wants to watch her sleep. He leaves her breakfast in the morning. Unfortunately, he has made displayed the very thing she has hoped for, but can not get from the men she picks up, and this brings out a crisis for her. In the end, it appears that she has given in to this man, who genuinely cares for her, above all else, something that she has not been able to appreciate yet.
Of all the films in the 22nd Portland International Film Festival I have seen, this one stands out as the premiere one. It's one of those films that is difficult to let go and not appreciate. The direction all through out is so clean and well done, using different styles for each story, to create a wonderful tapestry that is rare in many films. This is a film that is not trying to impose anything on our minds, not trying to say anything, and yet, the one thing it teaches us is that poetic justice does exist, and perhaps this is the one thing that Vietnam has grown to become that we have not yet seen, or learned about.
With some magnificent music along the way, this is a truly stupendous film that deserves a wider audience, were Vietnam not a sore point for too many Americans. Here is a country that has grown out of the war, and is making something of itself, if the film has its only point that it is making.
Outstanding acting, and work through out, it is without a doubt one of the nicest films this reviewer has seen in a long time. Few films feel this good, and show you the "good" come out ahead. If anything, this is as positive and hopeful as anyone can look at anything, be it a country, or the very people that make up that country. And it takes a very special film maker to do something like this, one that has the courage to dare see the good side of things, and find the good people.
A must see film.
5 of 5 GIBLOONS
Reviewed by Pedro Sena, Copyright (c) Pedro Sena 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
