BUREAU : FILM
THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
Directed by Hans Petter Molland
Starring Damien Nguyen
Playing on HBO
Reviewed by Joshua A. TRILIEGI
The Beautiful Country is a heartbreaking journey which
helps any American born stateside to understand fully
the difficulty in being born elsewhere, but having ones
heart set on America & the dream it holds for so many.
Half American, half Vietnamese, our lead character leaves
his native country to find his American born father by birth.
Hated by the locals, un-accepted by his mother' s family and
friends. he takes a leap into the abyss of the unknown world.
From small town to boat, from concentration camp to ship
and on into a story of struggle, pain, not belonging, outsider
status and the search for the father ultimately becomes the
search for self. With little brother in tow and a fist full of
foreign bills, he leads us into a luckless trip full of sweet &
sour sorrow. Befriending other American dreamers along
the way : a political dissident, an attractive young lady, a
sick old man, fellow refugees who have sold themselves to
get on over. None of these friendships seem make the trip
any easier. Prostitution, resistance, political oppression &
the search for that ever elusive American dream embroil
into a game of dangerous proportions with death at every
turn. Humans trapped on a chess board of heroic sacrifice
and humble beginnings. A beautiful and touching film with
excellent writing and directing, very well produced and career
making performances by newcomers as well as stalwart pros.
Tim Roth is the captain of the ship and the incomparable
Nick Nolte is the father, an ex G.I. living on a farm in Texas.
Survival, death and opportunity all mix into a volatile cocktail
of moral values versus the marketplace of human trafficking.
With allusions to death camps of both post and pre war eras,
and the promise that, " You' ll all get rich in America ." , our
characters are trapped in a carrot dangling process of hunger
for both food and a better life elsewhere. A life in America.
Another brave production by Ed Pressman, Terence Malick
and San Nazarian who put up the funds. A return to the kind of
films that Americans were known to produce in the heyday of
classic 1970's and again in the 1990's period of real film making.
All too often, cartoons, machines and digital effects have taken
center stage over story, acting and simply great film making.
The Beautiful Country is a return to the kind of film making
that made the entire world look to Hollywood with love, respect
& honor. A sorrowful film with heartbreaking proportions. A
sort of love letter to the after effects of war, peace, exodus and
the price paid to not only make it in America, but the price paid
to actually get here. Fellow inmates play a game of who can
mention the most American icons in a tandem roulette - like
fashion : Clint Eastwood, Mickey Mouse, NFL, etc ... The basic
subjects that we as Americans take for granted, others do not.
America is indeed ' The Beautiful Country ' , but a whole lotta
ugly can sure be dished out by those wishing to dangle carrots,
abuse their power & use immigrants as tools, objects and or
devices for their own personal gain.
With nothing more than a photograph, an address and a name,
our hero, heart in hand, finds a way to survive the journey, help
others along the way and somehow retain integrity & self respect
in a world full of deceit, dishonesty and destitute situations . He
loses family, gains friends and ultimately finds his father. In a
particularly heroic effort he challenges the ships bullying drug
dealer who leads the games which pit passenger against passenger.
Putting a stop to the games by ultimately out quoting him with a
list of American icons that include : The Miami Dolphins, George
Washington, Huntington Beach, Minnesota and the 10 Freeway,
A touching scene which employs humor, pathos and sadness with
a punch to the gut for anyone with a heart. Finally after several
deaths, detours and degradations, our hero does indeed make it
over. Only to find out that any Vietnamese with an American
father is allowed to fly into America free of charge. All in all
our hero retains that sweet human trait we know as ' Grace ' .
The final chapter between he and his father is touching & open.
I highly suggest this film currently on HBO Cable.
