Customer Reviews

Heaven & Earth

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Heaven and Earth" is a difficult movie to tackle. The almost-true story of Le Ly Hayslip, it is a beautiful, compelling story of a peasant girl caught up in the madness of the American/Viet Nam war, not knowing which side to take and ultimately attempting just to stay alive and find some happiness.

Almost-true, because her amazing story needed to be condensed into a two and a half hour feature film. Three men became one, years became weeks and vast sections of her life were neatly trimmed away. This is understandable in any biographical film, but the result her is not so fluid as in other movies of this type. Also, an odd decision was made to film the movie entirely in English, except when interacting with American soldiers when they slip into a sort of broken English. Having the film be in Vietnamese, with subtitles, would have made for a more authentic experience.

Tommy Lee Jones' character, the three men condensed into one, jumps too quickly from Hero to Monster to Victim, and one seeks for the core of his character in the movie. Who is he? It is difficult to tell. Hiep Thi Le as Le Ly is also confusing, at one minute the innocent, wide-eyed girl looking to be loved and the next a sophisticated businesswoman who is willing to sacrifice everything for success and money. As seen in "Evita," this kind of transformation isn't impossible to tell but here it doesn't seem honest. One looks for the sophisticate in the peasant or the peasant in the sophisticate, and doesn't find them.

In spite of these criticisms, there is enough right about "Heaven and Earth" to make the film enjoying and captivating. Telling the American/Viet Nam war from the point of view of the Vietnamese people is a jarring juxtaposition, and something I have never seen done before. Such a daring feat would be almost impossible in today's political climate of the US. Le Ly's story takes her through all walks of life and many aspects of the war, giving you something to think about at each stage.

The cinematography is beautiful, and the colors and textures of Viet Nam make it seem like a paradise. The paradise is shattered by wars, with the green rice being overrun by the green tank and soldiers. In such a situation, it is difficult to tell who is right and who is wrong, with each side putting guns to your head ordering you to believe their ideology.

I am glad to see this version of the DVD being released, with Hiep Thi Le on the cover instead of Tommy Lee Jones. Good as he is, he is in only about 30 minutes of the film, and certainly doesn't deserve the cover.

In my opinion the movie tried to include too much information into a two hour slot, and at times left out many of the more critical and interesting aspects that were detailed in the book. Stone should have continued the story of Le Ly's experiences in America in a separate film and concentrated more fully and accurately on the effects of the war within Vietnam, including descriptions from each side of the enemy lines.
I also found the scenes where Le Ly returned to Vietnam after liberation a bit cheesey and sentimental and the film omitted the fact that this journey, in reality, was much more dangerous and unnerving. In fact Le Ly did not even return to her village, Ky La, on this trip, nor did she return with her children! There was so much more that Stone could have made of this storyline, the section of the book which I found the most remarkable and fascinating.
In addition, the film also left out details of the relationships within the family, for example, between Le Ly and her father and her brother, which incidently were forgotten about during the movie. It didn't explain what happened to her family throughout the course of the war. Other aspects of Le Ly's earlier experiences with the Viet Cong were also omitted and I feel that much more could have been made of these storylines.
However, apart from these critcisms, I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie and Stone, having fought in the war himself, portrayed the country from a moving and realsitic angle. In fact the film portrayed Vietnam (although it was not filmed in Vietnam) as a beautiful and attractive place where I would love to visit.
My final point is that those who enjoyed the movie should read the book, as it is much more intense and is unreservedly compelling.

This movie is good, but it's not 1/10th as good as the book.

Oliver Stone is an excellent director, and features of the movie such as light and camera angles and the movement of the camera are excellent. The acting is good too. Tommy Lee Jones has an impossible role, but in each scene he is convincing. Hiep Thi Le's role is also impossible, and she is not bad. Those who have read the book will be happy to see Le Ly Hayslip herself playing the jewelry dealer in the middle of the movie. The soundtrack by Kitaro is fair, although my personal tastes disagree.

The problem is that Le Ly Hayslip's story, upon which this movie is based, is too complex for a two hour movie. Tommy Lee Jones' character is an amalgamation of three men, and the result is nothing if not schizophrenic. So many scenes are too subtle for most people to understand, although the book makes everything clear. Compacting her remarkable life (the movie is based on two books!) into a feature-length movie is just impossible, and on an emotional level the film nearly fails.

Let me push the books once more. Even if you are not a reader, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, by Le Ly Hayslip and Jay Wurts, will pull you along. It is one of the very best books I have ever read. The sequel, Child of War, Woman of Peace, is also pretty good. I strongly encourage you to read especially the first book. Like I said, the movie is fine, but the book is simply incredible. It is the only book that has ever made me cry.

Oliver Stone adapted this 1993 film from book written by Le Ly Hayslip, who is now a successful businesswoman in California. She had an idyllic life in her Vietnamese village once. But first there were the French, and then there were the Americans and the Viet Cong. She was mistreated by both sides, winding up in Saigon with a baby. Eventually, she married an American serviceman and moved to America. But her troubles didn't end there.

Hiep Thi Le, cast as the woman, does an outstanding job. And Tommy Lee Jones is wonderful in his role as the American serviceman. The cinematography was excellent and all the actors seemed real and authentic. I was fascinated by the story, which was indeed horrific. There were some deeply moving moments too, especially as they applied to family relationships. Most of all, though, it all rang true.

Even though it was a little overlong, I totally enjoyed it. I found myself really identifying with the Vietnamese people and admiring the strength of Le Ly as she struggled to survive. The film spans more than 30 years, and brings the viewer back to Vietnam where it all began.

This is not an easy film to watch, but it certainly is worthwhile. Recommended.

They say that history of war is written by the winners, but in Vietnam the winners were too demolarised, hungry and poor to be writing history. Of all the anti-war films I've seen about Vietnam, all where about young Americans losing their inoccense, Oliver Stone's moving and humane film is the first (that I've seen) to consider the other side. The Vietnamese.

The story revolves around Le Ly Hayslip (Hiep Thi Le), she is her father's favourite child and the centre of attention in her family. During the film's stunning first hour, her village will be visited by members of the Viet-Cong and representatives of the Southern government, both spreading propaganda and both capable of unspeakable brutality. As Vietnamese the people of the village are more sympathetic to Veit-Cong, and indeed Le Ly's two brothers go to fight for the north. But Stone wisely avoids making heroes of the Veit-Cong, in one particularly harrowing scene they rape Le Ly because of her detention by the southern forces. Heaven and Earth is more concerned about the tragic effect of the war on Veitnam.

As the war goes on Le Ly is forced to be a street vendor in Saigon, where she meets a gentle American man Steve (Tommy Lee Jones). His attraction to Le Ly however is not so much love, as it is a desire to be forgiven by all "Orientals" as he calls them. But Le Ly desperate and poor is blinded by his kindness and togather they go to America to start a new life as a married couple. It is here that film looses its footing, Steve's behaviour is explained by the script, but his transformation from a gentle man to a confused and angry one is so rushed, it is inexcplicable. The film does recover in the powerful closing scenes set in Vietnam.

The most touching relationship in the film is between Le Ly and her father. Heartbroken by what the war has done to his family he tells her "Don't ask what is right or wrong, these are dangerous questions, there's is only the goodness in your heart." He has been through too much suffering to consider war as an idealogical matter, he only wishes for the safety of his favourite child so that she can live on the land of her "ancestors".

Heaven and Earth is not as poetic as Terrance Malick's The Thin Red Line, the narration is not as lyrical, and its structure is not perfect. But there are individual passages in this film that will linger with you for a long time. It is a worthy final installment in Oliver Stone's Veitnam trilogy.

A wonderful movie about how the war affected the Vietnamese people and their ideals. The movie starts with a sweeping panorama of the idyllic and simple countryside where we see hard working people, tilling the land and surviving as they had for thousands of years. Suddenly, their lives are transformed into a nightmare by the occupation of US and French troops, and later by the vicious and murderous Viet Cong. The brutality is a little too graphic for my tastes, especially the torture scenes involving Lee Ly Hayslip (played by Hiep Thi Le), and her VC captors. She experiences rape and humiliation, and barely escapes death as her village is burned to the ground.
She escapes to Saigon, becomes pregnant by her employer, and is sent into the streets by his wife. She turns to prostitution, and finally marries GI Steve Butler (Tommy Lee Jones), who transports her to America, where she experiences a new kind of prejudice. She gets a job, and her husband slowly turns insane, carrying wartime nightmares into real life. Unable to stay with him, she leaves him, and he commits suicide. She returns to her native village, introduces her son to his real father. Then, she reunites with her family who tell her the horrors they endured during her absence. She is now a rich entrepeneur and her parents accept her change. She sees how heaven and earth moved for her as she experiences two worlds that merge simultaneously.
Great acting, wonderful scenery and camera angles. An inspring and thought provoking movie based on the book.

Heaven and Earth is the most emotionally stirring movie I have ever seen. This is the best movie that you will never want to watch again. It is hard not to be moved by the hardships that Le Ly went through. The contrast between the war and the land and the lovely Hiep Thi Le creates an image of hell in paradise.The cinematography is amazing, especially the parts of Le Ly in Vietnam. The sound track by Kitaro is also worth checking into.Listening to the soundtrack is a good way to relive the beauty of the movie without having to go through the pain.This is Oliver Stone's best film and Acadamy Award material.When I first viewed this movie I had no knowledge of Buddhism. Now that I have studied the subject,it adds an important dimension to the film and helps to understand Le Ly. After watching the film, I was inspired to pick up the books about the life of Le LY Hayslip.

This is what film making is all about: powerful, moving, heartbreaking, and beautiful. This is the only movie where I wept within the first five minutes, so moved was I by the beauty of the land and the majesty of the score. By the end the movie I was trashed. As a Vietnam veteran, I was captivated by the cinematography and the sense of Vietnam that Stone captured so well.

I highly recommend the DVD, not just for the superiority over video, but also for Stone's commentary. I thought his comments on the DVD, Born on the Fourth of July, were excellent, but in Heaven and Earth we get even better. Not only does he talk about the process of filming the movie, but also he talks at length about the plight of the Vietnamese, the destruction of Vietnam's infrastructure and Buddhism.

As a Vietnam veteran and an author of articles and books in which I talk about Vietnam, I highly recommend this incredible film.

"Heaven and Earth" is the third in Stone's Vietnam Trilogy -- the first being "Platoon," which was Nam from the American Infantryman's frontline point-of-view. The second is "Born on the Fourth of July," the point-of-view of an American Marine who leaves one war -- paralyzed -- and only gets home to find a completely different war going on - the war with ourselves.

The third, "Heaven and Earth," is a view of the war from the other side -- that of a Vietnamese rice farmer family.

The main character is Lyn Lee, an innocent Vietnamese girl, who respects her parents, her country and her religion. Her life as a simple rice-patty worker changes when THE Vietnam war begins. First, the cruel SVA Army, aided by the American Army, rapes the simple village, and all that the farmers have worked so hard for. Then, they are also bullied by the Viet Cong when the anti-communist forces aren't there...and her brothers join their ranks.

From then on, her life changes forever. She becomes a cheap peddler in the streets of Saigon, and also a prostitute. Her life is in the pits, that is, until she meets a United States Marine Gunnery Seargent, played by Tommy Lee Jones. He treats her very well, almost making up for all the hardships she has dealt with her whole life. The two finally fall in love, and he brings her back to America.

When she reaches the U.S., she is amazed at everything -- including the amount of food that is practically there for the taking -- if you have a nice big fridge, which she finds commonplace in America.

Her problems aren't solved, however, because the Marine she fell in love with (played wonderfully by the great Jones), suffers horribly from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

While this movie emotionally drains you, and gets a little boring at times, you sit back in your chair in awe; first at how great the story is, second, what this poor Vietnamese girl went through, and third, you are amazed at how much this film makes you thankful for everything you take for granted.....and when you are done watching this flick, you walk away feeling, of course, a little depressed, but you walk away feeling that you have gained something.

An excellent -- yet depressing -- close to Stone's Vietnam trilogy.

Reccomended.

This movie is good, but it's not 1/10th as good as the book.

Oliver Stone is an excellent director, and features of the movie such as light and camera angles and the movement of the camera are excellent. The acting is good too. Tommy Lee Jones has an impossible role, but in each scene he is convincing. Hiep Thi Le's role is also impossible, and she is not bad. Those who have read the book will be happy to see Le Ly Hayslip herself playing the jewelry dealer in the middle of the movie. The soundtrack by Kitaro is fair, although my personal tastes disagree.

The problem is that Le Ly Hayslip's story, upon which this movie is based, is too complex for a two hour movie. Tommy Lee Jones' character is an amalgamation of three men, and the result is nothing if not schizophrenic. So many scenes are too subtle for most people to understand, although the book makes everything clear. Compacting her remarkable life (the movie is based on two books!) into a feature-length movie is just impossible, and on an emotional level the film nearly fails.

Let me push the books once more. Even if you are not a reader, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, by Le Ly Hayslip and Jay Wurts, will pull you along. It is one of the very best books I have ever read. The sequel, Child of War, Woman of Peace, is also pretty good. I strongly encourage you to read especially the first book. Like I said, the movie is fine, but the book is simply incredible. It is the only book that has ever made me cry.