56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Less than dust, July 8, 2005
THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY opens in rural Vietnam in 1990. A young man, Binh (Damien Nguyen), is obviously unlike his fellows. He's tall and large-boned. In fact, he's the offspring of a marriage between a Vietnamese woman and an American serviceman back during the war years. The natives have a derogatory term for such children: Bui Doi, or "Less Than Dust". Indeed, Binh is ostracized even among the relatives with whom he lives - he must eat his meals outside rather than around the dining table. And, when another man marries into the family, Binh is forced from the house. Subsequently, he goes to Saigon to find his mother, Mai (Thi Kim Xuan), who works as a housekeeper in the home of an arrogantly rich family, the son of which has fathered a young boy by Mai, Tam (Dang Quoc Thinh Tran).
For a brief period, Binh works for his mother's employer. Then, a tragic accident forces Mai to compel her son to flee aboard a refugee boat with all her savings, Tam, and the Texas address (from their marriage license) of her American husband, Steve, whom she hasn't seen since he abruptly disappeared decades before. The two eventually end up in a well-intentioned, but grim, Malaysian refugee camp/prison. Here, Binh meets, and falls in love with, Ling (Ling Bai), a young singer wannabe from China. The two combine their money to escape to an offshore freighter, a veritable rust bucket, that'll ferry them (and a multitude of other unfortunates) on the final leg to the United States for a steep price up front and a signed contract for indentured servitude upon arrival. The voyage proves to be a nightmare that many don't survive. But, Binh does, and after a period working as a fast food delivery boy in the Big Apple, he sets out for the Lone Star State to find his father armed only with the address and a time-worn picture of Steve, Mai and himself taken when he was a baby.
The viewer may be forgiven for believing that THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY is a Vietnamese production. In fact, it's Norwegian, with English-subtitled Vietnamese dialogue evolving to pidgin-English, then American English, as Binh's language skills steadily improve.
The lead actors are undeniably Damien Nguyen and Ling Bai, though, because of their greater familiarity to American audiences, or because it was written into their contracts, Tim Roth and Nick Nolte, both of whom have crucial but relatively small parts, will probably receive billing in the movie adverts way out of proportion to their actual on-screen time. Roth plays the coldy practical, but not completely unsympathetic, captain of the New York bound freighter with its cargo of misery, while Nolte appears as Steve.
The ending of this visually eloquent and poignant film is bittersweet almost to the point of being tragic. Yet, the viewer is sustained by the knowledge that Binh is ultimately in a better place. Indeed, because THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY is a convergence of three tragedies, i.e., the plight of the outcast Bui Doi, that of illegal aliens smuggled into the U.S., and the terrible cost of the Vietnam War on some of the American military who served in that conflict, it would be a gratuitous cop-out if the conclusion was more warm and fuzzy.
Finally, if you think "The Beautiful Country" necessarily refers to the United States, then think again. For the characters, it's a matter of personal perspective.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Keep A Good Heart" ~ A Generation In Search Of Identity, February 19, 2006
The film opens with the statement: 'Bui Doi' meaning: "less than dust." The phase is used to describe the children of a Vietnamese mother and an American father. Not an uplifting beginning, but an all to true reality.
Binh (Damien Nguyen), a young man born of a Vietnamese Mother and an American solider decides to go to America in search of his Father. 'The Beautiful Country' chronicles the hardships, disappointments, losses and tragedies that occur along the way.
This is not what I would call a happy movie even though it appears Binh is successful at reaching his ultimate goal in the end. Finding what you are searching for doesn't necessarily mean everything will finally work out as you had hoped. True to its subject matter it shows the situation as it is. Many young adult Vietnamese of mixed origin are still looking for self identity and the Father that left them behind. A story that needs to be told. Ultimately you are left to wonder what 'Beautiful Country' is the title of the film refering to. Vietnam or America?
Wonderful performance by newcomer Damien Nguyen and the exotic Bai Ling, with solid performances by Nick Nolte, Tim Roth and Temuera Morrison.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeously Filmed and Strangely Unpredictable, January 4, 2007
THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY employs a Norwegian director, a half-Filipino writer, and a primarily Chinese and Vietnamese cast to paint its picture of a man's search for self-resolve and his father. As the offspring of a G.I. and a Vietnamese beauty, Binh (exquisitely portrayed by first-timer Damien Nguyen) is oversized and ostracized in his native land.
The plot of this movie is like a Chinese dhow tacking into a wind that keeps changing direction; if you have the patience to watch, its progress is both slow and unpredictable. As Binh progresses on his path, he graduates from fatalistic survival mode to self confidence. And along the way, Binh makes the acquaintance of Tim Roth as the memorable and morally devoid captain of a rusting scow filled with human cargo. (Where has Roth been? This film is a reminder that he's been MIA too long.)
SIDELIGHT: Screenwriter Sabina Murray worked with auteur Terrence Malick (THE THIN RED LINE) on the script preparation. His contributions was to work in memorable visual scenes (of which this movie has many) and the casting of Nick Nolte playing the magnificent wreck of a man. (In other words, playing himself.)
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