5/5 Sad, Poignant
  by VietMom (United States)
In the beginning of the movie, the characters seemed fairly one-dimensional. A strict Vietnamese parent, a quiet daughter; the acting was kind of bad and the night club job and boyfriends seem pretty tame in this day and age. But then the movie transforms and you begin to understand the complex and tough decisions each has had to make and the awful consequences of some of the decisions. Surviving the boat journey out of Viet Nam didn't necessarily mean a happy ending. The mother showed such strength in taking the journey alone and starting over without her husband. But....then she almost hides her strength and will when the family unit is together again. The uncle's wisdom and the mother's strength are really remarkable to see. And as always, the actor Long Nguyen always seems to bring hope and light to even the darkest rooms. I heart him.

1/5 It's not the "real" story
  by Minh X. Nguyen (CA)
I agree that on some levels that this movie is productive. It helps Vietnamese American films develop in the industry, and begs us to reanalyze the effects of the Vietnam War. However, I still think the movie is a load of rhetoric: please feel sorry for the characters becuz they are a struggling Vietnamese American family. blah

I saw Victor Vu and some other Vietnamese American film directors at a film panel in Little Saigon. He was talking about how he enjoyed producing movies and telling stories about something which he has not yet experienced. Well, I believe his lack of experience reflected in his characters. This movie revolves around an sister's childhood trauma, which is the ending that is suppose to resolve all questions of the girl's odd behaviors, and why we had to continuously look at some ugly painting throughout the film. I found the ending to be an Alice in Wonderland ending. "Oh, something awful happened to her as a child... that's why the story is boring and makes no sense." I think the film is about the Victor Vu boasting about what he learned in film class: throw in some sad emotions, lighting, childhood trauma for some longing and nostalgic effects, and you can label it as art. "Art" doesn't replace good story telling. The film's overly focused on the "art" that it interrupted the telling of the narrative about the Vietnamese American life.

***** spoiler
I don't see any negative reviews of this film, and yet it has such a poor turn out. At the film panel, Victor Vu was complaining about how he's not rich, blaming the piracy going on in the Vietnamese American communities. Well, that could be it, or it could be that this movie was crappy... and no one is willing to say it because they are afraid of not being sensitive to the ethnic minorities and rape victims. I contest the ending. Although rape is tragic, I don't think Vu can just throw it out there and think that it will satisfy all the questions/expectations that the movie setups.

4/5 a "real" story, not some fairy-tale fantasy
  by Omar farrukh
i liked this movie, bacause it shows a "real" story, not some fairy-tale fantasy. it was very sad, made me tear up a little, but a good movie. my viet friends said that you could tell that some of the actors were new, cuz of their acting, but also, it was interresting to see a famous viet singer acting in here (the brother). if u want to watch this movie, the second half is the interresting part, and with that, it helps explain the first half.
was a winner for best feature film

5/5 Too close to home...I cried watching this.
  by Mary Pham (Berkeley, CA)
This is, hands down, one of the most brilliant Vietnamese American films I've ever seen. It encompasses both the past and present cultural perspectives of Vietnamese and Vietnamese American life in a way that is beautiful, somber, deliberate, and real--that's something I rarely see. We watched this in my film class, and almost everyone related to the themes in this movie, whether or not they were Vietnamese.

Instead of focusing the movie on the wartime, Vu focused more on the cultural, historical, and psychological infrastructure of a Vietnamese American family--all whom have a history of pain and struggle interweaved with each other. The Vu depicted the themes and ideologies of Vietnamese culture - from the patriarchal structure of the household to the themes of celebrating death by lighting incense sticks on the altar - is something I've never seen so boldly depicted any other Vietnamese American films.

There are very few movies that move me to the point of tears, but this one hit the spot -- I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to anyone.

4/5 Excellent Film
  by Toan Nguyen (New York, NY)
I saw this movie a couple weeks ago in a theater here in Dallas, Texas. I was disappointed the movie did not draw a big turnout considering it was only showing for one week.

I found myself on the edge of my seat and frustrated at times. Linh (the female character) was disillusioned and seemed quite "out of it". She obviously had something on her mind! I initially thought she was abused by her uncle. It all came together towards the end when Linh's mom told the true story.

I normally do not cry when watching movies, but this one hit it home for me. Enjoy the movie!