Three Seasons (1999)

Director:

Tony Bui

Writers:

Timothy Linh Bui (story)
Tony Bui (story)

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An American in Ho Chi Minh City looks for a daughter he fathered during the war. He meets Woody, a child who's a street vendor...

Plot Keywords:

Poetry | Leprosy | Vietnam | Song | Rickshaw

Awards:

7 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Ngoc Hiep Nguyen	...	Kien An
Ngoc Minh	...	Truck Driver
Phat Trieu Hoang	...	Huy, Dao's Headman
Diem Kieu	...	Singing Lotus Woman
Hanh Kieu	...	Giang
Duong Don	...	Hai, Cyclo Driver
Huu Duoc Nguyen	...	Woody, Child Street Peddler
Hong Son Le	...	Binh, Cyclo Driver
Ba Quang Nguyen	...	Don, Cyclo Driver
Huu Su Tran	...	Ngon, Cyclo Driver
Duc Hung Luong	...	Minh, Cyclo Driver
Harvey Keitel	...	James Hager
Diep Bui	...	Lan the Hooker (as Zoe Bui)
Hoang Trieu	...	Man Who Chases Lan #1
Tran Long	...	Man Who Chases Lan #2

Also Known As:

Ba mua (Vietnam)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements.

Runtime:

113 min | USA:104 min | Germany:105 min (German version)

Country:

Vietnam | USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Vietnam

Company:

Giai Phong Film Studio

Trivia:

_Harvey Keitel_ was casted as Captain Benjamin L. Willard in Apocalypse Now (1979) but was replaced by Martin Sheen after the first week of filming. In "Three Seasons" he sits in a bar called Apocalypse Now (written in the same font as the film).

Soundtrack:

Woody's Blues

Touched my soul.

"Three Seasons" has many layers of complexity, yet it's executed in a deceptively simple and poetic fashion which seems to just flow off the screen. Some may find it too long or may perhaps feel the film seems to get lost in all its elegance. However, hang in there, the payoff comes through understanding it in its entirety.

"Three Seasons" is a touching and poignant display of Vietnamese society and the dramatic changes it's going through. The cinematography and direction were beautiful and reminded me a bit of the film "Scent of Green Papaya".

The movie is a collection of at least four different stories, all taking place in Saigon in the present day. Basically, each story is about the struggle to survive, both physically and spiritually in an ever changing and modernized society. Class struggle, the influence from the West (both bad and good), exploitation of children, and corruption of the soul are examined. We are told that like the lotus, some will fall in the mud, and others will fall in a rich pond. "Three Seasons" follows the lives of these flowers and the purity and divinity within them.