Starring: Kieu Chinh, Long Nguyen, Diem Lien, Jayvee Mai The Hiep, Khanh Doan Directed By: Ham Tran Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Imaginasian Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 30, 2007 Running Time: 135 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Product Description: (Foreign/Drama) April 30 1975: the Fall of Saigon. American troops withdraw from Vietnam and the 21-year civil war is at an end. Four million Vietnamese are dead. Half a million South Vietnamese who fought with the Americans or worked in the government are sent to re-education camps. Close to two million Vietnamese flee by boat but before they reach safety thousands of them will die. From the jungles of Vietnam to the streets of Southern California Journey From the Fall tells the untold story of what happened to millions of Vietnamese in the aftermath of the war.System Requirements:Run Time: 135 minutes Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 796019805421 Manufacturer No: 80542
A long overdue movie One of the few movies which tells the story of Vietnam after America left from the Vietnamese viewpoint. Most Americans were relieved after we left just looking at saving American lives, but the hell of living under a communist regime is often overlooked. Thousands if not millions of people killed, many more imprisioned and/or 're-educated', and still many more risking their lives to try to escape living in poverty and oppression.
The movie was well made. The acting was very good, the filming was great, and the stories were compelling. Although it was confusing at parts with its flashbacks and switching locations and timeframes. It almost tried to get too much in. But still one of the most significant movies about Vietnam ever made and well worth it.
A personal film When I was a 2nd Grader, around 1979 at Ruby Drive elementary school in Fullerton, CA, we had a sudden influx of Vietnamese refugees at my school. I was assigned a girl my own age, to help teach her English, play with her and generally make her life a little easier while transitioning to her new country. We were friends for about a year, until my family moved away and I never saw or heard from her again. I remember my mother telling me to be very nice to her and treat her well because she was a boat person, and that her boat had been attacked by pirates and she had been raped, but I was far too young to really understand what any of that meant. It wasn't until I saw "Journey from the Fall" that I really gained any sort of insight as to what she must have gone through.
Opening a window into someone else's experiences is one of the great gifts of film, and director Ham Tran has proven himself to be a virtuoso. The structure of "Journey from the Fall", including multiple time shifts and scene changes, leaves one appropriately disorientated as the characters themselves are. If people are still living or dead, if they have escaped or been captured...this information is put forth in a non-linear order so the confusion and "ah-ha" moments are well balanced. He demands concentration and investigation on the part of the viewer, rather than just feeding the story to a passive audience. One must think about this film, in order to get its full intent.
There is nothing of the beauty of Heaven & Earth, which made full use of the lush Vietnamese landscape. The camera is tight and controlled, and the pictures are realistic and dirty. This is a very human picture. The actors deliver stellar performances, including Long Nguyen, who was also in Heaven and Earth, playing the detained father, and Diem Lien, professionally a singer rather than an actress, as his suffering wife. The storytelling grandmother, Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club), is also amazing, being the heart of a family that has had its soul torn out.
I really feel like I cannot praise this film enough, and I am only sorry that it took me so long to see it. It should almost be required viewing, especially for those of us who had some experience with this during the end of the Vietnam War. While watching, I couldn't help but wonder about what will happen to the people of Iraq when the US finally leaves, and if we will see another version of "Journey from the Fall" 30 years from now. I also wonder about my friend from 2nd grade. I can't even remember her name, but I hope she is doing well.
Journey From the Fall I dound this movie a great story of hardship and determination. Great Movie Paul "Vietnam Veteran"
Amazing! Another foreign film that is almost TOO real. A phenomenal film. Everyone involved deserves highest marks.
Good movie for enjoying and teaching your children about the price of freedom This is a good movie. The story is very touching. It truthfully reflects what happened after the fall of Saigon in 1975 under the hands of the brutally inhumane Vietnamese Communists. I know because I was there, I have uncles who got sent to the so-called "re-education camp" and I am also one of those boat people. One complaint I have about the movie is that sometimes the speech of Long and some prisoners are hard to understand (I turned off the sub). They don't talk clearly so it becomes unintelligble. I could understand other actors/actresses very well regardless of what accent (North or South) they have. So I have to give only 4 stars for this one.
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