Starring: The Lu Le, Thi Kieu Trinh Nguyen, Huu Thanh Nguyen, Zan Sram Kra, Van Be Truong Directed By: Minh Nguyen-Vo Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Label: FIRST RUN FEATURES Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: March 21, 2006 Running Time: 98 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Product Description: A beautifully shot feature from director Nguyen-Vo Nghiem-Minh, BUFFALO BOY is a powerful and nuanced coming-of-age story about 15 year old Kim (Le The Lu), the son of a poor family struggling in 1940's Vietnam. Set in Cà-Mau, the last frontier at the southern tip of Vietnam where the low land meets the sea, the people survive by following the cycles of the flooding and dry seasons. Every rainy season, lasting about six months, water covers the entire land and the farmers must take the buffalo on a long journey to the mountains in search of food. When Kim is sent by his ailing father to find grass for their two starving buffalo, he takes up with a rough and dangerous band of buffalo herders. On the journey, he discovers an adult world of brawls, alcohol, and pillaging-- one that, over time, gives way to friendship, love and the joy of freedom.
Inspired by the classic short story collection, 'Scent of the Cà-Mau Forest' by Son Nam, one of the Vietnam's most distinguished writers and a native of Cà-Mau, BUFFALO BOY is a journey of self-discovery that also gives witness to the exhausting cycles of life under colonialism's poverty.
errr..i'll give a bad review The movie takes place in Ca Mau, but I don't think it was actually filmed there. I have a lot issues with the mechanics in the plot, like when the kid has to bury his father... he just lets the old man to go off by himself to do it. This might seem like something arbitrary, but from a Vietnamese cultural perspective, the burial of your father pretty darn important. The main character should have at least followed or helped, instead of sitting around the house doing nothing. The fact that he entrusted a complete stranger to bury his father is absurd to me. Also, there's no way the old man could have pushed the corpse overboard along with all the weights, without tipping over the canoe.
The film is more concerned about throwing out rhetoric and ideals of aesthetics than telling a coherent story. I find this to be true with other Vietnamese American films like 3 Seasons (Ba Mua) and First Morning.
You Wouldn't Want To Live This Kind Of Life! Frankly, I am surprised I hung with this movie because it's pretty slow. It's not a real "entertainer," except for two things: 1 - the camera-work is nice at times; 2 - the story is quite different from anything we are accustomed to in the West. But after two-thirds of this story had elapsed, it was tough going the rest of the way. It's not an uplifting story, either. It left me feeling depressed. Yet, it IS a memorable film and I'm glad I watched it. Does that make sense?
Floods, family, friends, enemies, thieves, sex, loyalty, poverty and abandonment and generally what life is like for those people in this story. With all the water around them, they couldn't bury their loved ones until the dry season came. They wrapped them up and put them on poles, and hoped the crows didn't peck away at the bodies. There are enough bizarre (for us) scenes like this, plus the fine cinematography, to make this a film with a few scenes you won't forget.
You wouldn't want to live here, at the southern tip of Vietnam with these rainy, long flood seasons. Lugging a couple of Water Buffaloes through waist-deep muddy water for miles can't be a great existence, either. This is a tough story of people surviving under tough circumstances.
Beautiful scenery with its remarkable sounds. If you are interested in watching scenes of rural Vietnam, this may serve to become one of your collection. The sounds of rivers and water buffaloes which are blended with the rural landscape appear to be in harmony which sometimes make the viewer feel that he is in there. Although the cinematography is well worth it,the plot is rather weak and some of the scenes appear dragging which reminds me of some articles in National Geographic Magazines. However, the actors and actresses I think did their part well. We would welcome more movies about Vietnam.
Excellent Movie! I expected the movie to be slow, but it was quite fast and entertaining. I liked how the movie did not touch on any political agenda. This is the one to watch for the beautiful scenary and excellent cinematography. I am glad this Vietnamese movie was introduced to the world audience.
good to see it once I have seen most of the best Vietnamese films and frankly speaking this one is receiving my lowest appreciation. I became used to masterpieces such as " The vertical ray of the Sun" "The scent of Green papaya" and others and this one came as a surprise. The landscape is interesting and the photography at times beautiful and yet there are endless scenes of boring photography. The story is simple and the plot rather slow. You can see it once and soon forget it until a discussion on Vietnamese cinema arises.
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