Journey from the Fall
Encyclopedia
Journey from the Fall is a 2006 independent film
by writer/director/editor Ham Tran
, about the Vietnamese
reeducation camp
and boat people
experience following the Fall of Saigon
on April 30, 1975. This drama was released on March 23, 2007, by ImaginAsian
to sold-out screenings. The film is notable for having been financed entirely by the Vietnamese American
community.
on April 30, 1975 to North Vietnam
's communist regime. After her South Vietnamese Army husband Long, is imprisoned in a North Vietnamese reeducation camp
, Mai, her son Lai, and her mother-in-law escape Vietnam by boat
in the hopes of starting a new life in Southern California
. Believing his family is dead, Long gives up in the face of brutal conditions, while Mai struggles to keep her family from crumbling under the pressures of life in a new country. When Long learns his family is alive in America, he is reinvigorated and decides he must join them at any cost.
, Washington, D.C., and San Jose to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. The film was highly-praised by the Vietnamese diaspora as an accurate presentation of the experiences that many Vietnamese people had to go through. In the process of making the film, the director interviewed more than 400 former boat people, some of whom are cast in the film even though they are not professional actors.
In the opening weekend, it played in packed theaters, generating $87,442 on just four screens, giving the film the largest per theater average for that weekend ($21,861).
The film received mostly favorable reviews. In the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
, it received an 92% "fresh" among all reviews and 100% among the "cream of the crop" and is currently in the Top 100(27th) Best Movies of 2007. Matt Zoller Seitz of The New York Times
remarked that the director "achieves the impossible" and called it a "tearjerker". The Los Angeles Times called it a "superbly wrought saga of loss and survival" and "an example of sophisticated, impassioned filmmaking involving mainly people who lived through the harrowing experiences so unsparingly depicted". Bruce Newman of the San Jose Mercury News
called it "heartbreaking" and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Russell Edwards from Variety
said it "deserves to be seen by a wider commercial audience" and is "frequently enthralling". New York
magazine had a negative review of the film, saying that it has "several powerful sequences" but "never quite come[s] alive". Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
was even more critical, suggesting that "this Journey doesn't know where it's going", criticizing the "careless cinematography" and "clumsy stag[ing]".
, an alternative weekly
in Orange County, California
, published two reviews of the film. The first and longer review was written by R. Scott Moxley, praised the director for "bring[ing] to life the true South Vietnamese experience". The second and much shorter review was published almost a year later, written by Scott Foundas. In his review, Foundas praised the film for being "one of the few movies to depict Vietnam and its aftermath through the eyes of the Vietnamese" but ultimately characterized it as "old-fashioned and even phony". This conclusion brought a flurry of letters to the paper, most disagreeing with Foundas and taking offense at his "phony" characterization, prompting Foundas to clarify his review, claiming that he was "by no means suggesting that the history depicted by the movie didn't happen, but rather that matters were not nearly as black-and-white as Mr. Tran makes them seem".
In Vietnam, where the film was neither filmed nor shown officially, pirated copies were so prevalent that the government issued orders to confiscate all DVD copies. The film was banned for its "reactionary
" content. The government consider the film "defamation" and a "distortion" of its policy of sending people to reeducation camp
s after 1975. The film was considered such a threat that the Ministry of Public Security
's newspaper Công an Nhân dân featured an article warning about the "poisonous film" and claiming that "most overseas Vietnamese are indifferent or critical of this movie". The article also quoted Foundas and several random people in online message boards to bolster its claim.
, and released in Orange County
, New York City
, and San Jose
on March 23, 2007, to sold-out screenings. With a total gross of $87,442 in its opening weekend, it has the highest opening weekend for any Vietnamese diasporic film to date. The opening weekend's per-screen average of $21,861 was the highest of any film that opened on the March 23 weekend, and the second weekend's average of $16,513 per screen was number one as well, despite expanding to two additional screens.
As of July 16, the film has grossed over $630,000, despite a limited release that never exceeded fourteen theaters at a time.
Since its opening weekend on March 23, 2007, it has expanded to Dallas, Houston, Washington, DC, San Diego, Chicago
, San Francisco, Mountain View
, Daly City, Seattle, Berkeley
, Honolulu, Atlanta, Portland
, Sacramento
, Vancouver
, and is expanding to other cities throughout the summer in what is called a "rolling release".
The film was not eligible for competition in the Sundance Film Festival
even though it was an official selection because it was screened prior at a Korean film festival (only world premiere films at Sundance are eligible for competition).
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
by writer/director/editor Ham Tran
Ham Tran
Ham Tran is a Vietnamese American film writer/editor/director, of Hoa ancestry. He earned an MFA in film directing from the UCLA Film School and is most famous for his thesis film "The Anniversary", which was shortlisted for an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...
, about the Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
reeducation camp
Reeducation camp
Reeducation camp is the official title given to the prison camps operated by the government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from the former regime of...
and boat people
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
experience following the Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
on April 30, 1975. This drama was released on March 23, 2007, by ImaginAsian
ImaginAsian
ImaginAsian Entertainment is a multi-media company based in New York City. Its main feature is a television network, iaTV, which premiered in 2004 and which focuses on entertainment featuring people of East Asian and South East Asian descent. There is also some South Asian content...
to sold-out screenings. The film is notable for having been financed entirely by the Vietnamese American
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
community.
Plot
The film traces the story of a family's struggle for survival in the aftermath of the Fall of SaigonFall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
on April 30, 1975 to North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
's communist regime. After her South Vietnamese Army husband Long, is imprisoned in a North Vietnamese reeducation camp
Reeducation camp
Reeducation camp is the official title given to the prison camps operated by the government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from the former regime of...
, Mai, her son Lai, and her mother-in-law escape Vietnam by boat
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
in the hopes of starting a new life in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Believing his family is dead, Long gives up in the face of brutal conditions, while Mai struggles to keep her family from crumbling under the pressures of life in a new country. When Long learns his family is alive in America, he is reinvigorated and decides he must join them at any cost.
Reception
An early cut of the film was screened in April 2005 in sold-out one-day-only showings in Little SaigonLittle Saigon
Little Saigon is a name given to any of several overseas Vietnamese immigrant and descendant communities outside Vietnam, usually in the United States...
, Washington, D.C., and San Jose to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. The film was highly-praised by the Vietnamese diaspora as an accurate presentation of the experiences that many Vietnamese people had to go through. In the process of making the film, the director interviewed more than 400 former boat people, some of whom are cast in the film even though they are not professional actors.
In the opening weekend, it played in packed theaters, generating $87,442 on just four screens, giving the film the largest per theater average for that weekend ($21,861).
The film received mostly favorable reviews. In the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, it received an 92% "fresh" among all reviews and 100% among the "cream of the crop" and is currently in the Top 100(27th) Best Movies of 2007. Matt Zoller Seitz of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
remarked that the director "achieves the impossible" and called it a "tearjerker". The Los Angeles Times called it a "superbly wrought saga of loss and survival" and "an example of sophisticated, impassioned filmmaking involving mainly people who lived through the harrowing experiences so unsparingly depicted". Bruce Newman of the San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
called it "heartbreaking" and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Russell Edwards from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said it "deserves to be seen by a wider commercial audience" and is "frequently enthralling". New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine had a negative review of the film, saying that it has "several powerful sequences" but "never quite come[s] alive". Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
was even more critical, suggesting that "this Journey doesn't know where it's going", criticizing the "careless cinematography" and "clumsy stag[ing]".
Controversies
The OC WeeklyOC Weekly
OC Weekly, a sister publication of both LA Weekly and The Village Voice, is a free, left-wing weekly paper distributed in Orange County, California and also in Long Beach....
, an alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
in Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, published two reviews of the film. The first and longer review was written by R. Scott Moxley, praised the director for "bring[ing] to life the true South Vietnamese experience". The second and much shorter review was published almost a year later, written by Scott Foundas. In his review, Foundas praised the film for being "one of the few movies to depict Vietnam and its aftermath through the eyes of the Vietnamese" but ultimately characterized it as "old-fashioned and even phony". This conclusion brought a flurry of letters to the paper, most disagreeing with Foundas and taking offense at his "phony" characterization, prompting Foundas to clarify his review, claiming that he was "by no means suggesting that the history depicted by the movie didn't happen, but rather that matters were not nearly as black-and-white as Mr. Tran makes them seem".
In Vietnam, where the film was neither filmed nor shown officially, pirated copies were so prevalent that the government issued orders to confiscate all DVD copies. The film was banned for its "reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
" content. The government consider the film "defamation" and a "distortion" of its policy of sending people to reeducation camp
Reeducation camp
Reeducation camp is the official title given to the prison camps operated by the government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from the former regime of...
s after 1975. The film was considered such a threat that the Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam
Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam is the ministry of the interior of Vietnam. It was established with the help of former Soviet Union and China, and in addition to the regular police officer corps, it also administer the Public Security forces, which is the paramilitary force with primary...
's newspaper Công an Nhân dân featured an article warning about the "poisonous film" and claiming that "most overseas Vietnamese are indifferent or critical of this movie". The article also quoted Foundas and several random people in online message boards to bolster its claim.
Release
The film is distributed by ImaginAsian PicturesImaginAsian
ImaginAsian Entertainment is a multi-media company based in New York City. Its main feature is a television network, iaTV, which premiered in 2004 and which focuses on entertainment featuring people of East Asian and South East Asian descent. There is also some South Asian content...
, and released in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
on March 23, 2007, to sold-out screenings. With a total gross of $87,442 in its opening weekend, it has the highest opening weekend for any Vietnamese diasporic film to date. The opening weekend's per-screen average of $21,861 was the highest of any film that opened on the March 23 weekend, and the second weekend's average of $16,513 per screen was number one as well, despite expanding to two additional screens.
As of July 16, the film has grossed over $630,000, despite a limited release that never exceeded fourteen theaters at a time.
Since its opening weekend on March 23, 2007, it has expanded to Dallas, Houston, Washington, DC, San Diego, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, San Francisco, Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, Daly City, Seattle, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, Honolulu, Atlanta, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, and is expanding to other cities throughout the summer in what is called a "rolling release".
Awards
- Grand Jury Prize – Amazonas International Film Festival, Brazil
- Winner, Best Feature Film – Anchorage International Film Festival
- Winner, Best Cinematography – Milano International Film Festival
- Winner, Long Nguyen, Best Actor – Newport Beach Film FestivalNewport Beach Film FestivalThe Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....
- Special Jury Prize – Newport Beach Film FestivalNewport Beach Film FestivalThe Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....
- Audience Award – San Francisco International Asian American Film FestivalSan Francisco International Asian American Film FestivalThe San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival presented every March is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose, USA...
- Grand Jury Award – San Diego Asian Film FestivalSan Diego Asian Film FestivalThe San Diego Asian Film Festival is an annual event organized by the San Diego Asian Film Foundation. The festival was first held in 2000 at the University of San Diego by the Asian American Journalists Association of San Diego.-Organization Overview:...
- Jury Award – Dallas Asian Film Festival
- Winner, Ham Tran, Best Director – Asian Festival of First Film
- Winner, Lam Nguyen, Best Producer – Asian Festival of First Film
- Audience Award – Toronto Reel Asian International Film FestivalToronto Reel Asian International Film FestivalThe Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, devoted to Asian cinema, specifically the cinematic works of East and Southeast Asia, as well as those by Asian-Canadian and Asian-American filmmakers....
- Special Project Award – The Princess Grace Foundation, USA
- Best Feature Film – Boulder International Film FestivalBoulder International Film FestivalBoulder International Film Festival sponsored by the Colorado Film Society, is held annually on Presidents Day Weekend in Boulder, Colorado USA, and has developed a reputation as one of the most influential young film festivals in the U.S., with an extraordinary number of new-but-unknown feature...
- Winner, Best Feature Film – Vietnamese International Film FestivalVietnamese International Film FestivalFirst started in 2003, the Vietnamese International Film Festival is a biennial film festival organized by the non-profits Vietnamese-American Arts & Letters Association and UCLAs VietNamese Language and Culture...
- Best Independent Film – AZN Asian Excellence Award
The film was not eligible for competition in the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
even though it was an official selection because it was screened prior at a Korean film festival (only world premiere films at Sundance are eligible for competition).
Home media release
The 2-disc DVD was released on October 31, 2007, which includes a 38-minute The Making of Journey from the Fall, a 135-minute roundtable discussion/commentary with cast and crew, a deleted scene and alternate ending, as well as original theatrical trailer and TV spots.Cast
- Diem LienDiem LienĐinh Diễm Liên, born 1971, is a Vietnamese singer and actress born and raised in Đà Lạt.-Childhood:Diễm Liên was born in Việt Nam into a family of five sisters where all the girls, including her mother, are named Liên. The only difference is their middle name.As a child, Diễm Liên was dedicated to...
as Mai Nguyen - Kieu ChinhKieu ChinhKieu Chinh is a Vietnamese American actress best known for her role in The Joy Luck Club...
as Ba Noi (Grandmother) - Long Nguyen as Long Nguyen
- Nguyen Thai NguyenNguyen Thai NguyenNguyen Thai Nguyen is a Vietnamese actor born and raised in the rural Cà Mau Province in Vietnam. Both Nguyen's father and his grandfather are former officers in the South Vietnamese naval forces.-Filmography:-External links:...
as Lai Nguyen - Cat Ly as Phuong
See also
- Boat peopleBoat peopleBoat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
- Boat People (film)Boat People (film)Boat People is an award-winning Hong Kong film directed by Ann Hui, first shown in theaters in 1982. The film stars George Lam, Andy Lau, Cora Miao, and Season Ma. At the second Hong Kong Film Awards, Boat People won awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best New Performer, Best Screenplay,...
- Overseas Vietnamese
- Vietnamese International Film FestivalVietnamese International Film FestivalFirst started in 2003, the Vietnamese International Film Festival is a biennial film festival organized by the non-profits Vietnamese-American Arts & Letters Association and UCLAs VietNamese Language and Culture...
- Bolinao 52Bolinao 52Bolinao 52 is a documentary by Vietnamese American director Duc Nguyen about the Vietnamese boat people ship that was originally stranded in the Pacific Ocean in 1988. During their 37 days at sea, the group encountered violent storms and engine failures...
- The White Silk DressThe White Silk DressThe White Silk Dress is an acclaimed 2007 Vietnamese war-drama epic directed by Luu Huynh with starring Truong Ngoc Anh and Nguyen Quoc Khanh...