Three Seasons Review

Bui presents us with a lyrical blending of three or four stories, about a lotus-picker who befriends a leprous poet, about a cyclo driver who falls for a prostitute, and about a young peddlar who loses his tray of goods and thinks an American visitor - played by the film`s Executive Producer Harvey Keitel - stole it...The American is in Vietnam to find the daughter he fathered during the war... The simplicity of the stories is part of the film`s charm, there`s a naivete that is very beautiful. Underneath there is despair: the poet can`t write any more and can`t face the world, the lotus seller finds people prefer to buy plastic flowers rather than her beautiful smelling fresh ones, the prostitute desperately wants to belong inside the luxury hotels she only visits. It`s only the cyclo driver who has insight into his lot in life and is content with it. The film is about the fragility of a culture that`s already been corrupted by war and is now about to be corrupted by wealth, other people`s wealth. The weak link is Keitel. He`s so good at playing tough, not so comfortable in a soft role. And there`s a sentimentality to the ending that is disappointing. Perhaps there`s an emotional connection to this country that is quite complicated but I found this visit to contemporary Vietnam a fascinating and satisfying experience.David`s Comments:An important film - the first American production filmed in Vietnam - and visually beautiful. But the four stories come across as rather naive and cliched. The pacing is very slow, which in itself isn`t a bad thing, but here it seems overly ponderous. Its intentions - reconciliation - are honorable; it`s just that it all seems so contrived.