eddie_baggins A little known Terrence Malick produced drama, The Beautiful Country is a quietly touching study of finding oneself in this great big world and a globe spanning journey for a likable and caring young man who was shunned by his countryman through his hard and unforgiving upbringing.Dealing with the not well known facet of Vietnamese lifestyle, where those children born to both Vietnamese and American parents are treated as outcasts, Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland handles the tricky subject matter with aplomb and whether his camera roams the countryside of Vietnam, the refugee camps of Malaysia or the American landscape, The Beautiful Country is most certainly a handsomely crafted tale that shuns its low end budget to create a film that feels both lavish and grand in the non-traditional sense.Throughout almost every scene in this tale is Binh, who after years of wondering decides to set off to not only meet his natural Vietnamese mother but find his G.I American father. Played by then newcomer Damien Nguyen (who in the time since this film has virtually disappeared from the acting scene), Binh is a likable character and is just one of many colourful and realistic characters that create a vibrancy and realism in The Beautiful Country that makes it really something special.Throughout Binh's journey to the lands of America he meets his loving mother, Bai Ling's confused yet kind hearted Ling, Tim Roth's people smuggling boat captain Oh and undoubtedly most importantly Nick Nolte's one time G.I Steve, who Nolte plays with great power. Each of these characters whether on screen for extended periods or brief periods are well designed and constructed and each performer gives it theie all with Bai Ling in particular delivering what could well be her best ever performance.It's not hard to see why a visionary like Malick put his name to such a heartfelt piece of movie making and while The Beautiful Country stumbles in certain areas and at times feels hampered by its production constraints, there's still a touching tale that shines uttermost throughout. It's a shame more have not seen this journey and a shame also that director Moland has not found this vision again in his more recent career but we can be thankful that The Beautiful Country is here for us now to watch and appreciate.4 angry Jango Fett's out of 5

siderite To be honest, I only got this movie because Bai Ling was in it. She was a secondary character, however, and the main story was about this half Vietnamese, half American boy who searches for his parents.The film is soul wrenching at times, showing this quiet and calm boy going through hell just to survive and go on, but most of the time it just slowly builds up empathy and outrage. There is a timeless quality about the feel of the movie (I honestly thought it was an 80's film) and the acting is top notch. The first half of it is in Vietnamese, the other in English, after the main character crosses the ocean.Bottom line: quite good, however really slow paced. There are not many scenes to make the blood boil, so you need to be in the mood for a slow drama. It is worth it, though. It makes people understand that there are misfortunes, and then there are misfortunes.

obm4 My wife and I never got into the movie.We thought it was way to sloooowwww and to many subtitles.I understood they needed them for Vietnam,but took to long to get out of Asia.She wanted it off I said it's going to get better.It never did yes they had a tough time trying to get to America,but I wanted to see him looking and finding his dad.Not at the end but forming a relationship.Did I mention it was slllloooowwwwww.I love to watch a movie to feel good not sad at the end.I know they don't make many good movies now days.I think action movies are the only ones to watch.I have been renting a lot from netflix and now blockbuster,maybe 20% are worth seeing.I don't kneed realism or facts just a movie thats fun and makes you feel good.Gary

Owen Schaefer The Beautiful Country is a drama ostensibly concerned with consequences of the Vietnam War, but I would argue its content makes that conflict almost incidental. The story is, rather, a more general parable about migration, assimilation, identity and family - an unabashedly humanist film.We begin with a young Vietnamese man, Binh, whose father was an American G.I. There are a few brief scenes which outline the discrimination he faces, and his abrupt departure from rural Vietnam to seek his mother seems, like much of the film's plot, somewhat contrived. Why now? What specifically drove him? He faced such discrimination all his life.His journey to Saigon (oddly, not referred to as Ho Chi Minh City in the subtitle) and his mother then grows into a larger quest to find his father in America. It is only at this point that Binh's motivation becomes fleshed out, and the idea of the immigrant identity comes to the foreground.The main impetus for a harrowing journey halfway across the world is twofold. One, Binh seeks a better life for himself and his young half-brother. Two, he seeks to know his father, perhaps to better understand himself. America is referred to, early on, as "the beautiful country", but that enigmatic phrase will haunt the film's realism.The plight of illegal immigrants is something we all are aware of - dangerous transportation into the country and degrading treatment inside the country. These sequences, I think, undermine the film's more powerful message, because we might be tempted to see the film as a general rallying cry for immigration reform in general, instead of an exploration of one immigrant's journey.The film succeeds best when it pauses from the harsh realities to focus on Binh's inward journey. If the world outside him, and its hardships, are overstated, then he is likewise understated in expressing his own troubles.The journey, and his perseverance, then becomes a metaphor for Binh's exploration of what, exactly, the beautiful country is. At one point, one character even refers to Vietnam as the beautiful country - a seemingly confusing idea, since Binh traveled so far to get away from the country which would not accept him.What is beautiful to Binh, then, is relative; he seeks acceptance, and comfort. He is, really, looking for a place which would be reasonably called home. Perhaps most immigration is more practical than this, but the idea that there is a place where one belongs is, indeed, compelling, and I think it's what drives most of our lives.The Beautiful Country, then, speaks to everyone's desire to fit in and shows how identity is formed not by complacency, but by active search.