Owl and the Sparrow
cu va chim se se
credits:
Director: Stephane GaugerProducers: Nguyen Van Quan, Doan Nhat Nam, Stephane Gauger
Cast: Cat Ly, Le The Lu, Pham Thi Han
San Francisco Premiere
USA/Vietnam 2007 | 97 mins | 35mm | Vietnamese w/E.S.
IN PERSON (at select screenings): Stephane Gauger
The fruitful cinematic relationship that Vietnamese Americans have fostered with their motherland in recent years is ably continued with Stephane Gauger’s feature debut – no surprise given the track record of its producers, filmmakers Timothy Bui (GREEN DRAGON, SFIAAFF ’02) and Ham Tran (JOURNEY FROM THE FALL, SFIAAFF ’06).
While the film’s central narrative mirrors that of many a Hollywood love story—a young child strives to forge a romantic relationship between two lonely adults—the characters and their circumstances add up to much more: a thoughtful portrait of contemporary Vietnam. Thuy, a young orphan who lives with her demanding uncle, runs away from her rural home for the streets of Saigon, where she meets Lan, a flight attendant in a doomed affair with a married man, and Hai, a zoo employee who—after being jilted by his fiancée—has little contact with anyone except for his beloved elephants. When she’s not hitting the streets trying to persuade tourists to buy roses, Thuy evades officers who round up derelict children for the local orphanages and balances her time between her two new friends. Constantly scolded for “asking too many questions,” Thuy learns of Lan’s and Hai’s personal lives and sets out to unite them, despite their class differences.
Gauger’s film, full of rich, compelling, compassionate characters, does not shy away from romance; it’s most remarkable, however, for its peek at the children who populate Saigon’s streets. Though supposedly alone, they form a network that thrives on mutual support and respect.
—Jonathan L. Knapp
