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Journey From the Fall
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $19.99
Your Save: $ 4.96 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 days
Manufacturer: Imaginasian
Starring: Kieu Chinh, Long Nguyen, Diem Lien, Jayvee Mai The Hiep, Khanh Doan
Directed By: Ham Tran
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
EAN: 0796019805421
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: Imaginasian
Manufacturer: Imaginasian
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Imaginasian
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-10-30
Running Time: 135
Studio: Imaginasian
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
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Editorial Reviews:
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Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 10/30/2007 Run time: 135 minutes Rating: R
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful film and very real for this viewer
Comment: This was a very powerful and emotional movie for me due to personal experience. My mom sent me away one of of those boats when I was 14, while my dad was still in re-education camp (translation: hard labor concentration camp). My mom only had enough money for my "ticket" so she and my brothers and sisters all stayed behind. The escape and boat scenes are very similar to what I experienced. I can't say about the re-education camp scenes as I didn't have the privilege of staying in a camp, however I did visit my dad a few times and the depressive atmosphere I remember is very close to what we see in the movie.
The second half of the movie that depicts life in America is very moving for me as well. All boat persons went through those very same experiences: learning a new language, working menial jobs, adjusting to a totally different culture, having chance meetings with people you know from back home, etc.
These chance meetings are more likely than one would think, due to the fact that a large percentage of boat persons eventually migrated to a a few large population centers (Orange County, Houston, etc.). Also since older immigrants never really fit into the new country, they would continue to stay in the immigrant "community" and would always go to the same community events, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.
As powerful a film as it is, it could have greatly benefited from a bigger budget. This last note is more of an observation than a criticism.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: powerful drama of survival and hope
Comment: After South Vietnam fell to the Communists in 1975, many of those who were seen as having "collaborated" with the Americans during the war were sent to "re-education camps," where they were brutalized and tortured until such time as they were deemed fit to return to society fully on-board with the repressive regime's mantra of collectivist solidarity. Others, more "fortunate" perhaps, were able to escape the coming onslaught, becoming known internationally as "boat people" - though many of these refugees tragically never made it to their destinations. "Journey From the Fall" movingly recounts the story of one family that gets caught up in both of these predicaments.
Despite a flashback-filled structure that becomes a bit confusing and even disorienting at times, "Journey From the Fall" is a wrenching and compelling tribute to the ability of the human spirit to survive under even the most hellish of circumstances. The movie chronicles not only Long Nguyen and his fellow prisoners' experiences in the camp but the attempt by his wife, mother and young son to flee the country by boat (in fact, the last forty-five minutes or so of the movie detail their struggle to adjust to their new life in Southern California). The movie is sometimes hard to watch - for writer/director Ham Tran never flinches from showing us the harsh reality of the subject he is portraying - but there's always the possibility of better things in the future to mitigate the suffering.
At a running-time of well over two hours, the movie could have used some trimming to accelerate the pace, but the quality of the acting and the universality of the theme keep us absorbed throughout.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Journey From The Fall
Comment: Unfortunately I bought it as a gift and the recipient already has it. She, however, lived through it and states remarkably the DVD is genuine.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A long overdue movie
Comment: One of the few movies which tells the story of Vietnam after America left from the Vietnamese viewpoint. Most Americans were relieved after we left just looking at saving American lives, but the hell of living under a communist regime is often overlooked. Thousands if not millions of people killed, many more imprisioned and/or 're-educated', and still many more risking their lives to try to escape living in poverty and oppression.
The movie was well made. The acting was very good, the filming was great, and the stories were compelling. Although it was confusing at parts with its flashbacks and switching locations and timeframes. It almost tried to get too much in. But still one of the most significant movies about Vietnam ever made and well worth it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A personal film
Comment: When I was a 2nd Grader, around 1979 at Ruby Drive elementary school in Fullerton, CA, we had a sudden influx of Vietnamese refugees at my school. I was assigned a girl my own age, to help teach her English, play with her and generally make her life a little easier while transitioning to her new country. We were friends for about a year, until my family moved away and I never saw or heard from her again. I remember my mother telling me to be very nice to her and treat her well because she was a boat person, and that her boat had been attacked by pirates and she had been raped, but I was far too young to really understand what any of that meant. It wasn't until I saw "Journey from the Fall" that I really gained any sort of insight as to what she must have gone through.
Opening a window into someone else's experiences is one of the great gifts of film, and director Ham Tran has proven himself to be a virtuoso. The structure of "Journey from the Fall", including multiple time shifts and scene changes, leaves one appropriately disorientated as the characters themselves are. If people are still living or dead, if they have escaped or been captured...this information is put forth in a non-linear order so the confusion and "ah-ha" moments are well balanced. He demands concentration and investigation on the part of the viewer, rather than just feeding the story to a passive audience. One must think about this film, in order to get its full intent.
There is nothing of the beauty of Heaven & Earth, which made full use of the lush Vietnamese landscape. The camera is tight and controlled, and the pictures are realistic and dirty. This is a very human picture. The actors deliver stellar performances, including Long Nguyen, who was also in Heaven and Earth, playing the detained father, and Diem Lien, professionally a singer rather than an actress, as his suffering wife. The storytelling grandmother, Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club), is also amazing, being the heart of a family that has had its soul torn out.
I really feel like I cannot praise this film enough, and I am only sorry that it took me so long to see it. It should almost be required viewing, especially for those of us who had some experience with this during the end of the Vietnam War. While watching, I couldn't help but wonder about what will happen to the people of Iraq when the US finally leaves, and if we will see another version of "Journey from the Fall" 30 years from now. I also wonder about my friend from 2nd grade. I can't even remember her name, but I hope she is doing well.
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