| |
BASTARDS
NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD AS A FILM EXPOSÉ
The film Bastards reminds us that while in Vietnam
for two decades, many Americans paid Vietnamese women for
sex. An estimated 30,000 children were born as a result of
these encounters. After the American pullout in 1975, these
Amerasian offspring were ostracized within Vietnam, deprived
of schooling, gainful employment, and of course a normal family.
In the film Three Seasons,
we saw one American soldier returning to claim his daughter,
but in Bastards the scene is Westminster, California,
sometimes known as "Vietnam Town." In 1987, Congress passed
the Amerasian Homecoming Act, which provided for the resettlement
of these offspring of mixed ancestry as nonquota immigrants
with refugee program benefits, but some children had to manage
without a father or a mother. The Immigration and Naturalization
Service was their parent, providing food stamps, access to
welfare benefits, housing, English language instruction, and
assistance in locating absent fathers. Director Loc Do’s aim
is to show us exactly how these Amerasians live; the tagline
of the film is "From Saigon, Vietnam, to Little Saigon, California."
The film focuses on two brothers who work as busboy and dishwasher
in a Vietnamese restaurant. Tony (played by Tuan Tran), plagued
by nightmares, not satisfied to be a mere busboy and angry
that his father never found him, and with a tattoo on his
chest that says "Unloved Young People" in Vietnamese, finds
a family within a gang that burglarizes Vietnamese merchants.
Tien (played by Christopher Lance) wants to work hard, take
care of his troubled brother, and make a good life while spending
hours each day telephoning everyone throughout the United
States with the name "McCale" in order to locate their father.
As the film plays out, we see part-Vietnamese whose fathers
were black as well as white, young Amerasian women who try
to comfort their boyfriends, and even Vietnamese merchants
who show compassion toward the burglars.
|
Those
who have been to Vietnam in the last two decades, who have
seen Amerasians begging to be discovered by American visitors
as their children in front of hotels and at orphanages, will
easily be caught up in the emotions of the film. Eventually,
Tien finds his father, who comes to visit. Aside from the
sensitive portrayal of gang life, the most intriguing part
of the film is how Tony at first cannot accept his father
but becomes transformed by the end of the film, evidently
realizing that he must forgive his father to get beyond the
terrible traumas that have governed his life so long. Bastards,
which gained some notoriety for special screenings in 1996,
was first released to the general public in Los Angeles for
a week during June 1999, doubtless to ride the coattails of
Three Seasons. As the film ends, screen titles
tell us (as of 1995) that of the 30,000 Amerasians, 10,000
are still in Vietnam, and only 300 had succeeded in locating
their fathers. As a deeply touching story of the life of Amerasians,
the Political Film Society has nominated Bastards
for an award as the best film Exposé of 1999. Bastards
joins Three Seasons, another film focusing
on Amerasians, as the second nominee for an award as the best
film Exposé of 1999. MH
FILMS
TO WATCH
Other films with political elements are now at cinemas in
major cities. The Red Violin and Xiu Xiu
depict scenes from China’s Cultural Revolution. The
General’s Daughter identifies problems regarding the
role of women in the military. Limbo shows how
greed is destroying Alaska.
POLITICAL
FILM SOCIETY MEETING
The Board of Directors of the Political Film Society held
a meeting at 8481 Allenwood Road, Los Angeles, on June 19
at 7 p.m., to reword legal documents to satisfy IRS regarding
the Society’s application to be a tax-exempt organization.
In addition, honorary PFS memberships were awarded to seven
filmmakers.
NOMINEES
FOR 1999
EXPOSÉ:
Bastards, Three
Seasons
|
|
