Monsoon (2019)
Country: GB
Technical: col/2.20:1 85m
Director: Hong Khaou
Cast: Henry Golding, Parker Sawyers, David Tran, Molly Harris
Synopsis:
Taken to the UK by his parents after the Vietnam war, a young and single graphic artist arrives in Saigon with his mother's ashes. He reunites with a childhood friend, journeys to Hanoi to visit his parents' first home, and strikes up a relationship with an American textile entrepreneur, while waiting for his brother to arrive with his family and father's ashes.
Review:
Seems like a lot happens, but actually that is about it. No emotional journey, no epiphany (unless an emotional commitment), nothing to disturb the smooth, linear transit of our protagonist from A to B, an impression sublimated in the formalised mise en scène (railway carriages, buildings, and interiors subdivided into split-screen compositions). Visual flourishes are reserved for a couple of overhead shots of vehicular traffic and tea-making, and the protagonist's impressive tatoos, but the latter's well-meaning, earnest smile, though pleasant enough to look at, cannot sustain a drama, even at this modest length.
Country: GB
Technical: col/2.20:1 85m
Director: Hong Khaou
Cast: Henry Golding, Parker Sawyers, David Tran, Molly Harris
Synopsis:
Taken to the UK by his parents after the Vietnam war, a young and single graphic artist arrives in Saigon with his mother's ashes. He reunites with a childhood friend, journeys to Hanoi to visit his parents' first home, and strikes up a relationship with an American textile entrepreneur, while waiting for his brother to arrive with his family and father's ashes.
Review:
Seems like a lot happens, but actually that is about it. No emotional journey, no epiphany (unless an emotional commitment), nothing to disturb the smooth, linear transit of our protagonist from A to B, an impression sublimated in the formalised mise en scène (railway carriages, buildings, and interiors subdivided into split-screen compositions). Visual flourishes are reserved for a couple of overhead shots of vehicular traffic and tea-making, and the protagonist's impressive tatoos, but the latter's well-meaning, earnest smile, though pleasant enough to look at, cannot sustain a drama, even at this modest length.
Country: GB
Technical: col/2.20:1 85m
Director: Hong Khaou
Cast: Henry Golding, Parker Sawyers, David Tran, Molly Harris
Synopsis:
Taken to the UK by his parents after the Vietnam war, a young and single graphic artist arrives in Saigon with his mother's ashes. He reunites with a childhood friend, journeys to Hanoi to visit his parents' first home, and strikes up a relationship with an American textile entrepreneur, while waiting for his brother to arrive with his family and father's ashes.
Review:
Seems like a lot happens, but actually that is about it. No emotional journey, no epiphany (unless an emotional commitment), nothing to disturb the smooth, linear transit of our protagonist from A to B, an impression sublimated in the formalised mise en scène (railway carriages, buildings, and interiors subdivided into split-screen compositions). Visual flourishes are reserved for a couple of overhead shots of vehicular traffic and tea-making, and the protagonist's impressive tatoos, but the latter's well-meaning, earnest smile, though pleasant enough to look at, cannot sustain a drama, even at this modest length.