Daughter from Danang (2002)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Gail Dolgin
Vicente Franco

Genre:

Documentary | War

Plot:

Separated at the end of the Vietnam war, an "Americanized" woman and her Vietnamese mother are reunited after 22 years.

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Vietnam War | Reunion | Provocative | Adoption

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Mai Thi Kim	...	Herself
Heidi Neville-Bub	...	Herself
Gerald Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tom Miller	...	Himself
Tran Tuong Nhu	...	Herself
Mabel Neville	...	Herself
Don Neville	...	Himself
Royce Hughes	...	Herself
Wanda Hamlett	...	Herself
Brenda Lewis	...	Herself
John Bub	...	Himself
Do Huu Vinh	...	Himself
Do Trong Tinh	...	Himself
Do Thi Thu Hien	...	Herself
Do Thi Hong Lien	...	Herself

Runtime:

USA:83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Da Nang, Vietnam

Quotes:

[last line]
Heidi Neville-Bub: I guess I have closed the door on them... But I didn't lock the door. It's closed but not locked

A sad story of loss and cultural divide...

This is a beautifully shot but often difficult film to watch — mostly because, as a previous reviewer has mentioned, the Amerasian daughter, Heidi, seems ignorant of her cultural heritage and unwilling to learn. We learn that she was raised by a cold woman who kept her Vietnamese heritage a secret, but even as an adult Heidi doesn't do anything to educate herself about her family or their culture. As she's leaving on the plan for Danang, we see her only just learning how speak the language in a cursory way.

The film beautifully communicates how traumatic the separation of half-American children from their Vietnamese mothers was on all sides. Heidi was denied a family, her mother was forced to sleep with an American soldier to save her other children during a war, and the family continues to live in poverty. It is very difficult to watch how shabbily Heidi treats the family after they open their lives and homes to her, but I suppose that highlights how ignorant many of the children who were brought here in "Operation Babydrop" were and are. It is particularly sad to see how judgmental she is of them — she brings them useless American gifts, but gets angry when they ask for help in supporting her mother. It is especially sad when you realize that if she had only taken the time to understand Vietnamese culture, the misunderstanding may have never come up.

Overall, it's an often frustrating and difficult story to watch, but one that is well-told and forthright in its honesty.