THREE SEASONS

The first-American produced narrative feature filmed entirely in Vietnam with largely native actors (one exception: executive producer Harvey Keitel) is a gently flowing drama that recalls the works of Wong Kar-Wai, Zhang Yimou and other Asian masters. Four separate-but-connected stories open before us like petals of a flower – specifically, like the white lotus blossoms harvested by peasant girl Kien An on a rural farm commanded by an unseen and feared 'Teacher Dao' whome she will get to know quite well. She takes the flowers to Saigon to sell in the plaza by a tourist-filled hotel, where a former G.I. (Keitel) is obsessively searching for the mixed-race daughter he left behind when the Communists swarmed in. The American crosses paths Woody, a tiny but streetwise-beyond-his-years kid and a pavement vendor of knockoff merchandise and trinkets, who is soon on a desperate quest of his own. And against that backdrop an ambitious prostitute sells herself for the foreigners' money and becomes the regular client of a 'cyclo' (tricycle-taxi) driver with more on his mind than fares. These narratives gracefully twine together in the end for a multiple climax of aching beauty, as THREE SEASONS itself heralds the coming of springtime to a wounded land. (In Vietnamese with English subtitles)