Ru

Canadian director Charles-Olivier Michaud brings us a wonderful film about immigration, sadness, dreams and life in the adaptation of Kim Thúy's novel.

We find ourselves with a delicate, human, sad and calm film that gives us a truly distressing visual and emotional experience where, as spectators, we witness a masterful staging by a director who makes us part of this journey towards a new life and does so with forcefulness both in space and time.

A truly beautiful film that in 116 minutes transports us to a life drama full of symbolism and emotions that captivate in every space, in every scene and in every harmony that accompanies the film with a beautiful soundtrack and photography that transports us to a brilliant and exciting journey about restarting dreams and a life of our own.

A film that deserves to be seen, enjoyed and also loved, a little gem that one finds and appreciates.

I have been attending the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for many (25?) years and I always try to see a French Canadian film there. I don't remember ever being disappointed. From the earlier ones like Jesus of Montreal and the Barabarian Invasions to the more recent Antigone, The Intern, The Coyote, Une Revision or The Fall of the American Empire - French Canadian cinema has produced numerous remarkable films. (Unfortunately, many of these films are not known to the public at large. I guess, French Canadians are good at making films, not advertising them.) Ru, is no exception. A beautiful, heart warming film based on a book (that was published in 45 counties, if I remember correctly) It is the story of a family of Vietnamese refugees, but also the story of the generous Canadians that welcomed them and tried to help them adapt to a new country, a new culture.

The connection between the refugees and their "sponsors" - the latter understanding and generous, the former grateful and determined to fit in and succeed - shows, in my view exactly what Canada is all about.

The direction is masterful, the film is, in my view, flawless. (No wonder; at the Q&A after the film with the director and the producers, we were told that the film was the product of quite a few years of thoughtful preparation.) It is a film that stirred many emotions - in me and surely in other immigrants.

Ru was theatrically released in Fall 2023 and should soon hit CraveTV in 2024.

I was lucky to see it in theater where director and. Writer of the book the movie is based on thanked us for seeing it in the big screen. The cinematography is stellar in many scenes.

This Quebec production shines in many ways with good acting, set design, custumes and more. This late 1970 period piece shows beautiful vibrant city and nature landscape in Canadian snowy winter. What shines even more is the source material and adpated screenplay that showcases trauma, human atrocity, adaptation, acceptance and awkard cultural exchanges. Some dialogue will reaonate long after the viewing and same goes for the imagery.

The directing and editing are fluid and make us feel the inner worlld of a caring, yet scared, confused and lost, growing teenager trying to make sense of the world and her place in it.

Many characters bring depth to the story while a few remain superficial yet crucial to the whole picture. The journey does not have a clear end. Life itself is but a journey, but it does have some key awakenings and realizations. Resilience, gratitude and humbleness in this both cruel and giving world.

The video montage near the end is very impactful as well as the music throughout. A movie about family, immigration, hospitality, life circumstances, survival and transendence.

"If you appreciate the nuances and shades of the blue sky, you appreciate life..."

This film is more a poem than a movie. It traces the memories of its adolescent protagonist as they come to mind. But it is all about loss and love. It is the loss of a prosperous Vietnamese family's means and identity at the fall of Saigon, in 1975: the loss of a friend, the loss of lives through the brutality of war. It is the love this family found within a new country, in Québec: the different language, the endless winter, the loving sponsors who welcomed them. On the big screen cinema, where I watched this film, the majestic winter scenes of the Québec countryside are breathtaking.

It is Québécois cinéma at its best !

Probably this book Ru is the most popular novel about Vietnamese refugees written by a Vietnamese boat person, considering the fact that it has been published in 17 countries.

I haven't read the book but I did watch the movie. There are some points that I would like to point out:

• About the scene "inside the escape boat". It seems like a big metal ship with very roomy space. In reality, in all the escape big ships and wooden boats, all refugees were packed like sardines. You can verify this fact by googling all photos about Vietnamese boat people.

-If Minh had been a Deputy Minister of Economy of South Vietnamese government (according to the movie subtitles), why wasn't he sent to the re-education camp when the communists took over South Vietnam?

• The whole story happened in a cold, snowy Montreal. Probably the author wanted it this way, as it told us the harsh weather the refugees had to cope with in the country of resettlement. But it doesn't do justice to Montreal though. Montreal not only has cold. Snowy winter but also warm, nice, flowery summer. So the new country was portrayed one-sidedly.