Daughter from Danang

It's almost 2008 and Heidi's mother still waits. Heidi may never understand the complicated reasons for the failure of her visit, as expressed so well in various commentaries. She was told her family would expect help, and perhaps if Tran T Nhu (who paid for and planned the trip to visit relatives in Hanoi before Heidi and the film crew asked to come along) had been able to stay with Heidi, there might not have been the breakdown. It certainly wasn't planned. The film followed the unfolding events with honesty. It remains a small slice of the multiple effects and ongoing trauma of war. Maybe Heidi's children will some day want to visit their Viet Nam family, but they too will have to face the cultural divide. With the right background, which Heidi unfortunately lacked, visiting one's Asian relatives becomes a wonderful and enriching experience.

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.

I watched this movie by accident. I was reading a material and had left the TV on when the title came up ..... " Daughter From Danang" .... I did not know what it was, but my instinct told me it was a drama movie/documentary film. I am all for dramas and more so with true to life story documentaries. Without hesitance, I dropped what I was reading and soon became engrossed as the story was unfolding. True, I was expecting a happy ending. Instead, the movie ended in a sad tone with a subtle hint of possibly another tragedy in the making. I was deeply saddened and felt the pang of pain for Heidi that her visit turned out like a nightmare. I myself is a mixture of Chinese and of Southeast Asian background (not Vietnamese). Most of my relatives from both sides of my parents are very poor. They hardly have any food on the table, let alone a decent house or education. I grew up seeing my parents helped their relatives in every way they can in terms of food, shelter, clothes, education and employment. A lot of times, we the children had to sacrifice our wants and likes such as fun outfits, nice toys and holiday trips because my parents could no longer afford those. With all gratitude, my parents provided all of us seven (7) children, the education that was inexistent in our family tree. Helping family and relatives is like a tradition in my family. It is also like a legacy and it will be passed on to the next generation, especially to the ones who are in a position to help. Growing up in this type of environment .... I totally understand and sympathize with the Vietnamese's predicament and the need for help. I am almost sure that when they knew Heidi was coming to see them, they probably thought she will bring them the much needed salvation. The Vietnamese Family may have expected this to happen, more than just hoped for it to happen. This was demonstrated by their aggressiveness in asking for financial help, of which Heidi took it as rude and offensive. Heidi's reaction was also understandable because she was brought up by her adoptive parent the "Americn Way". Very strong minded and independent, amongst many other qualities. I am just curious as to why Heidi was not prepared for all of this? I am aware that the lady who escorted her to Vietnam have told her that life is very different there. But somehow, Heidi should have gone a little further or at least, she should have been encouraged by the filming group to do a little research on the cultural background of her estranged family. Her awareness and familiarization of the social culture could have helped her interact with her family in a more positive way, and may have avoided the unnecessary feeling of shock, anger and resentment that caused her so much anguish, it broke my heart. It's been 2 years now since her emotional visit to Vietnam. She may have taken some time to think things over and have created a plan to reconsider her brother's plea for help. At the end of the interview, Heidi said something to this effect: "I guess I closed the door on them (paused and thinking). Yes, I may have closed the door, but I did not lock the door (gave a smile"): This gave me a strong sense of hope. It tells me that she's taking a step back in order to make two steps forward. Heidi's American upbringing ..... the morals, virtues and principles that she was shaped into by her adoptive family may play a big role in her recognizing and exercising humanitarian gestures towards her Vietnamese family. I hope that this act of good deed will serve as a vehicle for her to learn to accept her real family and to love them unconditionally, as they did for her. According to Heidi, she lives for the present and for the future. The she does not live for the past....... my comment to this is that for Heidi to accept and acknowledge the fact that there was a huge void in her life that needs filling up. In my opinion, she needs to find a way to connect the past to the present, so that she may able to proceed with her journey to the future. I think, if she's able to do this, she would feel whole, strong and liberated. This is then a call for PART TWO of the drama ...... ah! what should be the title? HHHmmm, I'll leave that to you. This movie has been inspiring to me, and no doubt .... should be inspiring for those children like Heidi. This presentation, could help thousands of those children ease their silent suffering, and may help aide them in their healing process. That ultimately, the tragedy in Vietnam War will yield a happy ending. At least, for those innocent children like Heidi who will successfully come to terms with her past, present and future life as a person. To the people who created this film, thank you and more power to you. To Heidi and her family .... be patient for "LOVE WILL CONQUER ALL".

Any documentary that keeps me glued to the set (I saw "Daughter from Danang" on PBS television) and can provoke compassion, delight, consternation, embarrassment, anger, admiration, and deep chagrin, is, to my mind, a great documentary.

"Daughter from Danang" fits that description. Regardless of my personal reaction to the players in this particular true-life drama, I will never see human relationships in quite the same way again. I'd challenge anybody to see it and come away indifferent.

A masterwork.

Just like Heidi wasn't prepared for the way she was treated in Vietnam, I wasn't prepared for watching this emotionally violent documentary. I expected a "good feeling" documentary, showing what could be perceived as some kind of reconciliation between USA and Vietnam, by the public.. How can a daughter-finds-back-her-mother ever turn our to be a sad story? I had better braced myself.

The first moments of the reunion, at the airport, already start to show a distance between the mother and daughter. Such violent emotions.. You can feel the daughter shying away. I was thinking that the documentary would hide the bad stuff and only focus on superficial emotions. It did not, and that's why it's such a great documentary.

First off, it doesn't present a negative view of Americans nor Vietnamese. It just shows a few individuals from those two cultures, without attempting to make them look bad or worse. Heidi is not the typical American girl and neither is her mother the typical Vietnamese mother. It isn't any more Vietnamese than American to have strong emotions like Mai and pour out every time. Such characters exist in both cultures. Just watch Oprah and Dr. Phil and you'll see lots of crying and overreacting. As a matter of fact, many Vietnamese consider improper the display of strong emotions in public.

Now this being said, the movie shows what culture shock is all about.

Heidi has been raised in America, where bread is white and meat comes in burgers. She can't stand the smell of fresh fish in a hot market. She can't stand being in Vietnam for so long, with such heat, humidity, without her commodities. Many Americans and Europeans would feel just the same. To show it on film is not a stab at American culture or a display of American egocentricity. It is a mere fact of life : if you grow up in comfort, even at the expense of freshness and excitement, it is hard to give it up.

On the other hand, the whole "fillial obligation" thing in Vietnam is real, but it is not just about the money. I don't think Heidi was crying because she was being asked money, but rather because she saw them clinging desperately at her as if she were a Saviour. No one can handle that kind of emotional pressure, combined with all the extra attention she kept getting. However, she just needed say No and they backed off.

I think that the two sides need to work a little to make this a better relationship. I wonder how the viewing of this movie was perceived by both parties. It must be terribly difficult for them to watch.