S.O.S Vietnã - Jornada após a guerra

Make no mistake about it,the Vietnam war was a nightmare for all who were present. It was a war that we could have lost (and did!). Until now, any story of the Vietnam conflict was told mainly from the American perspective. Journey From The Fall is the first film (at least for us Americans) to tell the story from the Vietnamese experience. The plot seems to be a trilogy of stories during the fall of Saigon. A family is torn apart when the father is imprisoned by the Viet Cong and is sent to a re-education camp (read that as concentration camp)to be whipped into a proper Vietnamese citizen. The rest of the story concerns the rest of the family who manages to make it to America & be a part of the fabric that is the American experience. This is a film that is at times brutal to watch, but is a testament to the endurance of the human spirit. About 98 to 99% of the film is spoken in Vietnamese with subtitles, but don't let that keep you from seeing this heartbreaking, but uplifting & powerful film.

Filmmakers are always trying to find ways to innovate, trying to find a new story or way of telling their story that hasn't been done. The great majority fail in this quest, but there are a select few that do manage to change things, or to open a new door.

Journey From The Fall is one such film, a film that tells a story that other filmmakers have not. It is also a gorgeous, meticulous and incredibly moving piece of art. These two things coupled means that this film will hopefully stake a place in the medium, and have a chance to reach a wide audience -- because this is a story that must be heard.

I, myself, am Caucasian, and do not have ancestors that had to bear an inhuman journey in some stagnant, oppressive hold of a boat, crammed in with other families in the faint hopes of escaping the aftermath of the Viet-Nam war. And yet, I was so, so moved by this film. Its ability to connect with the viewer transcends race and history. Knowing that you're watching a true story, knowing that these people and so very many others have gone through what these characters have, I promise, it will rip your heart out.

I think the biggest question we have about prospective movies is, 'why do I want to see this?' to which I'd answer that this is such a huge piece of history that we simply haven't heard a thing about. All those stories about American troops going off to the war, coming home, living with the ghosts of the VC, agent orange, the Khmer Rouge, rejection at home, etc etc... with all of that, we have no idea what happened in that country after we left. It's time to start finding out -- and this film is the first step.

This is truly an achievement of artistic and technical brilliance, and stands out in every category a film can. Bring your tissue, you won't soon forget this.

i could not stop crying through the film, and i am not a crybaby. this case was different because it is the story of the refugees and the people that were left behind. i know it hit me deep down because i finally got to see a beautiful film about the struggles of my parents and grandparents. i hope that everyone else will still feel the impact of this story that is based on true events because it was a very difficult time for all the vietnamese families who lived through the war. my parents have yet to go back to viet nam and this film makes we want to take the journey for them to see their home land which they still love and had to leave behind, although we know it has changed a lot in thirty years. even to this day my parents are reconnecting with people they new in viet nam and they are all over the place, here in southern California, also in northern California, Texas and in new york.

I want to thank Mr. Ham Tran and his team for making this true and tearful film.

It brought back many memories when life was full of hardships, sufferings and miseries.

It's now the past for so called "the boat peoples", however, the Communist is still controlling Vietnam.

Life is getting better after the fall of communism in the East Europe, but freedom is still the dream of the Vietnamese...

Wish them have all the courage and lucks ... till one day the sun will rise, the kites will fly ... in that wonderful country !

This amazingly poignant film is very much overdue. For over thirty years the film industry has put out the same films of the Vietnam War. Each one focusing on the American point of view. Each one forgetting to mention the Vietnamese people who were also affected.

I encourage everyone, of all backgrounds, to watch this movie. It's not only moving but cinematically beautiful. Through this movie, I was able to see my parents' journey to America brought to life. Their words were illustrated and their feelings conveyed through motion picture. While watching the movie, I couldn't help but feel fortunate to be alive in a country where I am free and fortunate that my parents made it through their journey. My parents and many like them, made an ultimate sacrifice, to leave behind their home, their loves, their family -in search of freedom and opportunity in America. Through the movie, I was reminded of a mother's ultimate undying love for her child, a father's unconditional love for his daughter, and the unbreakable bond of family, culture and tradition.

One of the character's mentioned that we can never forget our past…those words never struck truer. No matter what country I reside in, what culture I am raised in, what nation I chose to adopt as my own –I will never forget the sacrifices of my parents', the oppression and degradation of my grandparents and the loss of freedom of my ancestors. I am and forever will be a Vietnamese-American…and proud.

I hope with the release of this film, others will understand the struggle of the Vietnamese people after the war. American troops were not the only ones affected. Although their struggle and pain is undeniable, there were millions of people who were also affected -citizens of Viet Nam were killed, and their rights stripped of them and to this day, they still struggle.

I hope viewers understand the rage and angst Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans have buried deep within each of us. I also hope this film allows the older Vietnamese generation to have faith that the younger generation is proud and appreciative of our roots. We will not forget…we will continue the struggle towards freedom for our forefathers…for ourselves and we will always keep the memories alive.

Thanks to director Ham Tran for such a wonderful film. He is so young, yet incredibly talented. The risks and sacrifice he took for this movie somewhat resembles that of a hero in our community…which is quite a rare trait.

Please see this movie and learn from the lessons...you don't need to be Vietnamese to see it, you just need to be human.