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The Beautiful Country

  • 2004
  • R
  • 2h 17m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
4K
YOUR RATING
The Beautiful Country (2004)
Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Play trailer1:47
2 Videos
7 Photos
Drama

After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American ... Read allAfter reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.

  • Director
    • Hans Petter Moland
  • Writers
    • Sabina Murray
    • Lingard Jervey
  • Stars
    • Damien Nguyen
    • Bai Ling
    • Dang Quoc Thinh Tran
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hans Petter Moland
    • Writers
      • Sabina Murray
      • Lingard Jervey
    • Stars
      • Damien Nguyen
      • Bai Ling
      • Dang Quoc Thinh Tran
    • 36User reviews
    • 46Critic reviews
    • 64Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 5 nominations total

    Videos2

    Beautiful Country
    Trailer 1:47
    Beautiful Country
    Beautiful Country
    Trailer 1:54
    Beautiful Country
    Beautiful Country
    Trailer 1:54
    Beautiful Country

    Photos6

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    Top cast70

    Edit
    Damien Nguyen
    • Binh
    Bai Ling
    Bai Ling
    • Ling
    Dang Quoc Thinh Tran
    • Tam
    Thi Hoa Mai
    • Wa
    Nick Nolte
    Nick Nolte
    • Steve
    Tim Roth
    Tim Roth
    • Captain Oh
    Chapman To
    Chapman To
    • Chingmy
    Temuera Morrison
    Temuera Morrison
    • Snakehead
    Xuan Phuc Dins
    • Pham
    Thu An Nguyen
    • Old Woman
    Ka Duy Pham
    • Cousin 15 years old
    Minh Trang Ngo
    • Cousin 14 years old
    Thi Kim Xuan Chau
    • Mai
    Tang Vu
    • Head Servant
    Thu Anh
    • Mrs. Hoa
    Duc Thuan Khuong
    • Mrs. Hoa's son
    Than Kien Nguyen
    • Riley
    Be He
    • Grandfather
    • Director
      • Hans Petter Moland
    • Writers
      • Sabina Murray
      • Lingard Jervey
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews36

    7.44K
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    Featured reviews

    7leilapostgrad

    Austin Movie Show review

    The children of American GI's in Vietnam were treated as second-class citizens – walking symbols of American control, destruction, and occupation. Binh (Damien Nguyen) lives with a foster family, can only eat their leftovers, and longs to find his own family, including the mother who couldn't support him and the American father he never knew. With only a picture of his parents, he leaves the village in search of his roots.

    Binh finds his mother (and a young half brother) in Saigon, but after a deadly accident, he and his new brother are forced to flee the city and the country in search of America. Binh endures the purgatory of a Malaysian refugee camp and survives the hell of an illegal slave ship.

    His travels are extraordinary and devastating, but the character of Binh is reason enough to see this incomparable epic. He has lived his life as an outcast, full of sorrow and shame. He rarely has the courage to look other people in the eye. But every catastrophic event in his journey brings him strength and courage, so that by the time he finds his father, he's man enough to face him. Or is he?
    8anhedonia

    They come into America

    One of the least attractive aspects of the American movie industry is that while crap, such as "Fever Pitch" (the remake), "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Be Cool," get millions of dollars spent on marketing and promotion and are splashed on thousands of screens, a gem like "The Beautiful Country" gets barely released. Even then, it only hits the major cities.

    I pretty much knew little to nothing about this film when I saw it. I vaguely recall seeing an Ebert & Roeper review of it, though I don't remember when they recommended it. What a completely wonderful surprise this one turned out to be.

    "The Beautiful Country" is as much about the lengths to which immigrants will go to come to the United States as it is about a man's search for his father. Writer Sabina Murray (who apparently was hired by Terrence Malick and Edward R. Pressman to write a film about immigrants and came up with this idea) deftly uses Binh's (Damien Nguyen) quest as a device to depict the hardships of immigrants.

    What ultimately makes "The Beautiful Country" a shattering experience is its complete unpretentiousness. There isn't a single emotion in this film that isn't earned. It's as much a testament to Murray's script as it is to the performances.

    Nick Nolte might be the name actor in this film, but his role's relatively small. But, just as he did in "Hotel Rwanda" (2004), Nolte takes what's essentially a cameo and turns it into something memorable. He gives his character true depth.

    The two surprises in this film are Nguyen and Bai Ling as Ling, a sexy Chinese refugee who is willing to do anything - anything - to fulfill her dreams. This is undoubtedly the best thing Bai Ling has done. Usually cast as caricatures or in minor roles, she imbues her character with genuine feeling. We understand and feel for this woman, her struggles and her passions.

    Nguyen completely dominates the film. He doesn't do anything wrong. He underplays Binh so expertly, you'd think this was a veteran actor, not a novice. It's such an incredibly honest performance, you wouldn't for an instant believe Nguyen is a surfer boy from California. It's one of the year's best performances.

    At a time when the news media and politicians seem to be concentrating on demonizing immigrants, it's important to see a film like this, to see why people leave their homelands, endure unimaginable suffering to come here. True, the immigrants in this film aren't of Arab descent or Haitian - we all know exactly how they'd be treated. But "The Beautiful Country" is all about the beauty and ugliness of life. It's also emotionally devastating at times. And what makes the film all the more remarkable is that the gut-wrenching scenes never come across as any sort of contrivance. There's no emotional blackmail here; the actors play the scenes straight and with a gesture, a simple word, manage to bring us to tears.

    "The Beautiful Country" is a rare treasure, a film that never cheats us, never asks for what it hasn't earned and still manages to be deeply affecting. And in keeping with the rest of the film, the final scene is simply perfect.

    A film like this deserves a much larger audience than it got. This is why we go to the movies.
    7jdpyke

    Great movie, yet underrated

    Classic tale of redemption, brimming with drama and a lead character that says little, but who you quickly relate to and associate yourself with. Starts of kind of slow, but after 15-20 minutes, the movie picks up and never slows down, with high drama and classic storytelling. A must-see. The movie is set to the backdrop of the aftermath of the Vietnam war in Vietnam, and portrays the poverty-stricken environment they are forced to live in. It then moves on to show the desperation of would-be American immigrants fleeing from one land that doesn't want them to sneak into another. After watching this movie, you will definitely have a greater appreciation for what some immigrants have to go through.
    8jotix100

    Coming to America

    "The Beautiful Country" is a film that tries to capture one of the worst problems in the world today, illegal people smuggling into that promised land that for some is the United States. Director Hans Peter Moland has created a film with the feeling of a documentary that follows the hard journey of a man in search of a father he never knew. Beautifully photographed by Stuart Drybargh, and with a haunting musical score by Zbigniew Preisner, "The Beautiful Country" could well have been subtitled "His Worst Nightmare".

    We are introduced to Binh, a tall young man living in Viet Nam after the end of the war. The time is 1990 and we are offered a glimpse of Binh's life where his relatives, as well as the rest of the Vietnamese don't like him because of his mixed race. His father was an American G.I. who married his mother, Mai, but Binh never gets to meet him because Steve, as the father is named, disappeared from Saigon, never to be found again.

    The film is Binh's odyssey to be reunited with the father he doesn't know. It's a horrific journey where Binh shows his own skills to endure the worst possible conditions to realize his dream of getting to meet a father he never knew. It's a homage to the surviving spirit of a man.

    Damien Nguyen is Binh, the young mixed race Vietnamese man. He does an outstanding job under Mr. Moland's direction. Nick Nolte, as Steve has some good moments. The supporting cast makes an excellent contribution to the movie.

    The film proves to what extent a determined man will go in order to get what he wants.
    8bananku

    A movie beyond expectation

    This movie is not specifically about the Vietnam war, but it gives a good perspective that is not biased in any way. It proves that justice and freedom are not present for all people, only the "lucky" ones. The people that are born in the western world. We take it all for granted what 70% of the population can just envy. It is usually said that if you work hard you will always become something significant. But after watching this movie, I understand that no matter how hard you work, if you are born poor you WILL most likely stay poor. The story follows Binh, a half Vietnamese and half American man. He isnt accepted in society in Vietnam just becasue of this hard fact "he is the enemy" and therefore he is worthless. This has become a major issue in Vietnam after the Vietnam war, but it has never been taken this seriously before. This is a very good movie! I would reccomend everyone to watch this, it gives everyone a humanitarian lesson about how we are all humanbeings no matter where we come from.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Terrence Malick has a Story credit, under his pseudonym Lingard Jervey.
    • Goofs
      In some scenes, the upper part of the hull is painted white. In others, it is black.
    • Quotes

      Binh: How long you blind?

      Steve: A long time. I worked in a storage facility in Saigon. I thought it was a crate of beer. Turned out to be explosives.

      Binh: You're still alive...

      Steve: Yeah, that's what they said. One minute I'm in Saigon, the next I'm in a hospital in Maryland, and six months had passed. Woke up, couldn't see, didn't know where I was. Some assholes tell me I'm lucky.

    • Connections
      Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006)

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    FAQ

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 13, 2004 (Norway)
    • Countries of origin
      • Norway
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • Vietnamese
      • English
      • Mandarin
      • Cantonese
      • Malay
    • Also known as
      • Un lugar maravilloso
    • Filming locations
      • Vietnam
    • Production companies
      • Dinamo Story
      • Sunflower Productions
      • Nordisk Film & TV-Fond
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $6,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $442,813
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $25,900
      • Jul 10, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $878,325
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 17 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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