Thao's Library

Thao's Library (2015) is a documentary written and directed by Elizabeth Van Meter. The movie stars Van Meter and the extraordinary Thanh Thao Huynh.

The US military used the defoliant Agent Orange to destroy forests and tall grass in Vietnam, so it would be easier to find the North Vietnamese soldiers. No one cared that Agent Orange causes birth defects, cancer, and genetic changes.

Agent Orange is a gift of misery we gave to the Vietnamese and to our own soldiers. Our country was so deep into the unjust war against Vietnam that none of the politicians or generals cared about what would happen in a few years. They just wanted to win at any cost.

Thao is an "Agent Orange Baby." She has severe deformities, doesn't have full use of her arms, and can't use her legs at all. Despite this, she has started a library for children in her community, and asked people for small contributions to buy more books.

For the American Elizabeth Van Meter, a catastrophe of Agent Orange magnitude hit her own family. Her younger sister committed suicide.

To try to bring some normalcy into her life, Van Meter connects with Thao, and then travels to Vietnam to meet her and help with the library. Van Meter was very successful in getting contributions for this humanitarian effort, and the library was completed.

This movie is very moving. You simply can't help becoming part of the cheering section for Thao, who is an extraordinary person. It's wasn't as easy for me to cheer for Van Meter. I found parts of the movie to be self-serving. Some of the scenes seemed posed to me. Watch Elizabeth at the market. Watch Elizabeth carrying chairs into the library. Watch Elizabeth laughing and joking with Thao. Van Meter is strikingly attractive, so it's not hard to drift from Thao to Elizabeth. However, Thao can't recover from her problems. They will stay with her for life. Van Meter's situation just isn't equivalent to Thao's situation.

Also, at 88 minutes, the movie is too long. How many shots do we need of people, animals, birds, and sunsets? Van Meter made the decision to go with a full-length movie, rather than a 55-minute film that would work on PBS or in a classroom. That's reasonable, but she could have made a 75-minute movie, which would be less like a travelogue.

We saw this film at the wonderful Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. It will work slightly better on the large screen, but it's worth seeking out and seeing on the small screen. The movie was part of Rochester's High Falls Film Festival.

This movie is beautiful and moving. It is a powerful statement to love and human connection. It is inspiring in how we can inject goodness into the worst situations. The calming sky and sceneries allow reflecting moments to sooth the pain and depth of human suffering. It is worthwhile to watch every minute of it and does not seem long.

Bravo to Elizabeth for making an artistically excellent movie. She is selfless in helping others and not at all self serving. Yes, she has to work through her own very palpable pain in the process. She is genuinely beautiful inside and out. She gives a voice to the forgotten victims. This is a must see movie.