September
28
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MONSOON (12A)
MONSOON (12A)
Director: Hong Khaou
Runtime: 1h20m
Cast: Henry Golding, Parker Sawyers, Molly Harris, David Tran, Lâm Vissay, Edouard Leo
Synopsis: MONSOON is a rich and poignant reflection on the struggle for identity in a place where the past weighs heavily on the present. Kit returns to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since he was six years old, when his family fled the country in the aftermath of the Vietnam-American war. Struggling to make sense of himself in a city he’s no longer familiar with, he embarks on a personal journey across the country that opens up the possibility for friendship, love and happiness.
URL: https://youtu.be/wiKxgGAYU40
This is the second feature film of Writer/Director Hong Khaou (Lilting, 2014). Monsoon is an outstanding visual and emotional achievement, with a stellar performance from Henry Golding [Crazy Rich Asians (2018), The Gentlemen (2019)]. The film is a rich and poignant exploration of the struggle for identity in a place where the past weighs heavily on the present.
Kit (Henry Golding) returns to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since he was six years old, when he and his family escaped Saigon as ‘boat refugees’ after the Vietnam War. No longer familiar with this country and unable to speak his native language, Kit embarks on a personal journey from Saigon to Hanoi in search of a place to scatter his parents’ ashes. Along the way he meets his estranged family through Lee (David Tran – Farewell, Berlin Wall, 2015) and falls for Lewis (Parker Sawyers – Southside with You, 2016), an American whose father had fought in the war.
Struggling to make sense of himself in a city he’s no longer familiar with, he embarks on a personal journey across the country that opens up the possibility for friendship, love and happiness.
In Hanoi, a young art curator called Linh (Molly Harris) embodies the energy of a new Vietnam, moving out of the past with confidence.
During his travels, Kit finally starts to connect to the memories of his parents and his own roots. Cultural identity, the search for belonging and the legacies of the past are touchstone themes in Monsoon, which is a rich and poignant reflection on the struggle for identity in a place where the past weighs heavily on the present.
This rich, textured and subtle portrayal of a search for belonging is beautifully shot by cinematographer Benjamin Kracun, with an outstanding thoughtful central performance from Henry Golding.
In cinemas and streaming.
Images courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures.
