Drama

Amalga

Canada

Tiếng Việt

Français

Chloé Djandji

Chantal Thuy

Jean Bui

Olivier Dinh

Xavier Nguyen

Patrice Robitaille

Karine Vanasse

Mali Corbeil-Gauvreau

Benoît Mauffette

Eugénie Beaudry

Jean-Marc Dalphond

Richard Fréchette

Marie-Thérèse Fortin

Julie De Lafrenière

Long Pham

Benoît Drouin-Germain

Ralph Prosper

Stéphanie Germain

Xiaodan He

Brigitte Hébert

Sean Lu

Marie-Josée Forget

Viet-Due Duong

Ngoc-X-N Phan

David Leblanc

Jean-Philippe Lehoux

Stéphanie Perreault

Maude Bouchard

Elliot Parent

Joseph Bellerose

Annie Pham

Nina Pham

Emma Bao Linh Tourné

Jérémie Corriveau

Duy Pham

Stephanie White

Laurent Pham

Chantal Chartrand

Jean-Léon Rondeau

Charlotte Sales

Cam Poirier

Anne-Lise Nadeau

Louise Laurin

André Robillard

Antonin Bouffard

Kim Thúy

Charles-Olivier Michaud

Jacques Davidts

Michel Corriveau

Pierre-Jules Audet

Nathalie Tremblay

Jean-François Lord

Marco Légaré

Natalia Ortelli

Tristan Stevens

Valérie Milot

Geneviève Hébert

Philipe Gilbert

Jeffrey Roy

Nathalie Boutrie

Rosalie Clermont-Bilodeau

André Dupuy

Marie-Hélène Lavoie

Mo Matton

Justin Vanier

Sam Proulx

Marie-Alexandra Forget

Claude Palardy

Catherine Kirouac

Thierry Collins

Vickie-Lynn Roy

Guillaume Daoust

Hans Laitres

Erik Daniel

Nakkita Toumi

Frédérique Descarries-Fontan

Delphine Le Courtois

Maxime Vermette

Fredericke Hamelin Laventure

Daniel Bisson

Marie-Miel Lacasse Hévey

Mathieu Maillé

8.5/10 —> 4.25/5

This was a great film. Very solid filmmaking and acting all around the board, but especially from the lead, Chloé Djandji, an incredible child actor, her first gig as well. 

Chloé was stellar at portraying the reserved, shy and traumatized Tinh, showing clear acting abilities in the way she keeps the reserved demeanour, yet shows so much feeling and thought at the same time. We are also seeing things in her perspective and memories, leading to the interesting structure of the film, as well as how we see them. Particularly on their journey away from their home country

I really liked a lot of the camerawork used in this film as well. Lots of broad views and long shots, which is interestingly something I’ve noticed is very common not just in indie cinema, but in Quebec films as well, such as Les Chambres Rouges and Vampire Humaniste; its an interesting stylistic choice that’s more common here than elsewhere, from what I’ve seen. Its very well conceived cinematography as well. One moment I really appreciated was when they are getting onto the boat, and as Tinh struggles to stay afloat, so does the camera, since the film’s in her perspective. That was a great moment of camerawork. I also love all the shots where Tinh is standing and staring, as those are perhaps the most emotionally charged scenes for her, and where Djandji truly shines the brightest.

Tinh and Johanne have the cutest friendship, as well. Even with her still being shy, you can tell how close Tinh feels to Johanne, particularly when they cry together alone towards the ending minutes. Speaking of Johanne, Mali Corbeil-Gauvreau is also great, and has superb acting chemistry with Chloé Djandji.

The whole film is very grounded and raw in its storytelling and dialogue. It takes on a very shy slice of life approach while in Quebec, whereas in Viet Nam and on the way out, it is much more hectic and heavy, again influenced by the perspective of Tinh. Its thanks to this perspective that it all feels so much more visceral and scary. She and her family, as well as many, many others, went through much hardship to emigrate as refugees, and I do also want to note that, though it isn’t an experience I’ve had - it portrays the immigration very well from my life outside knowledge. Others may be able to correct me, but it feels very realistic to me. Particularly for Chloé, it is an immense adjustment - particularly due to language. One moment that hurt my heart was when she asked her mother to speak in their native tongue, but she refused rather coldly, and though we didn’t see Tinh’s face for most of that shot, the hurt was tangible.

I am definitely glad that I saw this one - it was well worth the viewing. 

8.5/10

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Cast

Chloé Djandji

Chantal Thuy

Jean Bui

Olivier Dinh

Xavier Nguyen

Patrice Robitaille

Karine Vanasse

Mali Corbeil-Gauvreau

Benoît Mauffette

Eugénie Beaudry

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