A girl who refuses to surrender her optimism despite difficult circumstances brings two unlikely strangers together in this comedy drama from Vietnam. Thuy (Pham Thi Han) is an orphan who, after the death of her parents, has been sent to live with her uncle Tran Le Minh (Nguyen Hau). Tran runs a company that processes bamboo, and he puts Thuy to work in his factory, where's she puts in long hours and is treated poorly by her uncle and his associates. Convinced life has better things to offer,
Thuy runs away to Saigon, and she soon makes friends with a handful of plucky fellow orphans who survive on the street and look out for one another. Thuy supports herself by selling flowers, and during her rounds she meets Hai (Le The Lu), a friendly zookeeper who is looking after a baby elephant that is soon to be sold. Thuy and her friends meet every day at a diner where a boy (Hoang Long) serves the kids soup; another regular at the restaurant is Lan (Cat Ly), a stewardess who takes a liking to Thuy and lets the girl stay with her when she's in town on layover. Thuy senses that Lan is lonely, much like Hai, and she decides that with a little intervention on her part, Hai and Lan might make a good couple and she could become their adopted daughter. However, Thuy soon learns that matchmaking is a more challenging task than she realized. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
By taking a fairly unromantic approach to the standard strangers-meet-in-a-cold-world premise, writer-director Stephane Gauger crafts a lovely, lovelorn fable.
Owl and the Sparrow is yet one more film that preaches the importance of opening your heart and reaching out to those around you, but that treacly sentiment is nicely undercut by the unvarnished naturalness of the actors.
A strangely overdone finalé, complete with surging musical crescendos and tears, rings false, given the earnest and unsentimental qualities exhibited elsewhere in Gauger's script and direction.
A captivating and engrossing drama brimming with genuine warmth and tenderness as well as a charismatic, radiant and heartfelt performance by newcomer Pham Thi Han.
A pleasant change of pace to see a film set in Saigon which isn't a high body-count splatter flick about the ravages of the war in Indochina. Worthwhile if only for the reminder that the Vietnamese are people, too!
For better and (largely) for worse, Stephane Gauger's Ho Chi Minh City-set Vietnamese-language debut Owl and the Sparrow is defined by its Amerindie aesthetic.
Hypnotic, heartfelt character study at its gentlest and most charming. I was so enrapt in this tale of a little girl and the new family she finds that my natural cynicism didn't stand a chance.
Smartly balancing earnest sentiment with an unvarnished look at contemporary Vietnamese life, [Director Stephane] Gauger deftly bridges cultural, emotional and artistic barriers while remaining true to a uniquely Asian aesthetic.
A really good, sweet, honest and touching movie. The cast is excellent, the story is well-crafted, and it shows quite well despite an obviously tiny budget. I enjoyed getting a glimpse of a very different culture, and people, who are able to find happiness in friendship despite the difficult circumstances they live in.
Beautiful. Poignant. Made me tear up..what more can I gush about?
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