Three Seasons

1999

Three Seasons

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

78%

TOMATOMETER

Reviews Counted: 32

89%
liked it

Audience Score

User Ratings: 2,485

All Critics | Top Critics

Average Rating: N/A
Reviews Count: 0
Fresh: 0
Rotten: 0

Average Rating: 4/5

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Movie Info

With sweeping directorial vision and a powerful poetic narrative, Tony Bui has created an enormously impressive feature debut about the "new" Vietnam. Weaving three stories (really four) into a striking pictorial tapestry, Three Seasons contrasts the traditional to the modern in a nation in the chaotic throes of transition. We meet four ordinary people living almost as strangers in their own land: a young girl hired to aid a reclusive spiritual master; a cyclo driver who becomes obsessed with a proud and ambitious prostitute; a very young boy hustling lighters, gum, and cheap watches from the case around his neck; and an American Vietnam vet searching for the daughter he has never seen. What ensues is images of lives struggling to find both place and meaning in a nation which won the war but may now be losing a piece of its soul. The rich diversity of American independent film is deepened this year by the Southeast Asian, melodramatic style of Bui's work. The usual hyperbole about craft and art can't describe the immense visual sensibility of this film. It's not an overstatement to say that more arresting lyrical beauty may not appear in another American film this year. As the first American film to be shot in Vietnam since the war, with a remarkable Vietnamese cast and emotionally provocative acting by the stalwart Harvey Keitel, Three Seasons achieves a pinnacle of excellence that is rare in filmmaking today.

Rating:

PG-13 (for thematic elements)
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama
Directed By:

Tony Bui
Written By:

Tony Bui
In Theaters:

Apr 30, 1999 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Sep 21, 1999
Runtime:

110 minutes
Studio:

October Films

Cast

Harvey Keitel
as James Hager

Don Duong
as Hai

Nguyen Ngoc Hiep
as Kien An

Tran Manh Cuong
as Teacher Dao

Zoe Bui
as Lan

Huu Duoc Nguyen
as Woody

Diem Kieu
as Singing Lotus Woman

Minh Ngoc
as Truck Driver

Phat Trieu Hoang
as Huy

Le Hong Son
as Binh

Nguyen Ba Quang
as Ngon

Tran Huu Su
as Minh

Luong Doc Hung
as Man Who Chases Lan No. 1

Tran Duy Long
as Man Who Chases Lan No. 2

Tranh Manh Cuong

Bui Tuong Trac
as Man Who Buys Lotus Flowers

Huynh Kim Hong
as Woman on the Balcony

Michael Salamon
as Man Who Steals Case

Nguyen Van Son
as Shoeshine Boy

A. Lu
as Street Guardian No. 1

Hong Phu Quang
as Street Guardian No. 2

Tran Quang Hieu
as `Fagan'

Duong Tan Dung
as Cyclo Race Promoter

Ho Van Hoang
as Khoi

Thach Thi Kim Trang
as Little Girl

Ho Kieng
as Restaurant Owner

Quang Hai Ngo
as Man in Taxi

Hong Khac Dao
as Parlor Manager

Oliver Thai
as Parlor Friend

Othello Khanh
as Phuong's Drunk Friend

Lola Guimond
as Phuong/Amerasian Daughter

Nguyen Thanh Son
as Cyclo Race Official

Nguyen Thi Ngoc
as Teacher Dao's Servant

Nguyen Thi Lien
as Grandmother

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Critic Reviews for Three Seasons

All Critics (32) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (7)

To my eyes, the novelty and exoticism of the setting couldn't disguise the hackneyed situations and sentimentalized characters.

Mar 31, 2008 | Full Review…

David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic
Stronger in visual imagery than in ideas or characters, Bui's impressive feature debut, which is set in Vietnam, won the Sundance Film Festival jury and audience awards.

Jan 9, 2007 | Rating: B+

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
3.5

Jul 18, 2003 | Rating: 3/5

Leonard Klady
Movie City News
A light and lovely movie that satisfies, but goes away quickly.

Apr 11, 2003 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
An extraordinary cross-cultural masterpiece shining with incredible images, a keen sense of place, and a reverence for the incredible yearning of ordinary people.

Mar 4, 2002 | Full Review…

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
Bui has no sense of pacing or momentum.

May 1, 2001 | Rating: short | Full Review…

Chuck Rudolph
Matinee Magazine
A fascinating look at life in modern-day Vietnam.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com