This, like many other high-quality flicks, was first brought to my attention by Jeffery Wells. Where would films like this be without someone like Wells championing them?

A Vietnamese twenty-something “bui doi” (Vietnamese for “less than dust”, a slur aimed at those with American parentage) embarks on a quest to America in search of his father, a G.I. stationed in the country during the war. The name “Beautiful Country” seems to play into the irony that a country so visually beautiful should have such a violent and terrible history.

The Poster

A single beautiful image. Art is the attempt by one person to capture that single moment most of us wish we could lock away in our memories forever. By that definition this poster is a wonder peice of art. It evokes the solitary nature of the movie’s plot and is just very nice. The kind of poster I’d love to hand on my wall.

The Trailer

They really play up the visuals here without ruining them with overblown narration. Instead a series of understated captions spell out the plot. There are lots of crane shots of Vietnam’s natural settings and a brief appearance by costar Nick Nolte, who is supposed to be excellent in this. It’s reserved and effective I think.

The Website

For an art-house release this is a pretty nice website. There’s a Synopsis which is surprisingly in-depth as to the plot. Also a pretty extensive Photo Gallery. Cast and Crew have bios for selected members but The Director has a more detailed backgrounder on helmer Hans Peter Moland. Finally the Trailer is presented in low or high bandwidth flavors.

Overall

They’re selling the visuals for this movie and only giving glimpses of the plot for the most part. Maybe this is part of the residual feelings this country has over Vietnam and the war/conflict/police action we were involved in over there all those years ago.