Three Seasons (1999)
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81% of critics liked it
(31 reviews) -
87% of users liked it
(2,429 ratings)
Winner of an unprecedented three major awards at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival (including the Grand Jury, Audience and Cinematography awards), this first feature by 26-year-old Tony Bui is a poetic narrative about the "new" Vietnam, and is the first American independent film to be shot… More Winner of an unprecedented three major awards at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival (including the Grand Jury, Audience and Cinematography awards), this first feature by 26-year-old Tony Bui is a poetic narrative about the "new" Vietnam, and is the first American independent film to be shot on location in that country. The film weaves three separate stories about four characters in Saigon and how their paths cross. In the first, a young Vietnamese woman is working for a reclusive writer who has lost his fingers to leprosy. As she sings, her master becomes infatuated with her and finds inspiration in her music, just as she finds inspiration in his words. Their union in one of song, love, friendship and aid. Second is Hai, a cyclo driver who falls for a young prostitute with high ambitions. After saving her from a few hostile clients, she lets him drive her around. Eventually Hai enters a cyclo race in hopes of winning enough money to spend one night with his beloved. Finally, a young boy named Woody sells gum, watches and lighters to passers-by in the streets. In a bar he meets an American soldier (played by Harvey Keitel) who is searching for his missing daughter. When Woody suspects the G.I. of stealing his suitcase, he goes looking. What he finds is best left unanswered. ~ Chris Gore, Rovi
- Directed By
- Tony Bui
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
- In Theaters
- Apr 30, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- October Films
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
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.
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Leonard Klady, Movie City News
3.5
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A light and lovely movie that satisfies, but goes away quickly.
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
An extraordinary cross-cultural masterpiece shining with incredible images, a keen sense of place, and a reverence for the incredible yearning of ordinary people.
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Cast
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Don Duong
as Hai
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Nguyen Ngoc Hiep
as Kien An
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Tran Manh Cuong
as Teacher Dao
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Harvey Keitel
as James Hager
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Zoe Bui
as Lan
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Huu Duoc Nguyen
as Woody
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Diem Kieu
as Singing Lotus Woman
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Bui Tuong Trac
as Man Who Buys Lotus Flowers
- Duong Don
- Diep Bui
- Ngoc Hiep Nguyen
- Manh Cuong Tran
- Phat Trieu Hoang
