Inspired by the true sto­ries of Vietnamese refu­gees who fled their land after the fall of Saigon—and those who were forced to stay behind, Journey From The Fall fol­lows one family’s strug­gle for free­dom.

April 30, 1975 marked the end of Vietnam’s two-decade-old civil war and the start of the exodus of hun­dreds of thou­sands of refu­gees. Despite his alle­giance to the top­pled South Vietnamese govern­ment, Long Nguyen (as Long Nguyen) deci­des to remain in Vietnam. Imprisoned in a Communist re-edu­ca­tion camp, he urges his family to make the escape by boat without him. His wife Mai (Diem Lien), son Lai (Nguyen Thai Nguyen) and mother Ba Noi (Kieu Chinh) then embark on the arduous ocean voyage in the hope of rea­ching the U.S. and free­dom. Back in Vietnam, Long suf­fers years of soli­tary confi­ne­ment and hard labor, and finally des­pairs that his family has peri­shed. But news of their suc­cess­ful reset­tle­ment in America ins­pi­res him to make one last des­pe­rate attempt to join them.

 

Review by Kim Voynar

The American version of the Vietnam War generally ends on April 30, 1975, the day the last of the U.S. troops and diplomats boarded planes and helicopters and left Vietnam. But for many Vietnamese, especially for those who had been loyal to the toppled South Vietnamese government, the fall of Saigon and the takeover of the Communist Viet Cong government was only the beginning of a long, terrible journey. Many of these citizens, loyal to the former government, found themselves incarcerated in Communist “re-education” camps for years. Still more Vietnamese, many of them women and children, fled Vietnam for other Southeast Asian countries or America, and became known as the “boat people.”

Lire la suite / Read more : Blog Moviefone, posted 23/03/2007.

 

Trailer for Journey from the Fall, directed by Ham Tran

Fiche du film sur Wikipedia

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