Boat People

R

1983

1h 51m

Drama

List

Tomatometer

4 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Shiomi Akutagawa (George Lam), a Japanese photojournalist, travels to Vietnam to document life under communist rule. Government officials are all too happy to take him on a tour of villages that are clean, happy and healthy. But Shiomi is restless. He manages to break away from the government tour and sets out on his own. He meets Cam (Season Ma), a young boy, and a villager's mistress (Cora Miao), who become his guides to the Vietnam the government doesn't want anyone to see.

Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

Tackles the twin evils of propaganda and state oppression through the eyes of a naïve foreigner.

Mar 21, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brown

ScreenAnarchy

Season Ma's performance as Cam Nuong is the heart of the film, however; never cloying or precious, but always with a keen sense of a lived reality and an ancient-feeling pragmatism.

Feb 25, 2022

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A politicized film revealing the human tragedy of war.

Rated: A

Dec 13, 2020

Full Review

Andrew Heskins

easternKicks.com

Time has hardly lessened the impact of Hui's film, both beautiful and bleak. It's simply outstanding.

Rated: 5/5

Sep 24, 2020

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Jazz M

Incredibly shot, acted and directed

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/04/23

Full Review

Pier

A movie accusing the Vietnamese system of repression that is shot in China, with Chinese dialogues, Chinese actors, at the time of the war between Vietnam and China. Any conflict of interest?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Shiven K

A passionate yet bleak drama about the inner conflicts of life after war.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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isaac m

Boat People is an amazing film that highlights a Japanese news reporter seeing the life of a Vietnamese girl and her siblings. I love the realism, the performances, the direction and the story. This movie reflects the life of Vietnamese people and how some decided to leave and settle into America. Overall, Boat People is a movie that isn't afraid to tackle issues of what's real and what's fake.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

s r

Fascinating premise. A Chinese film about a Japanese reporter in Vietnam who exposes the shortcomings of communist . It was melodramatic and certainly felt Chinese, but the topic was effectively shown. Saw it on TCM.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

In celebration of Ann Hui's record-breaking 5th win of BEST DIRECTOR in HONG KONG FILM AWARDS for her epic THE GOLDEN ERA (2014), which is also the eventual recipient of BEST PICTURE, it is an opportune time to track back her first win at the age of 35 for her fourth feature BOAT PEOPLE, which has established her as a pioneer in the New Wave movement of Hong Kong Cinema. keep reading my review on my blog: http://wp.me/p1eXom-1Sm

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Ann Hui

Director

George Lam

Shiomi Akutagawa

Cora Miao

Nguyen's Mistress

Season Ma

Cam Nuong

Andy Lau

To Minh

David Chung

Cinematographer

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Synopsis

Shiomi Akutagawa (George Lam), a Japanese photojournalist, travels to Vietnam to document life under communist rule. Government officials are all too happy to take him on a tour of villages that are clean, happy and healthy. But Shiomi is restless. He manages to break away from the government tour and sets out on his own. He meets Cam (Season Ma), a young boy, and a villager's mistress (Cora Miao), who become his guides to the Vietnam the government doesn't want anyone to see.

Director: Ann Hui
Production Co: Bluebird Movie Enterprises
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 29, 2019
Runtime: 1h 51m