A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".
- Awards
- 6 wins & 7 nominations
- Shiomi Akutagawa
- (as George Chi-Cheung Lam)
- Nguyen's Mistress
- (as Cora Chien-Jen Miao)
- Le Van Quyen
- (as Mei-Ying Jia)
- Comrade Vu
- (as Shu-Jin Lin)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe People's Republic of China, just ending a war with Vietnam, gave Hui permission to film on Hainan Island. Boat People was the first Hong Kong movie filmed in Communist China.
- GoofsAt the dinner a waiter pours a beer for the journalist with a head of 3-4 cm. After the cut to another angle, only 1 cm is left.
- Quotes
Comrade Nguyen: They're too young, Comrade Le and Comrade Vu. They're too eager. They lose proportion. When I see how determined they are... I think I must have been weak when I was young. It makes me feel old.
Shiomi Akutagawa: You aren't old.
Comrade Nguyen: Recently I've been thinking a lot about my youth... here and Paris, drinking French wine, eating French food... even longing for a French woman. I must be old! The Revolution claimed half of my life. And now I realized I'm old. My mind still lives in the colonial past. Vietnam has won her Revolution. But I've lost mine! I know where to get the best French food in Danang. I'll take you there sometime.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Keep Rolling (2020)
Shot just after the war between China and Viet Nam, that goes a long way towards why the authorities permitted Anna Hui and her Hong Kong crew to shoot on Hainan. It's a telling story, not the least because the director lets you know this is a pure point-of-view story; every shot is perfectly composed, often beautiful in its horror. Even after Lam abandons his camera, the beautiful images continue; he's trapped with his photographer's eye, seeing things as they really are, yet unable to see anything but the beauty of misery.
- How long is Boat People?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- HK$15,475,087
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