This is a touching, perhaps universal story, heightened by the fact that it is based on real characters and actual events. The movie examines an essentially loving mother and son relationship, that is troubled by irreconcilable differences. The generation gap in reverse. The ideals of the 1960's verses the stark realities of the 1990's. The adult behaving like the passionate, yet somewhat irresponsible child. And the child trying to be the voice of wisdom and level-headed reason ...... the responsible one.
My approach to the cinematography was more classical in style. I tried to make the contemporary 'reality' of present day Berkeley in California look as real and normal as possible. In turn, this helped in making a contrast to the scenes showing the more fanciful world of the mother's chosen path in life. There were several scenes set in tropical Vietnam, that needed to be shot in semi-arid California. These scenes needed to look real, but also a little surreal at the same time.
To underline the more classical style of the film, I shot with a geared head throughout the production, rather than using the more organic-feeling of a normal fluid head on the tripod. The lighting style tends towards a more neutral or natural look, in an effort to try and capture the feeling of every-day life. I tried to de-glamorize the inherently glossy look that the medium tends to give its subjects. A case where the cinematography needs to look good, yet not draw attention to itself and therefore risk interfering with the story telling or contemporary mood.
The production budget was modest to say the least, although we were surprising well catered for on the equipment side of things. But like all movies, and especially the lower-budget ones, we needed to get the maximum bang-for-the-buck that was possible under the circumstances. The enthusiasm and dedication of the crew helped to make this a successful production, both on screen and off.
Written by Peter Gray, Director of Photography, while shooting in Pusan, Korea, February, 2002.
