La saison des goyaves

Nhat Minh Dang gives us a look at the complex society that is modern Vietnam. We see a Buddhist society with a Communist government that is beginning to embrace western values -- at least commercial values. All these competing factors have their positive and negative sides, which the writer/director presents with openness and honesty, and through the eyes of a mentally underdeveloped young man working as an artist model. The story centers around his boyhood home and the quava tree which grew outside. The house and the tree both symbolize the history of Vietnam in the 20th century.

For most of us, this is a glimpse of a world most of us do not know -- not to mention a well made film.