Dung dot

This film is unique in its reflection of the war in Vietnam with all devastating effects on lives of people on all sides. It is not your typical black-and-white story of the good guys fighting the bad guys. It is not a Vietnamese version of Apocalypse Now, Platoon or Deer Hunter. Perhaps the nearest comparison is Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth, except Dung Dot (Do Not Burn) does not have as much of a storyline. While watching this film one feels more like listening to a long poem, illustrated by powerful pictures of beauty and horror. It is a true story of a young Vietnamese woman, a doctor who had recorded her thoughts in the midst of the killing, not knowing if she will live to see the next day. Although there is not much of a plot, the director somehow managed to create an emotional story which flows smoothly and grips your attention until the last minute. While the Vietnamese crew did a great job, most American actors were not convincing and looked fairly stiff. This is the main reason why I gave the film 9 stars instead of 10. It must be difficult to find good American actors in Vietnam; and on a Vietnamese budget. However, even that did not spoil the overall experience. Watch the film and you will learn what it must have felt like to be a 27-year old caught in the horrors of one of the worst wars of the twentieth century.

No English subtitles (or even a menu) for the Vietnamese which is for most of the movie. For the American speakers the audio quality was so bad that subtitling would have helped. Grainy, poor quality cinematography and the editing left the storyline fragmented. Definitely, and sadly given the potential in this story, it was a very low budget film. Good films have come out of Vietnam and unfortunately the Vietnamese government didn't show more financial backing for this story. Acting was not that good especially the lead role with a first time performance; other actors have limited credits and with the Americans it's mostly TV shorts. The entire diary should have been scripted differently in showing the horrors of war. It's been done before but not in this case.

OK so quickly just had to say - this film was really quite watchable. The subtitles too me out of it a little but the story was interesting and the actors were great. As far as I'm aware it hadn't got much publicity which I think is a shame. Sure most of it is set in Vietnam but it's a story about America too. The American one from Sex in the City was cute - I'm not sure who he was in SATC but either way nice bit of eye candy.

For me the most interesting thing was that the theater was packed! Where did all these fans come from...

All in all - good worth the watch and the insight into a different culture.