Alamo Bay

I really enjoy this movie. I am normally a Horror buff, but there is a great ambiance of the Texas Gulf created. Not to mention wonderful character development. The story is about a young Vietnamese man (Ho Nguyen) who comes to Texas after the war for work. He ends up hitching a ride and begins work shrimping on the Gulf Coast of Texas. He is taken in by the Shrimp business owner's daughter (Amy Madigan). Everything is going well until the pressures of the immigrants over fishing drives Shang (Ed Harris) to lead the Ku Klux Klan to drive out the Vietnamese. The drama continues in a very REAL display. You will be able to find a VHS copy on Amazon or Ebay. This movie SHOULD be released on DVD.

This story of attacks on Vietnamese immigrants on the Texas coast was loosely based on real events from 1979-81. Shang Pierce (Ed Harris) is a Vietnam vet who hates all non-white people and gets particularly riled when Southeast Asian immigrants begin arriving in his town, and especially when one of them develops a relationship with his girlfriend, Glory (Amy Madigan). The situation gets tenser and tenser as the movie progresses.

Maybe "Alamo Bay" is not the greatest movie ever, but it certainly shows a part of Texas history (and indeed, US history) that unfortunately seems forgotten. Ed Harris looks like a typical redneck, with a short, wispy beard. It is the sort of movie that you should check out if you get a chance.

This film, like its director, was years ahead of its time. Before Mississippi Burning, Cry Freedom, and Rosewood solidified the cliches of the racism genre, Louis Malle delivered this authentic, effortless look at Vietnamese fisherman working off the gulf coast of Texas. No house burnings and lynchings need apply. Malle and his writer Alice Arlen pay such close attention to detail that the film pants with life in the hot Texas sun. The actors scarcely seem to be acting at all. It takes skill and courage to film an incendiary subject like this won with a level head and a compassion for all involved. Despite its route cinematic ending, this film's catch is bountiful.

An interesting conflict put to screen that depicts many racist echos that still reverberate in modern times.

Being a product of the 80s, it's hard for me to be sure what message this was trying to send back then. Now, it seems like it makes efforts to shine a light on the injustice dealt to Vietnamese refugees looking to make a new life. Whether or not it's done well is up for debate. Personally, there needed to be even stronger characterization for Dinh and other Vietnamese characters for this goal to succeed. Glory is probably the best character in the story in terms of development and being fleshed out. I kept waiting for something deeper to happen to Shang's (Ed Harris) development, but that doesn't come.

I'm not sure this story could have done it, but it's only natural for me to want to see some of these characters begin to come out of their deep seeded racism. In the end, one racist leader is killed, but what is stopping the next one from rising without the obstacle of loving Glory in their way? Because of this-being that there is no systemic change within the white community aside from plunging into further racism-it's hard for me to read the final statement about the perseverance of Vietnamese gulf coast workers without feeling like the path was made more dangerous for that fact to be true.

And maybe that's the point. But I'm not sure. As it stands, I appreciated the slice of life aspects the film brings, the unveiling of Shang's plan to bring in the Klan was intimidating if not shocking, and Glory, who felt like a pretty great character all of the time.

Edit: just learned that Amy Madigan (Glory) is actually married to Ed Harris (Shang) which is such a cool fact to learn after watching this.

WATCHED ON: Tubi

HIGHER OR LOWER: Higher.

Notice the stereotypes this movie presents: Vietnamese as courteous, hardworking, church going honorable people. Vietnamese war vets: racist, womanizing drunks. This is one of many films that utterly demonizes Vietnam vets. Madigans character so admires the Vietnamese leader that she declares: "You have to be the last cowboy in Texas".

If you watch most Vietnam war flicks vets are usually (take your pick or all of the below) criminals, drug users or dealers, perverts, rapists, psychologically unbalance, racists. Yet statistics show that VV's are no more prone to this than the rest of the general population. Do not watch this crap.