'Green' succeeds with
an overlooked story
By Andrew Beard
The Daily Cougar
In 1975, following the end of a 20-year-long
anti-communism campaign by the United States, millions of Vietnamese fled
their homeland and scattered
across the world. Green Dragon is about
those who made it to Camp Pendleton, an army base the size of Rhode Island
outside of San Diego, used to hold Vietnamese refugees in the U.S. until
proper housing was made available.
Although director Timothy Lui Bui lived
in a Vietnamese holding camp similar to Camp Pendleton, he said "Green
Dragon is not based on actual people I
knew."
"Obviously the experiences involved during
my stay were a large factor, but most of the ideas for the story came from
research and stories from my mother
and her friends," he said.
Most of the film is seen through the eyes
of Minh Pham, a young boy wandering Camp Pendleton in an endless search
for his mother. His uncle, Tai Tran,
looks after Minh and his younger sister
while serving as camp manager for Sergeant Jim Lance (Patrick Swayze),
who sums up the Vietnam War from the
American perspective by saying, "Do you
realize we put this camp together in 48 hours, enough housing for 15,000
people. The thing I can't understand is:
how we can accomplish all this and mess
up so badly over there."
Bui was reluctant about casting Swayze
in the part of Sgt. Lance.
"I didn't want to cast a major celebrity
because I thought it might dwarf the story," Bui said. "But after meeting
Patrick he showed his true compassion for the
part and did a fine job performing the
role."
Swayze joins fellow esteemed actor Forest
Whitaker, who plays Addie, a camp cook who befriends Mihn without sharing
a common language. Instead, they
communicate through paint, dance and a
secret handshake.
"Forest was easy to direct," Bui said.
"Although he's proven his talents as a director, writer and producer, he
wore the hat of actor very well, giving his
character the mythical value I hoped for.
In fact, the role of Addie was specifically written for Whitaker."
Reluctantly, most characters decide to
make America their home. They move throughout the United States, creating
a new form of Vietnamese-American
culture in the process.
"I hope Green Dragon does two things,"
Bui said. "First, I want people to understand the personal journey of my
family and share it with the world. Second, I
hope it crosses over to other languages
and educates people about the struggles and successes of my family. That's
all I can really hope for."
Green Dragon
Rated: PG-13
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Patrick Swayze
Rickshaw Filmworks
the verdict: Green Dragon beautifully explores
a tiny, forgotten piece of history.
