_Three_Seasons_ (PG-13) *** 1/2 (out of ****)
For the most part, Tony Bui's gorgeous Sundance favorite is a fascinating look at life in modern-day Vietnam, seen through the eyes of a number of characters leading different lives in and around Ho Chi Minh City: a young woman (Nguyen Ngoc Hiep) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with the old, ailing owner (Tran Manh Cuong) of the lotus farm at which she works; a cyclo driver (Don Duong) who falls for a prostitute (Zoe Bui); and a very young street vendor (Nguyen Huu Duoc) whose case of merchandise is stolen.
If only Bui and co-writer Timothy Linh Bui had left it at that: three storylines to match the three seasons of the title. But in a blatant concession to the film's Western production roots, also added to the mix is an unnecessary storyline about a GI (Harvey Keitel) who is searching for the daughter he left behind. Although this thread briefly intersects with the others (as they all do), it could not be more far removed in terms of style, mood, and execution; while the other stories feel true to life, this one feels like manufactured melodrama, and it is rather stiffly acted by Keitel (with the exception of one emotional wordless scene). Thankfully, though, his storyline is given the least amount of screen time, never becoming so obtrusive as to dilute the simple power of the other plots or the uniting poetry of Lisa Rinzler's breathtaking cinematography.
Michael Dequina
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