Oh, Saigon (2007) User Reviews

Fantastic Film

[lotharina · 9/10 · 29 May 2009]

Oh Saigon! is a thought provoking documentary that takes single most vivid snap shot of the fall of South Vietnam (the helicopter taking off from the roof of the US Embassy) and gives that still photo life as you discover the human toll such a daring escape takes. This is a film about consequences, the consequence of sibling's taking opposing sides in war, the consequences of a teenager going out with friends after school. Amazingly, each of the results of these decisions, whether they are big or small, is life changing. Thankfully, most viewers have not lived through a civil war, but this documentary reminds each of us that though life can be treacherous the ties that bind family can over come incredible hardship, political upheaval, and long distances.

What lives underneath the mundane

[dth3 · 10/10 · 1 October 2010]

This is a really rich film about real life, where seemingly innocuous people, a seamstress, a mother, a fisherman, an airport maintenance man, have a family past that connected them and a war that divided them. This family was airlifted out at the end of the Vietnam War, leaving behind relatives, but finding that even after 30 years, they hadn't healed from leaving their family behind and they hadn't dealt with what had happened to their family nor themselves.

The director, who is in the film, does a great job of showing the mundane lives and what is underneath, poetic souls damaged by war, and a longing for love and reconciliation that takes them back to Vietnam. A very moving story that is uplifting at the same time. One of the subjects, who spent years fighting in a war against his brother says, "We're brothers. Nothing else matters." An instant classic and a rare documentary that goes very deep and makes it out to the other end.