The Bamboo Incident (1970)
A young Vietnamese boy's life is thrown into turmoil by the war raging in his country. The ten year old remains with his mother and baby sister as his father goes off to fight for the Viet Cong. During his father's absence, his mother dies from overwork and the inability to find proper medical care for her illness. He cares for his baby sister and struggles to earn a living by shining shoes and doing other odd jobs before his father returns. Both an American soldier and a Viet Cong regular are shown defending their country's political agenda. Also shown are guerilla tactics and bombings in this feature directed by veteran combat photographer Raoul Coutard.
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It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
This movie does not take sides .Fighting for democracy or communism,it's all the same:children are poor unfortunate victims of man's Madness.First line:"dad ,what's peace? -Someday,you will find out I've been living in war for 30 years . Last line:What's peace?Boy:mom,is there a storm brewing? Mom:no more storm over Vietnam;only the sound of planes .Dad's gone to fight against imperialism and mom stays at home with her two children;soon,she dies of cancer and asks her boy to care care of his little sister.This is the beginning of an odyssey which recalls sometimes that of the two tragic heroes of the Japanese masterpiece " grave of the fireflies". The brat becomes a paper boy,a shoe-shiner and tries to stay a child in a world gone mad.Some adults are selfish and ruthless ,some others -an European nurse notably-lends a helpful hand .It seems ,at the end of the movie,that the father has finally understood that a child's smile is worth all the ideological struggles in the world.Raoul Coutard was a famous N.V. cameraman ;he directed only a handful of movies:this one is certainly the most interesting.