Daughter from Danang

Friday evening, we watched a DVD of "Daughter from Danang". This movie won the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at the 2002 Sundance festival. As I was watching the film, I did not enjoy it very much. I did not find it very engaging. This morning, I told the story to my son and he replied that it was a very interesting story. Today, I find myself thinking about the story and scenes from the movie. So maybe it is a better movie than I thought.

In 1974, the US government flew 2000 orphans from Vietnam to the US for adoption in Operation Babylift. These were meant to be children living in orphanages, fathered by American GI's. We later found out that not all were orphans. One 6-year-old girl (Hiep/Heidi) was given up by her birth mother and was later adopted by a single woman from Tennessee. This movie is the story of growing up in a small town in Tennessee and then being re-united with her birth mother in Vietnam 22 years later.

Hiep/Heidi grew up as a typical American girl from the deep south. Due to her largely European features, many of her classmates did not even realize that she was Asian. A huge culture clash occurs when she returns to Vietnam. It is really sad; both sides were very excited about the trip. The meeting starts out well, but everything dissolves after a few days. I could go on, but it would probably ruin the movie for you. I'll just say that the heartache and confusion on both sides is very real.

I guess at this point, I would say that "Daughter from Danang" is a not a very good film based on a very interesting story. Having said that, the movie is growing on me and I might change my mind in a few days. In fact, my mind is already changing as I write this.