2021 Directed by Justin Chon
As a Korean-American man raised in the Louisiana bayou works hard to make a life for his family, he must confront the ghosts of his past as he discovers that he could be deported from the only country he has ever called home.
Justin Chon Alicia Vikander Mark O'Brien Linh-Dan Pham Sydney Kowalske Vondie Curtis-Hall Emory Cohen Geraldine Singer Toby Vitrano Altonio Jackson Truong Quang Tran Ivy Vy Le Sage Kim Gray Renell Gibbs Jacci Gresham Martin Bats Bradford Tyler Henry Susan McPhail Rhonda Johnson Dents Jim Gleason Kernesha Steele Monica Choe Sterling Randy Austin Brad Blanchard Josef A. Pons Sylvia Grace Crim Chris Bosarge Haley Anslem Satinder Achreja Show All…
One of the most infuriating films I've seen in theaters - it feels like it was made by the very same idiots who keep saying dumb shit like "I'm not like other Asians pick me PICK ME." When I first read about the film having a "thunderous reception" from the "tear-stricken audience members" at Cannes, I was worried that much of its form and storytelling have been tarnished in a way that appeals to an international (white) audience. It's not surprising that a lot of films that play at Cannes aren't typically made for the communities their filmmakers came from, yet they purportedly have the responsibility to represent them. It's doesn't take long to realize that these films are primarily…
The 16mm looks so goddamn gorgeous. Opens with one of the most stunning shots I've seen this year, with the grainy cinematography and the faded red leaves that looked like it was shot on Kodak Aerochrome.
Maybe I've just been feeling especially emotionally vulnerable recently. Perhaps I'm overrating this. But I fucking cried my eyes out in the second half.
Justin Chon's directing is better than his writing (although I still love the characters he has created here), but his visuals shine in this. It feels gritty and raw, and despite the melodrama, it 100% worked for me. I love Antonio, I loved Kathy. Their relationship was absolutely beautiful, and really held the story together. The beautiful sunset dance on…
Justin Chon’s overcranked but achingly heartfelt “Blue Bayou” is a case-study in how issue-driven melodramas are a double-edged sword. If done well, these tear-jerkers can emotionally galvanize audiences into grappling with the sort of social injustice that people tend to cry over in the dark of a theater and then leave behind when they re-emerge into the light of day. If done poorly, they risk glazing an urgent problem with a gloss of untruth, and making an all-too-real tragedy from our own backyard feel like the kind of thing that only happens in the movies. An eye-opening sob-fest that eventually loses sight of its everyday tragedy behind a thick veil of tears, “Blue Bayou” is such an uncommonly lucid example…
The ending of this film is great when you aint got a bitch on yo ear telling you how bad it was.
Was shocked by how little I cared for this. Overwrought performances and lazily directed. Couldn’t make up its mind on how to resolve the characters and the story. Justin Chon gives a compelling enough performance but everyone else around him (yes, even Vikander) are unconvincing, thus robbing the movie of the emotional resonance it so desperately wants to wring out of us.
There is no denying that the final 2-3 minutes of Blue Bayou are heartbreaking. The stills at the end of the film, however, make me wish it was a documentary instead. What could've been an effective movie about an adoption loophole law written in the year 2000, which has opened up deportations of individuals who've lived in the US for decades, is instead an over-plotted drama. Each new "everything falls apart" moment stacked on top of each other dulls the narrative overall until basically the only part that works is the epilogue of stats and faces. It's information that people need to know, and if it's effective for people in that way, great. As a movie, however, it moves from quiet introspection to a grab bag of trauma. And, unfortunately, 10 different items are pulled from that bag when two or three would've been more effective and still achieved the same message but allowed more character space.
Y’all caught me on a sorta bad day. I’m kinda tired of films that contain “misery Porn” because I’ve already been told that this country has it against strong willed immigrants. Our country was built on loopholes and lies that cause the immigrant crisis to run loosely. Everyday, immigrants are being wrongfully deported for minuscule reasons.
This film is based on a true running story about Asian adopted unnaturalized immigrant who has no purpose in life, other than to take care of his family and try to live a normal life. His past haunts him. His criminal record is not getting him jobs. He’s broke. On top of that, his adopted family is “non-existent” in his journey.
Justin Chon uses…
I wouldn't be surprised if Justin Chon gets a lead actor nomination for this film, and I wouldn't be that upset bout it either.
Viscerally beautiful and incredibly corny is a weird combination for a film, but Blue Bayou pulls that off pretty well. The dialogue is pretty basic, but just about everything else here is fantastic.
Worth the watch, a million percent.
Rather than making a film that explores the notion of adoption as another form of US colonialism in Korea or a nuanced/proper representation of the adoptee experience, Justin Chon decides to make the cinematic equivalent of #NotAllCops + some dumb shit where white people will watch this film, give it 4 or 5 stars, and say something stupid like "damn, hate being white" ☠️ God I especially hate everything about the Korean mom w/ the hanbok scenes like wtf is this fetishized trauma ☠️☠️
At least this movie is stupid/goofy enough to enjoy watching w/ homies 😌
