Monsoon (2019) User Reviews

Feels frustratingly underwritten and unfocused

[Sir_AmirSyarif · 5/10 · 29 September 2020]

Not without its moments but Hong Khaou's 'Monsoon' feels frustratingly underwritten and unfocused. The acting appears wooden in many scenes and, when all is said and done, the movie is largely pointless.

Expected so much but got very little

[hotdefinition · 6/10 · 27 September 2020]

Monsoon is nicely made and opens the viewer up to a slice of modern Vietnam but ultimately the film offers very little.

The film concludes with no clear conclusion on what he decided to do with his parents ashes. There was no clear resolution about the main character's mixed feelings about being back. Presumably he stays with the guy he briefly gets to know but even that relationship felt flat and with little to no substance beyond a physical one.

The majority of characters seemed rather glum and lifeless - usually wearing a frown or blank expression making their intentions and emotions hard to read.

In the end this isn't really a gay film, nor a film about family and resolution and not even a film about journey.

I wish I knew what the idea was meant to be behind this film - the director's other film, Lilting, is wonderful and so beautifully written, acted and produced. This was a let down for me.

Expected so much but got very little

[lazakhanessk · 5/10 · 5 March 2021]

Monsoon is nicely made and opens the viewer up to a slice of modern Vietnam but ultimately the film offers very little.

The film concludes with no clear conclusion on what he decided to do with his parents ashes. There was no clear resolution about the main character's mixed feelings about being back. Presumably he stays with the guy he briefly gets to know but even that relationship felt flat and with little to no substance beyond a physical one.

The majority of characters seemed rather glum and lifeless - usually wearing a frown or blank expression making their intentions and emotions hard to read.

In the end this isn't really a gay film, nor a film about family and resolution and not even a film about journey.

I wish I knew what the idea was meant to be behind this film - the director's other film, Lilting, is wonderful and so beautifully written, acted and produced. This was a let down for me.

Close

Could have been good

[Gordon-11 · 27 September 2020]

This could have been a very personal topic for the filmmakers, but to the casual viewer it is quite a bore. This could have been a poignant film about self discovery in the against the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the refugee crisis in the 1980's and 1990's. However, the film focuses on Kit's sexual conquests way more than the reason he is in Vietnam. The ending is just puzzling and not very satisfying either.

Sick to death of the same old publicity line.

[jromanbaker · 7/10 · 2 December 2020]

Several times now I have stumbled across comments ( both in reviews and in television guides ) that the lead actor is straight. It is as if this is a comfort blanket for those in the audience who a ) do not want to confront a gay actor in the film, and b ) for those liberals who think how marvellous it is to see a straight actor being ' brave ' enough to take on the role. This is a recurring issue. James Ivory's ' Maurice ' was awash with it and so was ' Call Me By Your Name '. Given the discreet homophobia of both mainstream cinema and theatre it is not surprising Gay actors will not raise their heads above the parapet. The fact of having to explain an actor is straight is a sort of deadly homophobia in itself. Now for the film that I liked a lot. The acting from all of the cast was good but above all the direction was exceptionally good. The opening shot of cars scurrying about from a great height, like some sort of insect was a scary acknowledgement of how tiny we are in the scheme of things. This I believe occurred several times during the duration of the film and for me it was a revelation. Like an anthill we struggle with our histories, both political and personal, and how that very history is trodden on by the large feet of time. That alone made the film above the ordinary. The minimalism of the film also appealed with its Antonioni obsession with the sense of place around us mere humans, and the way we alternate between silence and noise. Of course there is a story, and for those who are interested in what has happened in Vietnam important, and the dislocation of a man who returns to a country he knew only to find he is more or less a stranger in a strange land. As for the homosexuality it is there, but despite a few brief scenes discreet. It is quite simply another aspect of the history of a character immersed in living in this great anthill called human life.

vaca

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 14 July 2021]

Kit (Henry Golding) is a Brit. He goes back to his homeland Vietnam after the death of his mother to return her ashes. He was last there at the age of 6 when he escaped with his family. He reconnects with some family and long-ago friends. The city is completely different. He has a fling with Lewis who is looking to manufacture his gay apparel line.

This is a nice little vacation in present-day Saigon where modernity has taken over. One get a sense of Kit's lost and cultural displacement. The gay romance has a couple of cute poignant moments. Other than those individual moments, the movie fails to push a dramatic story through the entire movie. There is little to no tension. This is really only a mood piece.

the traffic was interesting

[kevin c · 6/10 · 24 January 2021]

Movie night with Iris.

Director Hong Khaou draws upon his own experiences with this moving tale of a British-Vietnamese man returning to Saigon for the first time in over thirty years to try to find a fitting place to scatter his parents' ashes.

This opens with a beautiful aerial shot showing a road being devoured by a swarm of scooters before a number of cars attempt to struggle their way through. As well as preparing the viewer for the constant soundtrack of Vietnamese traffic, it is an effective metaphor for the protagonist's own struggles. We are taken along on this journey of discovery for Kit as he deals with the emotional turmoil of bereavement at the same time as exploring his own cultural identity, feeling simultaneously like a tourist and someone with roots in a country foreign to him.

Monsoon is not for those with a preference for plot-driven films with mood and emotion very much driving the narrative.

Sensitive one man's journey

[roger-99-171599 · 7/10 · 15 October 2020]

Observational and lyrical, Acclaimed BAFTA-nominee director Hong Khaou follows the personal journey of Kit (the hunky Henry Golding from "Crazy Rich Asians"), a British man who returns to modern Vietnam, his childhood place, in order to find relief for his emotional crisis. Exploring his roots and cultural identity, he meets Lewis (Parker Sawyers) and they ignite a sexually-charged relationship while dealing with each other's traumas, loneliness and lust. The result is a fascinating and inclusive, sexy and nostalgic redemptive story. (Strand Releasing will release the film in November 2020.)

Man gets boyfriend.

[als-60105 · 2/10 · 7 October 2020]

The acting was unconvincing from all actors, most of the movie was just images of Vietnam. The only thing I understood from this movie is that he got a boyfriend, the end. I get that he was reconnecting with his heritage and identity but the whole movie is just Henry Golding staring into space.

Seem boring for a 4 years work

[tranngocthanhtu · 6/10 · 6 September 2020]

A guy walk around to find something or maybe somewhere he belong. I'm so glad to hear that this film is totally filmed in Vietnam, my country, it's exciting waiting... but nothing really been showed. This film has a really boring plot, it just about this guy, take a trip from Saigon to Hanoi with no purpose (not to find love, or a home, he just simple following his memory when his family been here), and then he chose to stay (which i don't know why, if it because Vietnam is his hometown, then it sound so unreal, or because the man he love here, then it weird because this lover-guy not even a Vietnamese, so it make no sense and no related at all) the scrip easy to guess, no climax or impressed scene, it almost no meaning at all. This film has a silent vibes which really comfor me, but the scrip just can be saved. Boring. But i still watch it, cause i love my country and really happy to see it on a foreign director's movie.

Quite possibly my most disappointing film of 2020

[alanpuzey · 2/10 · 1 December 2020]

I've lived in the Far East for nearly 20 years so always look forward to movies based in that area.

I was so disappointed with "Monsoon". The acting and camera work were pedestrian and wooden. The actors almost looked as if they were being prompted with their lines at times. No emotion anywhere.

Where was the story? A hint of gay romance, a hint of politics, a hint of self discovery. It went nowhere and said little. And what kind of ending was that?

I guess the only marks I can give it are for the memories of places visited that it brought back to me.

I was mesmerized by this film

[azplanner · 9/10 · 18 July 2021]

For those that felt this film was too slow, too unfocused, too whatever.... Too bad for you. I love small films like this, that unveil themselves by the frame, that tell a simple story about complex circumstances and lives. To me, it was beautiful, understated, mesmerizing. A glimpse of Vietnam today, the toll the war took, the transition to economic advancement, the personal suffering and lives changed, and more. I grew up as a kid with the fake Vietnam body count on the nightly news during supper. I also grew up to be gay, and to watch that aspect of this story slowly develop left me with hope. And yes I would see it again, if only to see even more nuance I might have missed. This film was almost a random choice on a Netflix night.... I'm glad I made that choice.

As thin as a rice paper

[ozjosh03 · 3/10 · 12 September 2020]

It's possible Monsoon is born out of the writer/director's deep feelings about Vietnam and the war. But we'll never really know because he does a fairly poor job of communicating them. Mostly the film just generates confusion and a fair amount of tedium. Henry Golding is Kit, a gay Brit who fled Vietnam at age six with his parents and brother. Now he's come back to scatter his parents ashes. The problem with this is that, though we learn little about his parents and his life, we do learn that a) neither of them ever wanted to return to Vietnam, b) they forbade both sons to return, c) Kit has, at best, mixed feelings about his homeland, and for most of his life seems to have given it little thought. So when his cousin finally, after much angst all round, observes that his parents fought so hard to leave, yet now he's brought them back, it seems like not just a very good point, but the only sensible thing anyone in the film has to say on the subject. Henry Golding is nice to look at, but not an accomplished enough actor to bring any real weight to such a flimsy premise. His romance with Lewis, an American ex-pat, is fleetingly intriguing, if somewhat passionless and ultimately pointless. And after 85 minutes of rambling around some of the less-interesting parts of Vietnam, the film ends abruptly, without ever delivering anything much in the way of insight. I've learnt more about Vietnam, its people, it's culture and the war from Luke Nguyen Vietnam cooking series.

Almost, but not quite.

[gb6126 · 22 November 2020]

I like the premise of identity and change, but I was left asking 'and so what' after watching this film. Most of the questions raised seem skin deep and with no real attempt at conclusion, whether it's Kits apparent challenge as to where he belongs, whether his parents wanted to return to Vietnam after death, the extended family dynamic, the knock-on effects of the Vietnam war for both Vietnamese or Americans, or the questions of generational change and debt to your parents for Linh. All of these are interesting but the film frustrated in its approach to them I feel.

Definitely some positives to take and still worth a watch but falls short.

Slow Pacing Dampens the Return to an Unfamiliar Birth Country

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 7 April 2022]

Director Hong Khaou has an enveloping style when it comes to pacing the narrative of his 2020 drama, and I have to admit it was a bit offputting initially as he takes his time establishing the story of a gay Vietnamese-born man who returns to his homeland after thirty years living in England. He's back to find the appropriate place to lay his mother's ashes. As played by the half-Malaysian heartthrob, Henry Golding ("Crazy Rich Asians"), he's a sensitive soul who seems lost in what was once his native country, which Khaou captures in vibrant and thoughtful detail. Some moments struck me as superfluous, and the timeline didn't quite make sense relative to real events. Nonetheless, it was a touching film over its blessedly brief running time.

Henry Golding, Henry Golding, My God, Henry Golding!

[ronterry55 · 7/10 · 15 November 2020]

My only reason to watch this film is the charisma of Henry Golding. He plays a gay character, to boot! Despite little plot; this small story of a man returning to Vietnam as an adult to scatter his mother's ashes kept me interested. He travels around the country, meeting people who tell him about his homeland. His finding love with an American ex-patriot designer gave it a nice feel. Henry Golding's smile alone was worth renting the movie!

Very Introspective

[jamesabutler · 6/10 · 6 October 2020]

I'll confess right up front. What I enjoyed most about this film is Henry Golding. He portrays a Vietnamese refugee who returns home to find a place to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased mother and to reconnect with his homeland that he hasn't seen since his family fled when he was a child. Through random sexual encounters we learn he is gay. There are a lot of shots featuring Hanoi and Saigon which are beautiful. There's much we don't know about Golding's character other than he has a brother who has a family. The viewer is left with a sense that he is longing for something but isn't quite sure what. A chance sexual encounter offers the prospect of something more meaningful but isn't explored in much detail. I'd watch again only to see Golding!

Vietnam travelogue with sex

[chong_an · 7/10 · 14 October 2020]

Kit escaped Vietnam as a 6-year-old boat person, and now has returned from England to scatter his parents' ashes. He is helped by a cousin who used to be a close friend, and also hooks up with an American whose father served there in the war.

Bouncing between Saigon and Hanoi, we catch views of the prosperous new cities, and some of the lush countryside. We also see some of the new arts and old artisans. Presumably a semi-autobiographical story, it suffers from a degree of time compression, as the story should be set in 2000-2010, not a vague "today'.

Uninteresting, unfocused & cowardly

[spacecrabed · 2/10 · 27 September 2020]

This film tries to tackle big subjects and there were interesting ideas but they all fall flat. It skims the surface and never goes anywhere. The colour palette is good at showing off Vietnam but what's the point when there is only one interesting camera shot? The feeling of being transported to another place should be rife throughout the film but when the main character always magically finds an English speaker wherever he goes that feeling is lost. The subject of meeting someone from the other side of the war is a good subject but after a couple of awkward convo's and a love scene it's over: When I was in the cinema this film got a standing ovation but all those people seemed to hail this as a ground breaking love film, I can only assume this is because the filmed failed at making any of the other subjects interesting or important. Boring, uninteresting, with mediocre acting. I would avoid.

Elegaic but slightly obvious

[bsmar-1 · 6/10 · 11 September 2021]

This meditative examination of the impact of the Vietnam war through the eyes of three sons - of a family who left (as refugees), a family who stayed and a father who invaded (US soldier) - and the scars it left on all, has a big heart. But despite its measured (and very slow) approach, it makes these three points a little too awkwardly (via blunt expositiry dialogue) for it to work as a seemless whole. But the visuals and the acting are high calibre.

Worth seeing once, perhaps, but too dull to watch twice

[euroGary · 4/10 · 2 October 2020]

The break-neck speed of the economic success and associated development experienced by Viet Nam in recent decades is well-known, yet for many outside the country mention of it still brings to mind the horrors of the 1955-75 war. In 'Monsoon' Kit, who as a child in the late 1970s left the country as one of the boat people, returns for the first time to scatter his parents' ashes. But as he explores Sài Gòn and meets relatives last seen thirty years ago, he finds much of the modern country does not resemble the distant memories of his childhood. Relief from this confusion comes in the muscular arms of Lewis, an American entrepreneur struggling with the ghosts of his father's involvement in the war.

Kit's bewilderment at the modern face of a country long ago left behind reminded me of many British expats I have met during my travels - pining after a country that I doubt ever really existed as they remember it. Unfortunately writer/director Hong Khaou portrays this by filming many sequences of Kit staring glumly at buildings (although to be fair, sometimes he gets closer to them and we get instead a shot of Kit staring glumly at a door, which at least adds a bit of variety). Lead actor Henry Golding does not help: I like a subtle performance, but there is a difference between subtle and simply sounding uninterested in the lines you are delivering. Parker Sawyers puts a bit more oomph into his portrayal of Lewis and thus creates a more interesting character. I also found interesting the character of Linh, a young and modern local woman under pressure to join her family's tea business which she finds hopelessly out-of-date and inefficient, even if it provides a quality product. In her scenes Khaou explores, in a balanced way, the disagreements between modernity and tradition, between the young and their elders.

Unfortunately, though, there is not enough of either Linh or Lewis to rescue this film. I can say it was worth seeing once, but I will not be troubling myself to watch it again.

Cute.

[W011y4m5 · 8/10 · 27 December 2020]

Monsoon is a nuanced, beautifully shot character study.

The basic premise is simple, chronicling the story of a man who journeys home after a family bereavement, in an attempt to reconcile with his past - coming to terms with the loss he's suffered since leaving Vietnam - meeting another kindred spirit in a chance encounter that results in a blossoming romance between the two. Thus, from that pain, love grows - & in the one place he'd avoided, he now has a reason to stay.

It's slow & intentionally ponderous, wandering through the labyrinthine streets in a dreamlike trance - enhanced further by director of photography Benjamin Kracun's aesthetic which captures the film through a watchful lense, following our lead with a patient sense of natural observation, mirroring his perspective of reality.

Hence, we begin the film as lost & lonely as Kit is in his own mind, grounded amongst the bustling vehicles & rushing pedestrians - but as the narrative progresses & his feelings for Lewis grow stronger - the cinematography poetically conveys how eventually they find their way above the chaos, lifting each other out of the dark & in to tranquility, safe in each other's company.

Quality, but lacking depth

[justahunch-70549 · 6/10 · 31 May 2022]

Quiet little thing about a man finding out that a place that he has been avoiding for a long time, his birthplace, just might be where he belongs after all, though for far different reasons than he would have imagined. At least that is my interpretation of a film that seems purposely vague. I liked it, but not as much as I had hoped. The opening credits were cool, the cinematography very good, the location interesting with Henry Golding providing an intelligent, subtle and appealing performance. The purpose of this trip to his birthplace is to scatter his mother's ashes only to realize it's not the correct place, but it is a place where he falls in love and this love interest allows viewers to see some very passionate sequences between him and an actor named Parker Sawyers who is also good. Not all of the film is a success though. I have no doubt that all involved had good intentions, but the writing is too unclear. What's lacking is any background on Golding's character to make us feel much of anything about this journey. Despite it being about loss, discovery and love, it offers little emotionally and that's a shame.

Is this the most boring film of all time?

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 2/10 · 16 March 2021]

I was looking forward to seeing this film because I spent many months that stretched into years in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Jakarta, a little in Burma. But I never made it to Vietnam. So I was interested in the scenery, if nothing else...wondering how similar Saigon and Hanoi were to the other SE Asian cities I spent time in. And, what was the upcountry experience like, as compared to upcountry Thailand and Malaysia.

Instead, as I watched this BORING film with so many possibilities, I kept imagining what the director said to his crew and the actors before shooting began. "Okay guys. We're to take a sentimental story -- scattering Vietnamese parent's ashes back in their homeland -- and turn it into the most boring story every put on film. Our star is going to portray the most boring Vietnamese man on the planet, who has a fling with a not so boring (but far from interesting) Black man in Vietnam. Now I know that doesn't make a lot of sense. But gee, so what. Let's go with an illogical interracial gay relationship in Vietnam. To make it more boing, we'll get lots of shots of our star just staring aimlessly. We won't really get into any of the culture of Vietnam. That would be interesting, and remember we've got to keep this boring. And by the way, I chose Henry Golding to play the Vietnamese man because he doesn't look or act Vietnamese. So everybody, here are some sedatives, dose up so we can snooze while we film this".

I'm not kidding. This film -- with all its potential -- is boring. I had to check my pulse a few times to be sure I hadn't gone into a coma.

And by the way, just how many long scenes of riding as a passenger on a motorcycle to we really need?

And what did he ever do with his parent's ashes??? The whole reason for his trip to Vietnam.

My most boring day ever in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Jakarta, or Burma never got this boring. I'm not sure I can even think of something redeeming about this film...other than Henry Golding being handsome.

Henry Golding is Brilliant. Everyone Else? Not So Much.

[trmac-29234 · 6/10 · 16 November 2023]

Henry Golding is a god among men. Gorgeous, talented, and he made this film what it is. That being said, I did think the film fell a little flat. I guess I expected more coming into it because it's associated with BBC Films and Henry Golding starred, but Henry, while brilliant, could only work with what he was given. I couldn't get invested in his relationship with Lewis. I felt they lacked chemistry on screen and the guy who played Lewis was just not on Henry's level acting-wise. I think they could've chosen a much better lead. Overall, still a sweet, tender film that I'd probably recommend watching.