Set in the 90's , the American doctor Laura Bowman (Patricia Arquette) with her sister and also doctor Andy Bowman (Frances McDormand) travel to Burma (presently Myanmar) to recover from the loss of her beloved husband and son that were murdered in a theft at home , only to have political unrest and a repressive regime spoil the holiday . Laura sees a political pro-democracy manifestation to support the leader Aung San Suu Kyi and she decides to participate . But Dr. Laura loses her passport and must flee from trigger-happy soldiers with a political dissident . Truth has a witness !.
An intriguing and stirring film dealing with the conflict between the ruling fascist regime and the dissident democracy movement , incarnated here by the wise old tour guide U Aung Ko . Tense , well crafted action sequences hint at a potential for excitement and suspense ; too bad Arquette isn't the least bit convincing , though she gives a passable acting at times as the woman profoundly scarred by the deaths of her husband and son . While , it's hard , finally , to care much about Arquette's road to redemption and while some of the philosophical/mystical homilies avanced by the script simply sound banal , there's no denying the thought-provoking commitment to the cause of feedom .The movie has its touching moments found primarily in the superb supporting performances. Co-starred by by Aung Ko , a real-life exiled Burmese activist along with Frances McDormand , Victor Slezak and Spalding Gray who had formerly been in another film about a South East Asian conflict : Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields . It follows the wake of other films about South East Asian conflicts such as : ¨The Year of Living Dangerously¨(1982) or "The Killing Fields" (1984), which documented the genocides from Indonesia and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
It displays a colorful and evocative cinematography shot in Malaysia by cameraman John Seale . As well as suspenseful and attractive musical score by Hans Zimmer composed by synthesizer. The motion picture was competentently directed by John Boorman , though it has some flaws and gaps . Boorman provides an assured handling of the scenes depicting the larger chaos of a beautiful land torn apart by violence and destruction. Boorman is a real professional filmmaking from the 6os , though sparsely scattered and giving various classics . John started as an assistant direction and his friendship with Lee Marvin allowed him to work in Hollywood as ¨Point Blank¨ (1967) and ¨Hell in the Pacific¨ (1968) from where he returned to the UK and directed ¨Leo¨ (1970) , a rare Sci-Fi titled ¨Zardoz¨ (1974) or the ¨failure Exorcist II¨ (1977). His films are without exception among the most exciting visually in the modern cinema . He became famous for ¨Excalibur¨ (1981), the best of them , ¨Emerald forest¨ (1985) with a ecologist denounce included and his autobiographic story ¨Hope and Glory¨ (1987) and which brought him another Academy Award Nomination after ¨Deliverance¨ . Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average . Wholesome watching .
An intriguing and stirring film dealing with the conflict between the ruling fascist regime and the dissident democracy movement , incarnated here by the wise old tour guide U Aung Ko . Tense , well crafted action sequences hint at a potential for excitement and suspense ; too bad Arquette isn't the least bit convincing , though she gives a passable acting at times as the woman profoundly scarred by the deaths of her husband and son . While , it's hard , finally , to care much about Arquette's road to redemption and while some of the philosophical/mystical homilies avanced by the script simply sound banal , there's no denying the thought-provoking commitment to the cause of feedom .The movie has its touching moments found primarily in the superb supporting performances. Co-starred by by Aung Ko , a real-life exiled Burmese activist along with Frances McDormand , Victor Slezak and Spalding Gray who had formerly been in another film about a South East Asian conflict : Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields . It follows the wake of other films about South East Asian conflicts such as : ¨The Year of Living Dangerously¨(1982) or "The Killing Fields" (1984), which documented the genocides from Indonesia and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
It displays a colorful and evocative cinematography shot in Malaysia by cameraman John Seale . As well as suspenseful and attractive musical score by Hans Zimmer composed by synthesizer. The motion picture was competentently directed by John Boorman , though it has some flaws and gaps . Boorman provides an assured handling of the scenes depicting the larger chaos of a beautiful land torn apart by violence and destruction. Boorman is a real professional filmmaking from the 6os , though sparsely scattered and giving various classics . John started as an assistant direction and his friendship with Lee Marvin allowed him to work in Hollywood as ¨Point Blank¨ (1967) and ¨Hell in the Pacific¨ (1968) from where he returned to the UK and directed ¨Leo¨ (1970) , a rare Sci-Fi titled ¨Zardoz¨ (1974) or the ¨failure Exorcist II¨ (1977). His films are without exception among the most exciting visually in the modern cinema . He became famous for ¨Excalibur¨ (1981), the best of them , ¨Emerald forest¨ (1985) with a ecologist denounce included and his autobiographic story ¨Hope and Glory¨ (1987) and which brought him another Academy Award Nomination after ¨Deliverance¨ . Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average . Wholesome watching .