Review: Owl and the Sparrow (* 1/2)

[Steve Rhodes]

OWL AND THE SPARROW
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  * 1/2

Writer and director Stephane Gauger's OWL AND THE SPARROW (CU VA CHIM SE SE) 
is a slice of relatively uneventful life in Vietnam.  The movie, which drops 
us into a story in progress, takes place over just a few days, but the 
movie's languid pacing makes it feel like weeks are transpiring.

For the first half of the narrative, it's not clear what the modest story is 
all about.  Eventually, it does become clear that the movie is about three 
people whose daily lives come together.

Lan (Cat Ly) is a pretty airline stewardess who is having a long-term but 
relatively loveless affair with a married airline pilot with whom she works. 
Hai (Le The Lu) is an animal keeper at the zoo.  He is concerned about the 
elephant he has been caring for, since it has been sold to another zoo.

Thuy (Pham Thi Han), the plot's glue, is a ten-year-old girl who has been 
sleeping by the river.  After escaping from her uncle's sweatshop, she has 
been reselling stuff on the street.  After having little luck reselling 
postcards, she is currently peddling roses that she buys from other rose 
sellers.  Of course, she meets both Lan and Hai and facilitates their 
getting together.

I've seen this film twice now, and it doesn't get any more compelling in a 
second viewing.  I never cared about any of the characters or about the 
predictable story.

Shot shakycam style, in which even completely static shots look like the 
camera was mounted on a boat at sea, the movie is not very viewer-friendly. 
Only in giving a good sense of place with the hustle and bustle of a 
Vietnamese city is the movie ever successful.

OWL AND THE SPARROW runs 1:37.  The film is in Vietnamese with English 
subtitles.  It is rated PG for "thematic elements and some smoking" and 
would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.

The film, which was the closing night film at San Jose's Cinequest Film 
Festival in 2007, opens in limited release in the United States on Friday, 
January 23, 2009.  In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera 
Cinemas.  The movie was shown recently at the Camera Cinema Club 
(http://www.cameracinemas.com) of Campbell and San Jose.

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