A riveting Story which captures the very real struggle faced in the aftermath of The Fall of Saigon. It follows a family seperated, with the father/ husband (Long) in a "re-education camp" and his wife, son and mother migrate to southern California. Due to this seperation, Long had no choice to believe his family was dead. This was a sad reality that many families had to face during the Vietnamese diaspora. The overwhelming sadness of a missing loved one, and the never ending anxiety of starting a new life in a forign country. Prior to this film, I have never even heard of the Vietnamese diaspora. So learning about it through the eyes of a family facing it was eye opening. I would most definatley reccomend this film.

I have been so curious about what happened in the Vietnam war, and because of this film, I got the picture of how cruel it is back then. I have a lot of Vietnamese friends and whenever we got together with our parents, I thought they were just kidding or exaggerating the scene not knowing it was all true. The refugee camps they used to stay in, the bombings and killings of innocent people, the trauma, and other mental health effects on them. The way they shoot the movie is superb, the cinematography was so dramatic and the camera angles and shots mirrored the various occasions and places distinctively. From beginning to end, it was amazing, I don't know how many times I cried and got carried away by the events that took place in this film. It was hard to watch, let alone imaging that this really happened in real life.

Coincidentally, I recently watched another movie with the same theme, "The Green Dragon" which also reflects the refugee problem in the late Vietnam War. After watching it for a long time, I realized that the American officer in "Green Dragon" turned out to be Sam from the movie Ghost. I am very interested in his comments. That is, he mentioned in the play that there is no democracy and freedom in the country ruled by the Communist Party. It doesn't fit in with the education that I have received as a Chinese, that how socialism is good, how capitalist countries exploit people, and so on. I don't want to discuss politics here. I just want to say that people who have left their hometowns are suffering, it is the pain from war and the distress of parting. Everyone felt lucky that they had escaped, but were also sad for it. The army cook is a very pleasing character. In the film, he connects the sorrows of refugees from the hometown with the sorrows of an ordinary American. This is one of the highlights of the film. Such a romantic painter-I would rather call him a painter because painters have dreams of painting-the impact on a child who lost his mother in the flames of war will last a lifetime. "Journey From the Fall" is different from "Green Dragon" which tells the story of refugee camps. The film describes the difficulties of refugees fleeing and their living conditions after arriving in the United States. One big thing in common between the two films is that the story revolves around a lonely and silent man who lost his family in the war. I think that children are indeed the best protagonists in war movies. There is no need for a rain of bullets or no need for blood and gores. Just a sentence of "When will mother come back" and "I want to wait for Dad to come back" is enough to make every audience feel the endless pain of war brought to people. , it's a kind of pain that reflects on the soul even more than it does on the body. The little boy posted his only picture on the bulletin board of the refugee camp before he left. He hoped that his mother would know that they had been here. The little boy drew the story and put it in an envelope, hoping his father would see it. Those letters will always just lie in grandma's tin box. "Will Mom come back?" Will Dad come back? "...

Journey From the Fall is an indie film that shows viewers of the film the horrific tragedies of the post Vietnam war of the 1970s through a small family who were anti-communist. The beginning of the film shows chaos as Vietnam had just fallen into the hands of communism and unfortunately the main character is a soldier who had originally fought for the South Vietnamese against communism. The film captures the gruesomeness of not only the types of events that transpired while trying to escape Vietnam post Vietnam war era such as death, violence, and the consequences of those types of actions. We see those consequences pressed upon those who were not only the victims that died but also the victims that survived such as the main character's family. The two biggest topics in the film that we see are loss and separation of family which occurs to the main character and his family. The loss that we see is the loss of their home country which is a huge theme as it is constantly spoken about as well as the fact that they were forced to leave or potentially die. The film is overwhelmed by the theme of loss which causes the other main topic of the film to reveal itself through the consequences of loss being family separation. The separation of family and the everlasting toll that it bears onto people is shown through the clear distress that the characters have when being separated while trying to flee to America. Another example of family separation in this film that we see is near the end with the family dealing with the horrific uncertainty of whether their father, the main character, is a live or dead. I would highly recommend people see this film for not only a good film but also a potential visual of the horrors and tragedies that come with war, even in a relatively small war such as the Vietnam war.

This is an emotional and powerful movie about boat people's painful experiences and why they need to leave the country after Americans left. The movie helps you understand more about the Vietnamese diaspora's struggles: learning a new language, adjusting to a different culture, and family separation and reveals what was left behind. It's a great story and a well-made movie with emotional acting.

Journey from the Fall a film about a Southern Vietnamese family's struggle to make a living after the Vietnam War. As the child of two immigrant parents from Algeria, I have heard about their struggles though not as intense as some in the film. It has made me very grateful for the opportunities I have been given and basically the head start many lack to get started or on their feet. The movie evoked a lot of emotion due to the strong display of character and love and care shown between the family. Many Vietnamese sought refuge in America, trying to build a future for themselves. The film made me appreciate family and the risks my parents took coming to America to live out the American dream.

Journey from the Fall was a moving film about a South Vietnamese family trying to survive after the Vietnam War. As a child from two immigrant parents from India, I was able to strongly relate to their journey to America. While my parents did not go through the exact same hardships caused by war, the film made me extremely appreciative of the world I live in and the luxuries I have. During the whole of the movie, I felt very emotional because of the strong display of affection and family bond shown throughout the length of the film. I also learned a lot about the Vietnamese Diaspora. Millions of Vietnamese people sought refuge in America after the war. Other countries like Cambodia and France received a large number of Vietnamese seeking a better life. Overall, the film made me feel more appreciative of my family, and definitely gave me a different perspective on family, love, and circumstance.

The character that I most connected with was Lai. Although my situation was unequivocally less tragic than his, I too have experienced my father being somewhat forcibly separated from the family and having to move to America with my mother and sister. Throughout the movie, Lai encounters problems with racism in America, most notably when he is beaten up by 3 kids from his class and his principle does nothing to protect Lai and even blames him for the beating. Lai's family also has difficulties due to their lack of English language skills. When the principle is telling Lai's grandmother she hardly understands the words he is saying so she can't possibly dude anything to help Lai in the situation.

The movie, Journey From the Fall, was an insightful look at the immense struggle and sacrifice that many families had to endure during the Vietnam War. One of the main characters, Long, had to sacrifice himself to save his family. He was placed into multiple different "re-education camps" after the Communist Vietnamese took control of the nation. While Long suffered horrible fates throughout the film, he never complained. He did it to provide a better life for his family. Long and his family lost their homeland and were separated from each other. The rest of his family, Ba Noi, Mai, and Lai experienced much trauma as well. Long asked his wife Mai to take the rest of the family to America when given the chance. To get there however, they had to escape at night, and sail across the ocean until they were rescued and brought to America, where they settled in Orange County. Here, they faced a new set of struggles, all with the unknown of whether Long was dead or alive. This riveting true story detailed so much trauma. From Long's perspective, he fought against the Communist Vietnamese to keep Vietnam free. But, after losing the war, he was captured and was imprisoned as a war criminal. Long knew that he was giving up everything to protect his family. He not only experienced the traumatic goodbye of his mother, wife and son, but also lost other important people when he was imprisoned. Along with this, I think the most intriguing thing about this film was the Family separation. It was hard to watch Long get separated from his family while they were all able to stay together. Once Mai, Lai, and Ba Noi left for America, you could see Mai's hope of seeing her husband fade after every scene. (Spoiler Alert): After Long was shot trying to escape, His mother, Ba Noi still kept his memory alive, and had her grandson, Lai write to Long periodically. It was hard to watch the family not only separate physically, but emotionally with each other too. At some point, Mai stopped caring for her son the way she needed to. So, since Lai didn't have a father to reach out to; he mostly connected with his grandmother. You can truly see the hardship and struggle that Vietanamese families went through during this time. They faced loss, separation, starting over, trauma and much more. I learned that escaping a warzone is only the beginning of the troubles refugee families face. The knowledge of a family member being imprisoned and tortured is psychologically traumatic, and so is being forced to start over in a foriegn country. Once they became refugees in America, the hardships did not stop there, they had to take language classes, find work, forget their homeland to become accustomed to their new way of life, as well as the struggle of raising a young boy who doesn't understand why they left everything behind. Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie. It was insightful, powerful and thought provoking. It taught me a great deal about the Vietnamese diaspora and really made me consider the adversity that came with being a refugee only a few decades ago.

This film was extremely moving and a personally educating. I wasn't aware of the Vietnamese diaspora until watching. It relives the horrors of what those had to experience in the re-education camps, and the struggles of finding a new home when the one you know is taken away from you. Families were broken during this time in history, and many had no clue what had happened to those family members they had to leave when fleeing the country. The most heartbreaking point in the film for me was when Mai's husband fell victim to the re-education camps. Another heart-breaking point is Phuong's inability to assimilate into the new culture as she cannot remove the memories of her past which make her who she is. This film does a great job at depicting the difficulties that refugees today face, and because of the times we are living in today, the film is especially relevant. I'm giving this film a 4/5 stars because while this personal introduction to Vietnamese cinema has proven to be impressively picturesque and moving, the pacing as well as chronology made it difficult to bear. Overall, this film is one that I'll hold dear to my heart as it is something that speaks to me and my family who immigrated from the Philippines in order to give me and future generations of our family a better life.

I think children are the most powerful, most related and the best main character of a movie. As long as the words "when will mother come back" and "I will wait for the father to come back", it is enough for every audience to feel the endless pain brought by the war. Before he left, the boy posted his only photo on the bulletin board of the refugee camp. He wanted his mother to know that they had been there. "Will mama come back?" "Will papa come back?"I would recommend this movie because it is a good movie to look at all the things about the pain of the war, the separation of family, history and many other things.

This movie caught me by surprise since I didn't expect it to be such an emotional and provoking movie altogether. I think the character I connected with the most is Mai. I can relate to her side of the story most since I personally know people who immigrated from a different country and left their loved ones in order to have a chance for a better life. Moving to a country that speaks a different language and culture can be very difficult for someone who wasn't originally from there. Immigrating alone to a country can sometimes be a traumatic experience, an experience which is different for everyone. For example, my mother immigrated from the Philippines hoping of having a better life for her self and the rest of her family. She came alone to the US to pursue that dream of having a better life but in the process, leaving her family back home which she continually supports 'til this day. My mother lived in the provinces where life was simple and the majority of the people who live there are farmers and other working-class citizens. From a culture standpoint, leaving the Philippines to move to a different country is seen as a "ticket way out". Even though my mother hasn't told me if she's experienced racism, I'm almost positive that she had experienced it in the past. I liked the movie overall, though some parts did seem to drag for me, I would definitely recommend it to someone. It does a fine job portraying the struggles and experiences that immigrants and especially refugees have to overcome.

This movie is great if you are interested in understanding the effects of war. This film does such an amazing job at really depicting what it's like to be in a war zone and losing everything including family. It also does a great job showing the hardships that refugees encounter when having to move away from home.

This movie was extremely emotional. But it informed me about the Vietnamese Diaspora thoroughly by following these families and how they had to deal with the Communist occupation. What really stuck out to me was how Mai and her son had to flee Vietnam and leave her husband behind, who was sent to a re-education camp. These camps and how these men were treated is so hard to watch, but so important. It is important to know what happened, and not to forget about the past. The fact that they had to go through all of this, and the insane number of deaths due to the Communist regime is crazy. Families were torn apart, the men of the families had to face such harsh and cruel conditions in the camps, they lost everything even their shoes, they had to basically restart their lives with nothing, and the emotional impact on these individuals will last their whole lives. I definitely recommend this movie for everyone, because I often meet Vietnamese people, but to see what their parents and grandparents had to go through so recently is very important.

This is definitely worth watching. It's tough to watch knowing these actually happened to people in Vietnam. After watching this movie, I feel emotional and heart-breaking to these families were left behind after the fall of Saigon. The movie is about one Vietnamese families as Vietnamese boat people. When south Vietnam fall under the communism(4/30/1975), Long and his family were trying to flee the country as American broke their promises. The part that sticks out the most to me is when on the boat Lai doesn't know that his father passed away and both Phuong's father and Mai's husband died in the Reeducation camp. Mai remembers happy memories when the family was all together. As a Vietnamese, I somehow feel for my parents growing up and living through this period of time. Whenever I talk to the Vietnamese elders, those memory still haunt them.

I was born and lived my life 20 years in Vietnam. I have never told about this story. All I knew and be educated are Communist is good. They protected my country. They fought, they sacrificed , all they did is for the country and for the Vietnamese people. Also, people lived in South Vietnam who follow American at that time is bad people who selfish and cheaply sell country. That what I knew. Sometime I question if it right or not, but I couldn't find myself an answer. 20 year later I came to the US. I was surprised and shocked about a lot of new information, a lot of untold story which somehow have something common like in the movie. Honestly I feel very sad after watching this movie. Vietnamese people need to know from two side and from the truths

An emotional film that tells the story of the Vietnam war aftermath. Through the eyes of the victims we see the pain of those imprisoned and the refugees. Definitely a powerful movie of a story not told enough. Mai is forced to flee to America leaving her husband behind. From that day she feels dead inside but she must stay strong for her son. Phuong upon arriving in America is told that in order to comply she must forget her past. Later realizing that she can't forget her past because her past is Vietnam. The characters face acculturation challenges all the way from the language barrier to Lai being bullied because of his race. Due to the perceived negative concept of perception of immigrants they face feeling unwanted, unwelcome, and even feeling blocked of an education. Trauma, loss, separation, to loosing everything, this movie has it all.

Well produced and acted with a deep sad story but I did not like the editing, the back and forth between different dates and locations felt random and were confusing, but a high quality production overall.

I seen this for the first time yesterday and it is the best film I have seen in 2 years at least. The acting in this film was very good especially by the actor playing Long. I recommend everyone should have a look at this film even though there is flashbacks that don't seem to tie in with the film the acting is outstanding by all involved. This film really needs to be seen by more its a sad reality where jackass2 and dude where's my car gets shown in mainstream cinemas and we miss out on a gem like this

Being born and raised in the United States, I never could fully comprehend what my parents had to go through to make sure I had more opportunities for a better life than they did. Even more disheartening and amazing, many of my family members share a similar story to the movie's. This film provoked many tears.