Boat People

Original title: Tau ban no hoi

1982
R
1h 49m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".

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A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".A Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".

Director
- Ann Hui
Writers
- Cheung Gam Hung
- Kang-Chien Chiu
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Ann Hui
Writers
- Cheung Gam Hung
- Kang-Chien Chiu
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 6 wins & 7 nominations

Shiomi Akutagawa
(as George Chi-Cheung Lam)

Cora Miao

Nguyen's Mistress
(as Cora Chien-Jen Miao)

Season Ma

Cam Nuong

Andy Lau

To Minh
(as Andy Tak-Wah Lau)

Meiying Jia

Le Van Quyen
(as Mei-Ying Jia)

Mung-Sek Kei

Junyi Guo

Van Lang
(as Jia-Ling Hao)

Shujing Lin

Comrade Vu
(as Shu-Jin Lin)

Jianzhou Cai

Monitor

Tung-Sheng Chang

Doctor

Gamhung Cheung

Ah Thanh

Shui-Chiu Gan

Hengbao Guo

Leader of Team 15

Jialing Hao

Cam Nuong's Mother

Tao Lin

Leader of Team 16

Pingmei Meng

Mrs. Pham

Mengshi Qi

Comrade Nguyen

Huangwen Wang

To Minh's Father

Director
- Ann Hui
Writers
- Cheung Gam Hung
- Kang-Chien Chiu
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The People's Republic of China, just ending a war with Vietnam, gave Hui permission to film on Hainan Island. Boat People was the first Hong Kong movie filmed in Communist China.

Goofs
At the dinner a waiter pours a beer for the journalist with a head of 3-4 cm. After the cut to another angle, only 1 cm is left.

Quotes
Comrade Nguyen: They're too young, Comrade Le and Comrade Vu. They're too eager. They lose proportion. When I see how determined they are... I think I must have been weak when I was young. It makes me feel old.
Shiomi Akutagawa: You aren't old.
Comrade Nguyen: Recently I've been thinking a lot about my youth... here and Paris, drinking French wine, eating French food... even longing for a French woman. I must be old! The Revolution claimed half of my life. And now I realized I'm old. My mind still lives in the colonial past. Vietnam has won her Revolution. But I've lost mine! I know where to get the best French food in Danang. I'll take you there sometime.

Connections
Featured in Keep Rolling (2020)

Soundtracks
La Vie en Rose
Music by Louiguy
Lyrics by Édith Piaf
Performed by Édith Piaf

User reviews8

Review

Featured review

7/10

Gritty realism

BOAT PEOPLE is a hard-hitting slice of social commentary from director Ann Hui, telling the plight of the Vietnamese people following the North's win in the Vietnam War. She based her film on stories told to her by refugees and filmed this movie on Hainan Island which adds to the authenticity of the picture. This fits well into that early '80s grittiness you see in the likes of THE KILLING FIELDS. George Lam, playing a Japanese photographer, is the nominal protagonist but the film is much more interesting when depicting local lives; in particular, Season Ma really shines as the innocent girl and Andy Lau wows in a star-making turn.