Monsoon | |
---|---|
Directed by | Hong Khaou |
Written by | Hong Khaou |
Produced by | Tracy O'Riordan |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Benjamin Kracun |
Edited by | Mark Towns |
Music by | John Cummings |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Peccadillo Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Languages |
|
Box office | $190,152 [1] |
Monsoon is a 2019 British drama film, written and directed by Hong Khaou and produced by Tracy O'Riordan. It stars Henry Golding, Parker Sawyers, David Tran and Molly Harris.
Monsoon had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on 29 June 2019. It was released in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2020, by Peccadillo Pictures.
Kit (Henry Golding), a young British Vietnamese man, returns to his birth country for the first time in over 30 years. He was just six years old when he and his family escaped Saigon as 'boat refugees' after the Vietnam War. No longer familiar with this country and unable to speak his native language, Kit embarks on a personal journey from Saigon to Hanoi in search of a place to scatter his parents’ ashes. Along the way he reconnects with his cousin and childhood friend Lee (David Tran) and falls for Lewis (Parker Sawyers), an American whose father had fought in the war.
During his travels, Kit finally starts to connect to the memories of his parents and his own roots.
Monsoon was awarded the Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award in 2014. [2] The feature was also among the BFI's top ten Film Fund recipients, receiving £800,000. [3]
In March 2018, it was announced Henry Golding had joined the cast of the film, with Hong Khaou directing from a screenplay he wrote. Tracy O'Riordan would serve as a producer on the film, with BBC Films and British Film Institute producing. [4]
When director Hong Khaou's Lilting played at Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab suggested Khaou pitch them an idea for his next project. In the four years that followed, with the support of the BFI and BBC Films, the film underwent "various incarnations" according to Khaou. As an example, the character of Lewis, an African American in the finished film, started out as Hank, a white American. Khaou stated that the change was made because executives and financiers believed that "the Hank character’s voice – the dominant white American, in terms of the subtext of the war – had been heard before." [5]
Monsoon had its world premiere at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in competition on 29 June 2019. [6] [7] In April 2020, Strand Releasing acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. [8] It was released in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2020, [9] and in the United States on 13 November 2020. [10]
Monsoon has received very positive reviews from critics out of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87% of 61 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Monsoon sees writer-director Hong Khaou offering a thoughtful look at the emigrant experience, brought beautifully to life by Henry Golding's stellar performance." [11]
Demetrios Matheou, in his review for Screen Daily, said that "it’s a touching, thoughtful and gorgeously shot piece of work, which both examines its protagonist’s experience of displacement and tenderly evokes a country moving energetically forwards while some are still tied painfully to the past." [12] Jessica Kiang, in her review for Variety , called it "A graceful and truthfully irresolute investigation into the strange, often poignantly unreciprocated relationship that many first- and second-generation emigrants have with the far-off foreign country of the past". [13] Giving the film a 'B−' score, Gregory Ellwood writing for The Playlist said "for a naturalistically told story about a man finding his place in the world, slightly more emotion wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing". [14] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, calling it "an intimate drama of surprising depth". [15] At Film London's new-look London Screenings, which took place at Picturehouse Central in London's West End from June 24–27, Monsoon was described by one distributor in London as “absolutely charming”. [16]
Monsoon was nominated for the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film (Limited Release). [17]
Adventures of Power is a 2008 American adventure comedy film written and directed by Ari Gold, starring Gold, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch, Shoshannah Stern, Chiu Chi Ling, and Adrian Grenier and featuring Steven Williams, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Annie Golden and Nick Kroll, with a cameo performance by Rush drummer Neil Peart. The soundtrack includes original songs by Ethan Gold and hits by Rush, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, Phil Collins, Dazz Band, Loverboy, Bow Wow Wow and Woody Guthrie. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and made its European debut at the 2008 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. It was released theatrically in 2009 by Variance Films and on DVD/VOD by Phase 4 Films.
Lilting is a 2014 British romantic drama film written and directed by Cambodian-born British director Hong Khaou and produced by Dominic Buchanan.
Hong Khaou is a Cambodian-born Chinese, British film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his debut feature film Lilting and the short films Summer and Spring.
Umrika (transl. America) is a 2015 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film written and directed by Prashant Nair, and produced by Swati Shetty and Manish Mundra. It features Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Rajesh Tailang, Pramod Pathak, Adil Hussain, Amit Sial, Sauraseni Maitra and Prateik Babbar.
Afterlife is a 2014 Hungarian comedy film directed by Virág Zomborácz, starring Márton Kristóf and László Gálffi.
Bob and the Trees is a 2015 American fictional vérité drama film that won the Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Shot in The Berkshires, Bob and the Trees follows farmer and logger Bob Tarasuk, his son and business partner Matt, and Bob's wife Polly as they work to earn money during winter. The film, Diego Ongaro's feature-length directorial debut, premiered in the noncompetitive Next section of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival in January 2015, where it was met with positive reviews.
The Magic Mountain is a 2015 Romanian animated drama film directed by Anca Damian. It tells the story of Adam Jacek Winkler, a Polish anti-communist who in the 1980s fought against the Soviet Union in the Soviet–Afghan War, alongside Ahmad Shah Massoud. The film was co-produced with French and Polish companies. It was made using a mix of animation techniques and Winkler's personal photographs, sketches and film footage. The English-language version of the film stars Jean-Marc Barr as the voice of Winkler.
Ivy is a 2015 Turkish drama film written and directed by Turkish filmmaker Tolga Karaçelik. After premiering in-competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, the film continued its festival circuit, screening at more than 30 international film festivals, including Toronto IFF, Karlovy Vary IFF, Sao Paulo IFF and Sydney FF. The film won four awards at the Antalya International Film Festival including Best Film and Best Director, making Karacelik one of the youngest directors to ever receive the Golden Orange.
The Sound of Trees is a 2015 Canadian film directed by François Péloquin. The film stars Antoine L'Écuyer as Jérémie, a teenager who dreams of escaping his small-town life in the Gaspésie region of Quebec, posing problems in his relationship with his father Régis.
It's Not the Time of My Life is a 2016 Hungarian drama film directed by Szabolcs Hajdu. It is set in an apartment where two families interact and both couples go through a midlife crisis. The film is based on the director's own play.
Henry Ewan Golding is a Malaysian-British actor and television host. Golding has been a presenter on BBC's The Travel Show since 2014. He is known for his film work, playing the role of Nick Young in Crazy Rich Asians, the title character in the action-adventure Snake Eyes, Sean Townsend in the thriller A Simple Favor, and Tom in the romantic comedy Last Christmas, the latter two directed by Paul Feig.
The True Adventures of Wolfboy is a 2019 American coming-of-age film directed by Martin Krejčí and written by Olivia Dufault. The film stars Jaeden Martell, Chris Messina, Eve Hewson, Chloë Sevigny, John Turturro, Nick Pulinski, and introducing Sophie Giannamore as Artistiana. It tells the story of a teenage boy with hypertrichosis who leaves home to find his mother while befriending a "mermaid" transgender girl.
Kajillionaire is a 2020 American crime comedy-drama film written and directed by Miranda July. The film stars Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins as members of a petty criminal family whose relationship becomes frayed when a stranger played by Gina Rodriguez joins their schemes.
Uncle Frank is a 2020 American comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Alan Ball. The film stars Paul Bettany and Sophia Lillis. Set in the 1970s, Uncle Frank is a road movie about a gay man who confronts his past.
The Father is a 2019 Bulgarian drama film directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. The film premiered at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where it won the Crystal Globe award for best film. It was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Volcano is a 2018 Ukrainian-German-Monaco drama film, and the feature directorial debut of Roman Bondarchuk. Through the character Lukas, an interpreter who is stranded in the region he was to help monitor for a security organization, the film examines the lives of people on the southern Ukrainian steppe who live in anarchic freedom, seemingly forgotten by the outside world.