Daughter from Danang (on DVD)

2002’s documentary, Daughter from Danang, may be remembered more for its subject matter than its cinematic achievement. It was nominated for Best Documentary Award at the 2003 Oscars. The movie uses a very conventional documentary style mostly employed by PBS documentaries to tell another tragedy incurred by Vietnam War. At the end of the war, the American government started “Operation Babylift” to bring thousands of Vietnamese orphans and Amerasian children to the United States to be adopted by Americans. Daughter from Danang follows Heidi, an Amerasian kid raised by a single woman in the South, when she embarks on a journey to be reunited with her birth mother after 22 years. Unfortunately blood is not thicker than water in this case. It is heartbreaking to see a mother find her daughter and then lose her again. It is chilling to see how American culture has made us so selfish and indifferent to other people’s suffering. In the movie, Heidi is appalled by her siblings’ frank request for money. She is disgusted by their “greediness” while I feel more ashamed for her lack of compassion. It is plain to see that she doesn’t need to give her Vietnamese relatives much money to help them out. Her siblings’ request for her to support her birth mother with a monthly stipend doesn’t sound so outrageous. In a country like Vietnam, a monthly check of $100 could go a long way. I seriously doubt that would have given her too much burden. To me, it seems that she is the true greedy one. The organization who helps these adopted kids find their birth parents apparently doesn’t prepare them for the cultural difference. Tragedies are bound to happen when they have difficulty communicating because of language and cultural barrier. Daughter from Danang doesn’t have any distinctive cinematic style. It tells the story mainly through interviews with the subjects, but what a story they tell! After watching it, it will make you question the merits of war and view your family relationship on another level.