The Bamboo Incident (1970)
A young Vietnamese boy's life is thrown into turmoil by the war raging in his country. The ten year old remains with his mother and baby sister as his father goes off to fight for the Viet Cong. During his father's absence, his mother dies from overwork and the inability to find proper medical care for her illness. He cares for his baby sister and struggles to earn a living by shining shoes and doing other odd jobs before his father returns. Both an American soldier and a Viet Cong regular are shown defending their country's political agenda. Also shown are guerilla tactics and bombings in this feature directed by veteran combat photographer Raoul Coutard.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Reviews
It is a performances centric movie
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
This movie does not take sides .Fighting for democracy or communism,it's all the same:children are poor unfortunate victims of man's Madness.First line:"dad ,what's peace? -Someday,you will find out I've been living in war for 30 years . Last line:What's peace?Boy:mom,is there a storm brewing? Mom:no more storm over Vietnam;only the sound of planes .Dad's gone to fight against imperialism and mom stays at home with her two children;soon,she dies of cancer and asks her boy to care care of his little sister.This is the beginning of an odyssey which recalls sometimes that of the two tragic heroes of the Japanese masterpiece " grave of the fireflies". The brat becomes a paper boy,a shoe-shiner and tries to stay a child in a world gone mad.Some adults are selfish and ruthless ,some others -an European nurse notably-lends a helpful hand .It seems ,at the end of the movie,that the father has finally understood that a child's smile is worth all the ideological struggles in the world.Raoul Coutard was a famous N.V. cameraman ;he directed only a handful of movies:this one is certainly the most interesting.