A captivating and engrossing drama brimming with genuine warmth and tenderness as well as a charismatic, radiant and heartfelt performance by newcomer Pham Thi Han.
Comment
05/30/09
Owl and the Sparrow (2008)
76
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:13
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7/10
Synopsis: This Vietnamese drama offers a rich panorama of urban life in Saigon. In particular, OWL AND THE SPARROW tells the story of a 10-year-old runaway who helps a stewardess connect with a lovelorn... [More]
Reviews for Owl and the Sparrow
1 - 17 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
A pleasant change of pace to see a film set in Saigon which isn't a high body-count splatter flick about the ravages of the war in Indochina. Worthwhile if only for the reminder that the Vietnamese are people, too!
05/30/09
By taking a fairly unromantic approach to the standard strangers-meet-in-a-cold-world premise, writer-director Stephane Gauger crafts a lovely, lovelorn fable.
05/29/09
Owl and the Sparrow is a beautifully com posed romance from Vietnam.
05/29/09
Stephane Gauger's debut feature, Owl and the Sparrow, is a charming little movie, nothing more.
05/29/09
Top CriticAn enchanting story of a homeless girl on the streets of Saigon who has a big heart and a yearning to be accepted for who she is.
05/29/09
Sentimental without being cloying, the film is a charmer, just like the gravely wide-eyed Pham.
05/28/09
Owl and the Sparrow is yet one more film that preaches the importance of opening your heart and reaching out to those around you, but that treacly sentiment is nicely undercut by the unvarnished naturalness of the actors.
05/27/09
For better and (largely) for worse, Stephane Gauger's Ho Chi Minh City-set Vietnamese-language debut Owl and the Sparrow is defined by its Amerindie aesthetic.
05/25/09
A simple Vietnamese story well told, one that evokes images of Truffaut and Panahi.
05/23/09
A strangely overdone finalé, complete with surging musical crescendos and tears, rings false, given the earnest and unsentimental qualities exhibited elsewhere in Gauger's script and direction.
03/06/09
The principal actors all do a nice job, but a special commendation goes to young Han, a Saigon resident with some experience onstage.
02/13/09
The movie doesn't play as saccharine as it sounds, but gentle sentimentality runs this show nonetheless.
01/30/09
... a slice of relatively uneventful life in Vietnam. ... I never cared about any of the characters or about the predictable story.
01/22/09
Hypnotic, heartfelt character study at its gentlest and most charming. I was so enrapt in this tale of a little girl and the new family she finds that my natural cynicism didn't stand a chance.
01/18/09
Smartly balancing earnest sentiment with an unvarnished look at contemporary Vietnamese life, [Director Stephane] Gauger deftly bridges cultural, emotional and artistic barriers while remaining true to a uniquely Asian aesthetic.
01/16/09
What [director] Gauger has created is a quietly affecting fairy tale.
01/16/09
Top Critic1 - 17 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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February 10, 2009:
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