No. 97 (2021) BLUE BAYOU Nov. 30th.

 

Film No. 97 (2021) November 30th.  6:00 PM STATE CINEMA Cine 8,  Hobart,  Tasmania.

                        

"Can't we do something about this. I mean, listen to him, look at him. He's American. " (Cathy LeBlanc pleads to their lawyer to beat this injustice).

  

Justin Chon has much to say in this heart-felt project film. It's simple; if politicians and lawyers can't change laws in the U.S. then artists (in this case a film-maker) can bring an issue of injustice to light. BLUE BAYOU effectively brings the issue of unfair deportation, into the spotlight. To believe the statistics splashed on the screen post-film is to feel aghast at how and why a civilised society lets this happen. The Trump Era of the last 4 years has surely delayed improvements.

Chon shoulders the responsibility (courage) in making a credible statement via BLUE BAYOU. He stars in, writes and directs the story of the Le Blanc's; Antonio (Chon), a very pregnant Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and Kathy's daughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske), they are a young and loving family in the Bayou region of the southern U.S. Antonio has a complicated past but whilst poor, he is in love, and remains fervently optimistic. The set up is effective. The casting is right. Chon cleverly sets us up to be involved in drama of the heart-breaking variety.

In short, the U.S. has cumbersomely made up deportation laws, on the run, over recent decades. Scores of migrant orphans from the 80's and 90's were doled out to often uncaring people, then, when of age, left to make their own way in the world. Sometimes they would come to the attention of authorities. Even though they know nothing other than life in the states they can be deported; many are. Antonio began his life in the U.S. as a 3 year old Korean orphan. We meet the adult him as he is about to experience what it's like to become a victim of these haphazard laws.

BLUE BAYOU is uneven to say the least. Chon creates themes we'd love to further explore. Antonio's relationship with step-daughter Jessie, brilliantly played by Sydney Kowalske never gets the flesh it deserves. The two dimensional antagonist in a police uniform is grating. But then Chon risks conveying his message by introducing Parker (Linh-Dan Phan), a Vietnamese American, who turns out to be the rock on which Antonia centres his tenuous life. We find ourselves predicting how this friendship will impact on the  movie's ending. I couldn't have been more wrong in my predictions.

Justin Chon has made a good film. For those new to his work, he is not an adoptee. He is a concerned American citizen who, as a film-maker, simply wants to bring empathy to the community (his words). He does this with BLUE BAYOU. And if you have ever doubted the talent of Vikander then see the film for her version of Blue Bayou. Orbison's classic is taken to new heights.  10GUMS.