nerakhoon: the betrayal

is a story about a lao family's struggles during the secret war in laos (during the vietnam war which should really be called the indochinese wars) and their lives in america following their escape from laos.

that's the brief synopsis.

it's a story that i think any first or second generation immigrant can relate to. moreso those that escaped from wartorn countries. even moreso--if you are lao yourself.

which i happen to be.

there were a lot of scenes i recognized as part of my own experiences growing up. the same lectures. the same fears. the same pains. the same sacrifices. it's a shame that the sacrifice was not painted into the film more. the theme (though the focus was obviously about the family) seemed somewhat scattered--as if the director couldn't decide what to focus on about the family--granted there are obviously many things to focus on but i feel like that might have lent the film a bit more cohesion. less choppy and more fluid.

also, i'm not so self-absorbed as to think that my family suffered more than anyother lao family--but i know that there are things we sacrificed and that were sacrificed for us, that were not shown on that film that might have made it more poignant--had THEIR family's struggles been vividly shown by words and images. i could be mucking up my point here, but it's hard to be precise about what bothered me. actually, maybe it was the poor translation. my lao is pretty mediocre by some standards--but i could have done a better job. so that says enough i think. if you speak lao though, you need not read the poorly translated subtitles--and thankfully, my grasp is well beyond having to read the subtitles though i did anyways for comparison purposes. when some were crying--i was chuckling. and yes, i am somewhat lacking in the compassion department--but, for once, it was because of bad translation and not just a strange acceptance of some realities.

anyhow, i wish that the various sacrifices were at least elaborated upon enough that...even someone like me could be more than cursorily invested. the difference is how i ended up viewing it. instead of being "a lao person watching the struggles that my people and my own family faced," i was "that critic watching a documentary on lao people--and just happened to be lao as well." i would have liked to have been engaged to that level. to actually feel, rather than think. to think, "that hits home," rather than "eh. that's what my family went through--but worse. that's what we all went through." if it had broken through to that level--then i would have known that not even the cloak of the scholar i so often don--was ample protection against the stark truths spoken and vivid images shown that assaulted me throughout.

in the end--it is the first documentary (that i know of) about the lao person/family. not about the cambodians. not the vietnamese. not the thai. but..THE LAO. and it is most definitely a different perspective. we remain the most bombed country ever--that in itself--is not a fact most people know or care to know. and because of all of that--this film is worth seeing. you might not come away with any indepth knowledge about the country, its people, its customs or its evolution. but you will at least have gleaned a day in the life of an immigrant family fleeing a wartorn country to arrive to a new country with high hopes, not speaking the language or understanding the customs and having to carve their own fortunes and futures.

and yes. some of you might think--we as humans do that everyday. and yes. you would be correct. but most of you do it knowing the language and in the country your parents grew up in and were raised in for some generations. you do it with a different skin color and a different standard of expectation given and received. you do it with a very heavy advantage.

it's a nice humbling piece in and of itself. i am not silly enough to proclaim that we were the poorest (monetarily) family i ever knew or that my life was harder than anyone else's growing up or anything akin to that. but i will say--that when people talk to me about being poor or how they would be happy with no electricity as long as they had love or anything from the one spectrum to the other. i can't help but think--you've never really known suffering the way i've seen it and experienced it. don't be ungrateful. be happy with what you've got. and be happy with what you were given. you don't know shit. yeah, i can be dry and sarcastic. but there has never been a time where i didn't appreciate the life i've had and the life i live now. and maybe i can be that way because THAT is a part of my heritage. because THAT is the legacy handed down to me by circumstances beyond my control. because THAT--is the responsibility that has been thrust upon me by my parents and my history. i have never forgotten the stories told to me by my parents. and i won't (barring alzheimer's). as a child it was a heavy burden. as an adult, i like to think that i have gone beyond acceptance and have come to truly cherish the experiences i had. there is an appreciation that i have now--that could never have been the case if i was raised anyother way. that, to me, is the consequence of the amalgamation of everything i've ever been through.

it's why i get angry when i see people forsake their heritage. yes. every "colored" person i know has gone through phases of self-hate and all that comes along with not being white in a society where being white is elite. but at some point, you should grow out of it. at some point. you should realize certain truths.

there is no choice you have to make. you can straddle both worlds successfully.

that said, below is the link to the website and the very minimal list of screenings. if you're into documentaries or films over 99% of people will never see or hear of or if you are just curious as to how i might have experienced life-- i urge you to check it out.

the website: http://nerakhoon.com/index.htm

theatrical screenings:

IFC Center, New York, NY	NOVEMBER 21, 2008
Brooklyn Heights Cinema, Brooklyn, NY	NOVEMBER 28, 2008
Starz Film Center, Denver, CO	JANUARY 9, 2009
Music Hall, Los Angeles, CA	JANUARY 16, 2009
Angelika Film Center, Dallas, TX	FEBRUARY 20, 2009
Lumiere/Opera Plaza, San Francisco, CA	FEBRUARY 27, 2009
Shattuck, Berkeley, CA	FEBRUARY 27, 2009
Grand Illusion Cinema, Seattle, WA	MARCH 13, 2009
Landmark Theatre, Minneapolis, MN	MARCH 20, 2009
Angelika Film Center, Houston, TX	MARCH 27, 2009
CCA Cinematheque, Santa Fe, NM	APRIL 3, 2009
Gateway, Columbus, OH	APRIL 10, 2009