LITTLE BIRD is a riveting 18-minute drama set against the backdrop of Vietnamese refugees in 1980s Los Angeles. The main theme of the story centers on Linh Tran, Vietnamese, who works for a reprehensibe landlord who rips off his tenants – and her conscious is beginning to haunt her.
Film Director Oahn-Nhi Nguyen
Tran’s job is to serve eviction notices on the ripped off tenants whom are Vietnamese refugees. When she inadvertently befriends a young Vietnamese girl whose family Tran is serving a eviction notice, Tran suddenly feels uncomfortable about what she is doing, though her disillusions by the falsehoods and lies of the land of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have been clawing away at her for a while.
LITTLE BIRD is skillfully crafted, emotionally driven narrative that spotlights an immigrant woman’s internal reckoning with duty, making her complicit in corruption versus compassion. Tran must do what her landlord tells her to do or risk being fired, thus her situation becomes conflictive, creating a profound emotional and ethical dilemma. LITTLE BIRD a powerful exploration of empathy, identity, and solidarity within immigrant communities.
Director: Oanh-Nhi Nguyen
Story by Oanh-Nhi Nguye
Screenwriters: Oanh-Nhi Nguyen and Ysabeaux Ng
Producer: Eva Zheng
Cinematographer: Timothy Shin
Production Design: Bala Kumar
Editor: Adhyaksh Amarnath
There are several reasons why LITTLE BIRD is so good but the following caught this reviewer’s attention the most. Impressive performances by all of her actors. The cinematography resulted in bullseye verisimilitude about life for Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s. Skillful juxtaposition of images. The score and soundtrack.
This reviewer expects many audiences like this reviewer will be stirred to see LITTLE BIRD more than once. The more a film inspires repeat viewings and positive critical discussions, the more likely that film’s reputation and that of the filmmaker grow.
Film resonance: Can’t help but believe that film audiences will see and feel connections between the sociopolitical issues depicted in the movie are so very familiar to sociopolitical political issues reflecting in the never ending tumult of “breaking news” today.
The average run time for feature films in general is 90 to 120 minutes. An 18-minute film may be short in length compared to regular feature films but Director Nyuyen’s film for this reviewer is transcendental and kaleidoscopic in scope and breath because of the cinematography and verisimilitude of the film and other visual features. The Vietnamese experiences in the film reflect the experiences of ethnicities across the ethnic diversity of the country.
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