Product Description

A beautifully shot feature from director Nguyen-Vo Nghiem-Minh, BUFFALO BOY is a powerful and nuanced coming-of-age story about 15 year old Kim (Le The Lu), the son of a poor family struggling in 1940's Vietnam. Set in Cà-Mau, the last frontier at the southern tip of Vietnam where the low land meets the sea, the people survive by following the cycles of the flooding and dry seasons. Every rainy season, lasting about six months, water covers the entire land and the farmers must take the buffalo on a long journey to the mountains in search of food. When Kim is sent by his ailing father to find grass for their two starving buffalo, he takes up with a rough and dangerous band of buffalo herders. On the journey, he discovers an adult world of brawls, alcohol, and pillaging-- one that, over time, gives way to friendship, love and the joy of freedom.

Inspired by the classic short story collection, 'Scent of the Cà-Mau Forest' by Son Nam, one of the Vietnam's most distinguished writers and a native of Cà-Mau, BUFFALO BOY is a journey of self-discovery that also gives witness to the exhausting cycles of life under colonialism's poverty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57436 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-03-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Review
A deceptively simple tale... languorous, beautifully shot... 'Buffalo Boy' is filled with wonder --New York Times

Review
Beautiful... a rare, poetic glimpse of life in rural Vietnam during the French occupation. --TV Guide

Review
Both a beautiful mediation on the cycle of life and a gripping drama about the desperation bred by poverty. --St. Louis Today

Customer Reviews

buffalo boy
It's amazing!! scenery of landscapes are great!!! Story is really sad and much reflecting from the colonized time of Vietnam. Also having chance to see the big scale of many buffalos when they moved for foods!!The sound of water is beautiful when the buffalos moved on... Should be seen!!

You Wouldn't Want To Live This Kind Of Life!
Frankly, I am surprised I hung with this movie because it's pretty slow. It's not a real "entertainer," except for two things: 1 - the camera-work is nice at times; 2 - the story is quite different from anything we are accustomed to in the West. But after two-thirds of this story had elapsed, it was tough going the rest of the way. It's not an uplifting story, either. It left me feeling depressed. Yet, it IS a memorable film and I'm glad I watched it. Does that make sense?

Floods, family, friends, enemies, thieves, sex, loyalty, poverty and abandonment and generally what life is like for those people in this story. With all the water around them, they couldn't bury their loved ones until the dry season came. They wrapped them up and put them on poles, and hoped the crows didn't peck away at the bodies. There are enough bizarre (for us) scenes like this, plus the fine cinematography, to make this a film with a few scenes you won't forget.

You wouldn't want to live here, at the southern tip of Vietnam with these rainy, long flood seasons. Lugging a couple of Water Buffaloes through waist-deep muddy water for miles can't be a great existence, either. This is a tough story of people surviving under tough circumstances.

Beautiful scenery with its remarkable sounds.
If you are interested in watching scenes of rural Vietnam, this may serve to become one of your collection. The sounds of rivers and water buffaloes which are blended with the rural landscape appear to be in harmony which sometimes make the viewer feel that he is in there. Although the cinematography is well worth it,the plot is rather weak and some of the scenes appear dragging which reminds me of some articles in National Geographic Magazines. However, the actors and actresses I think did their part well. We would welcome more movies about Vietnam.