''Green Dragon'' is a 2001 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Timothy Linh Bui Timothy Linh Bui (b. Saigon, South Vietnam, April 13, 1970) is a Vietnamese-born American filmmaker, film producer, and screenwriter. He directed '' Green Dragon'', and co-wrote and produced '' Three Seasons''. Early life Bui was born in S ...

and starring

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Forest Whitaker, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award ...

and Duong Don.

Plot

The film follows the experience of

Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

immediately following the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...

at the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Tai Tran (Duong) has been appointed the camp translator by Gunnery Sgt. Jim Lance (Swayze). He has arrived with his sister's two young children. Their mother is believed to have been lost in the rush to leave Vietnam. Despite the despair of leaving Vietnam and having to live in an unfamiliar United States, many of the occupants make adjustments. Minh (Nguyen) is silent and solitary until he meets Addie (Whitaker), the camp's cook. They embark on a friendship to the point where Minh is drawn out of his shell. Meanwhile, Tai and his friend Duc (Tran) find themselves enamored with two female refugees. Tai falls for Thuy Hoa, the daughter of a discredited Vietnamese general. Duc falls back in love with a former girlfriend from Vietnam (Luong) who is an unhappily married second wife.

Cast

There were open casting calls for actors and actresses in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

and

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. Don Duong had been cast in Tony Bui's 1999 acclaimed film ''

Three Seasons ''Three Seasons'' (Vietnamese title: ''Ba Mùa'') is a 1999 American film shot in Vietnam about the past, present, and future of Ho Chi Minh City in the early days of Doi Moi. It is a poetic film that tries to paint a picture of the urban cult ...

'' as Hai. Impressed by his work in the film, Timothy Bui asked him to play Tai. Initially, Bui did not want Patrick Swayze for the role of Jim Lance due to fears that his big name would overshadow the story and message of the small film. However, upon meeting Swayze he changed his mind, as Swayze related to Bui his complete understanding of the film. *

as Gunnery Sergeant Jim Lance *

as Addie *

Don Duong Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

as Tai Tran *

Hiep Thi Le Hiep Thi Le ( vi, Lê Thị Hiệp; February 18, 1971 – December 19, 2017) was an American actress and restaurateur. She is best known for her portrayal of Le Ly in the film '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993). Early life Le was born on February 18, ...

as Thuy Hoa * Billinjer C. Tran as Duc *

Kathleen Luong Kathleen Luong (November 13, 1974 – October 28, 2020) was a Vietnamese American actress and model. She is usually credited as Katie Luong. Luong was born in Saigon, South Vietnam. In 1979 her family left Vietnam, and sailed to Malaysia. They i ...

as Second Wife * Trung Nguyen as Minh

Production

The story was written by Bui's younger brother

Tony Bui Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

. Both of the brothers came to the United States with their family in 1975, as refugees from Vietnam. The setting of the film is

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, where the movie was also filmed.

Reaction

''Green Dragon'' held its premiere on January 19, 2001 at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

Reviews

The film received primarily positive reviews although many contended that the film was so sentimental that details were lost. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', film critic

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

wrote that the film was, "not a pernicious film, but simply one that tugs too tenaciously at the heartstrings." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised the actors, "Swayze and Whitaker are effective without especially stretching their acting range, while Duong, who co-starred with Harvey Keitel in "Three Seasons," brings solemn understatement and warmth that serve his role well." However, they criticized the film for its director who "zeros in too unrelentingly on the innocent faces of the two children, the development of the Addie/Minh bond feels calculatedly heartwarming and dialogue too often sounds agenda-driven."Green Dragon review
Variety, 2001

Awards and nominations

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

*2001: Won, "Best Advance Screening" - Tony Bui & Timothy Linh Bui

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

*2001: Won, "Best Film" - Timothy Linh Bui & Tony Bui Political Film Society *2003: Nominated, "PFS Award for Exposé"

*2001: Nominated, "Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Film" - Timothy Linh Bui

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

*2003: Nominated, "Best Performance in a Feature Film By a Young Actor Age Ten & Under" - Trung Nguyen

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, dragon_verde 2001 films 2001 drama films American drama films Vietnamese-language films Vietnam War films Films about Vietnamese Americans Franchise Pictures films Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Mychael Danna Films scored by Jeff Danna Films produced by Elie Samaha 2000s English-language films 2000s American films