"Blue Bayou" is a poignant and insightful film about a man searching for where he belongs, a haunting revelation of the corrupt immigration system in less-lightened ways, and personalizing the problem through Antonio's quiet and complex life, gives us a unique look. More poignant about a problem that many may not know or ignore, and while the ending is so cruel that you may not want to watch the movie again someday, it's okay, because director, writer, and hero Justin Chun makes an indelible impression With his movie regardless.
The immigration stories we see in movies are often emotional and poignant, even if a person arrives in his new country with relative ease and without emotional trauma, there are always poignant issues about adaptation and belonging, but “Blue Bayou” lends a distinctive character to the issue of the corrupt immigration system that does not Talked like no other, it reveals the ordeal affecting children who were adopted from foreign countries, brought to America, and then never naturalized by their adoptive parents, and because they are subject to deportation for a myriad of reasons. Many of them have traveled permanently to countries they don't even remember.
Author and director Justin Chun sheds light on this issue specifically through Antonio LeBlanc (played by Chun himself), a Korean-American who lives in Louisiana, is married to Kathy (Alica Vikander), and lives happily and passionately with her, as she is pregnant, and is Loving stepfather to her young daughter Jesse (Sydney Kowalski). Antonio tattoos and motorbikes, a cheerful father who plays hockey with Jesse and works in a tattoo parlor, but can't catch his breath, as he has two high-profile cases on his record of past crimes that prevent him from getting a better job with greater benefits. So he is late paying his accumulated bills, in addition to his mother-in-law who hates him so much. Even worse is Kathy's ex-husband Ace (Mark O'Brien), a New Orleans cop who dumped her and Jesse, but now wants them back and resents that Antonio taking his place, these bad feelings are what lead to To a catastrophic spiral of events for "Antonio", where he is provoked to fight, which leads to his arrest, and then arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for not naturalizing him. The money needed to pay a lawyer's fees to plead his stay.
As Antonio's problems pile up nonstop, Chun's directing captures the intimate moments of this young family, and it is this window into their connected world that prevents the film from immersing itself in melodrama. Antonio” from childhood that followed him to adulthood.
The film allowed us to experience the harrowing moments that Antonio has long kept hidden from himself and his wife and how he dealt with the trauma inflicted on her by the horrific "parents" as an adopted child, as a foster child, and in his urgency to find money and advance his case for immigration, constitutes Casual friendship with Parker (Linh Dan Pham), a Vietnamese immigrant dying of cancer, comes to Antonio to get a tattoo. Pham manages to empathize with Parker's character, paving the way for Antonio to understand his heritage and spark his curiosity for his own, never-before-instilled roots. Serious and awkward.
The performance of the rest of the main cast is equally impressive, and "Antonio", played by Chun, looks like an authentic man from the region, but he is not, and he knows it as he continues to deal with his difference from childhood to manhood, but despite his mistakes he has gained love and sympathy From his new family of Cathy and Jesse, both actresses provide a calm and honest performance, especially the young Kowalski, who takes us on a journey from fatherly love to sadness that culminates in a scene so painful that the eyes of viewers are tears.
