Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

deb_316 This documentary film invites viewers into history, emotion and extreme cultural differences. It follows the travels of Heidi, a half-Vietnamese/half-American woman who at 7 years old was transported to America as part of Operation Babylift in 1975 when the Viet Cong were terrorizing Vietnam. Now professing to be 101% Americanized and living in the deep south, her life and even her appearance bears little resemblance to her Asian heritage. This proves to make her first visit with her mother and family difficult as she wrestles with the culture shock from Tennessee to Vietnam.Having been raised in a small midwestern town and having traveled around Asia, I was intrigued by some of the similarities of my own experiences with this film. However, I love to embrace cultural differences, whereas the subject of this film was much more hesitant to be out of her comfort zone. Her main goal was to have a happy reunion with her mother, but she perhaps should have had more preparation for the shock of the experience. Everything from the food, to hygiene, to personal space, to language, to economic differences was overwhelming for Heidi, and she grew more tense as the visit went on. It finally all came to a head when the family asked, as is completely common in Vietnam, for Heidi to help her mother monetarily with a "monthly stipend". For reasons poorly explained in the film, Heidi completely broke down, thus putting up a wall between her and the family. This was the turning point from which Heidi never recovered as the film ended with her still reflecting on the negative experience.My first reaction was that of anger about the American ethnocentrism in refusing to take time to understand the customs of another culture. To me, I felt that she had such a harsh and unforgiving reaction when it seemed that the family regretted upsetting her to such a degree. However, after reading some of the background information on the website, it seems her reaction was more out of personal hurts than of cultural misunderstandings. Heidi grew up never knowing unconditional love and was told by her adoptive mother that she "owed" her adoptive mother for sacrificing so much. With this knowledge, it is completely understandable why Heidi was so hurt by the notion that she was expected by the Vietnamese family to send money to her mother. Again, she felt she was not loved unconditionally as a daughter, but was instead being asked to "mother" her mother.The director touched on Heidi's personal story some, but it wasn't referenced very well in explaining Heidi's breakdown, as I thought she was upset and appalled purely because of cultural misunderstandings. Overall, this was a fascinating film about two very different cultures - Vietnamese and American - but not only American...southern culture!! (Which is a whole other level!) Most of the film was tied together very well, except the last 20 minutes. I wanted more explanation. But perhaps that's why this is best as a documentary - it shows real life, rather than a neatly-wrapped box of a fairy tale story. Life isn't perfect.

winkpc20 I work in the adoption field and I found this documentary to be a very interesting piece about an adoptee who is reunited with her birth family. I also found the final part of this documentary quite shocking and hard to take. However, as many others have commented, Heidi was poorly prepared for the moment when her birth siblings asked her to take care of her Mom or to send money to support her. To top it off, the person who had accompanied her left early without apparently warning her that this would happen. I don't want to judge Heidi, but I do hope as many other commenters have indicated, that Heidi will in time try to come to terms with her birth family. It is great that she has the love and support of her husband and two daughters, but it is very sad that her adoptive mother failed her miserably. If she is to be a more complete human being, Heidi needs to learn more about her Asian roots and culture and to form a meaningful relationship with her birth family. They were all victims!

sfran10690 This was a very sad Documentary, here you have this girl who came to the U.S. and never really experienced any real love from her Adoptive mother. Goes to see her Vietnamese mother and ends up with all these conditions placed on her how sad.Re: the family, I'm just wondering if they would have their hands out if she lived in France after the war. It seems to be a view that many countries have of this country maybe if they knew that we have 37 million living below the poverty level here it would stamp out the gravy train notion.Moreover she lived in Army housing with her husband and probably didn't have much herself. Its a shame that money changes all of this, I hope and pray that they can just accept her and love her without expecting her to dig deep in her pocket to please them

prinsue Daughter From Danang was, in my opinion, an exceptional, well-done documentary in it's honesty. It did not try to sugar-coat anything. At the end, what I personally would have liked to do was to spank Heidi on her well-fed American butt! Her mother, who is responsible for Heidi's lovely, easy life in America, was totally scorned by this heartless daughter. I can understand the differences between the two countries, but to totally eliminate her mother from her life without correspondence, let alone a monthly stipend, was unbelievable! It was a selfish and cruel decision. Even $20.00/month with a little note would mean so much to this family. And Heidi could not bring herself to promise to do even this. What kind of example is she setting for her children? How can she live with herself?