Country: Vietnam
Language: Vietnamese
Year: 2011
Running Time: 97 min
Khoa, a naive, innocent 20 year old guy from the countryside arrives in Saigon to begin a new life. He is soon befriended by Dong, a handsome smooth talker who offers him a place to stay. When Khoa goes to check out Dong’s apartment, he discovers that there is another guy, Lam, living there too. The two guys who turn out to be boyfriends, steal all his cash and belongings and run away.
Lam, who then in turn is abandoned by Dong, returns to the street as a prostitute, while Khoa, disillusioned and left penniless, takes on menial jobs to survive.
Later when Lam by chance meets Khoa again on the streets, he tries to make amends.Realizing that both are lonely, they thus begin a loving yet delicate relationship. However, one day Dong suddenly returns…
Meanwhile, Cuoi, a mentally handicapped man befriends a female prostitute. Her pimps do not approve of the friendship fearing that he is scaring away customers...
LOST IN PARADISE takes a provocative yet compassionate look at a group of people who live, love and exist on the fringes in modern Vietnam. Perhaps the first film from Vietnam to depict a gay relationship in a positive light, Vu Ngoc Dang’s film shows life and love as a range of complexities from the humorous to the absurd to the tragic..
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Director
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Vu Ngoc Dang
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Production Company
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Vietnam Media Corp.
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Scriptwriter
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LUONG Manh Hai
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Scriptwriter
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Vu Ngoc Dang
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Executive Producer
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NGO Thi Bich Hien
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Executive Producer
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NGUYEN Phan Quang Binh
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Director of Photography
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NGUYEN Nam
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Editor
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Khanh Ly
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Production Design
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LE Tuan
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Music
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Minh Thu
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Manh Hai LUONG
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as Lam
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Vinh Khoa HO
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as Khoi
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Linh Son
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as Dong
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Phuong Thanh
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as Hanh
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Hieu Hien
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as Cuoi
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Perhaps the first film from Vietnam to depict a gay relationship in a positive light, Vu Ngoc Dang’s film shows life and love as a range of complexities from the humorous to the absurd to the tragic.
He depicts the hardships of many living on the edges of Vietnamese society: the dangers and abuse within the world of prostitution and gay bashing; how difficult it is for gay people, to sustain a meaningful relationship; the lives of the mentally handicapped with no support system. He opens our eyes to different facets of contemporary Vietnam and tells stories that are usually left untold.
With its moving performances and handsome cast, this is a film that will clearly leave an impression.
Vu Ngoc Dang is being considered as a phenomenon of cinema and television in Vietnam because the majority of his films have won awards and became the focus of media and audience.
His first film, “Vo Chong Chuot” (36 minutes) got him the 1st class at the Director course at Ho Chi Minh Cinema College (1999) and was selected to attend International Student Film Festival Israel in June 2001. Another film, “Mouse” (90 minutes) was given special attention in the national Television Film Festival in 2002 while “Belief” won the 2nd prize in Short Film Festival 2003 in Vietnam and “Prophet” was given the “ Impression Award” at Tokyo Film Festival in 2004.
In summer 2004, “The Long Leg Girls” with production cost of VND $ 1 billion earned more than VND$ 5 billion box office. It has been the first film successful in summer until date. The film then won the Silver Lotus at the 14th Vietnam Film Festival in 2005. It is also a first film produced by an independent company participating in the festival and got an award. In 2007, this film was bought by Sony Pictures to release DVDs in Asia.
In 2006, Dang returns to make television series and won Kite Silver Award 2006 for “Tropical Snow”. Two years later, with the drama “Suddenly want to cry”, he is considered a "phenomenon" of the 2008-2009 television spot with a record of broadcast ads hours and brought him the Favorite Drama Award voted by TV audiences. In 2009, “Every Inch of Beauty” and the TV drama Full House (a remake of the famous film Full House Korean) continues to attract special attention of audience countrywide.
2011 LOST IN PARADISE
2009 EVERY INCH OF BEAUTY
2004 THE LONG LEG GIRLS
Cinesnatch
17-Sep-2011
Author:
There is also an innocuousness that provides pleasures hard to come by in Western films. The aforementioned pimps are ruthless and unsympathetic, but there is an absurd cuteness in how they zoom around on a scooter and act like a bunch of knuckleheads. There is also a homoerotic introduction with a twist that outsmarts one’s assumptions.