Owl and the Sparrow

Although set in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), this sweet, sentimental story is the sort of film that Frank Capra might have directed—or Shirley Temple starred in—during the 1930s. At the center is an orphan girl named Thuy (Pham Thi Han), who flees the sweatshop where her uncle forces her to work, heading for the big city, where she struggles to survive by selling postcards and flowers on the street. During the week she's there, Thuy meets two kind people—a young zookeeper (Le The Lu) pining for the girlfriend who left him, and a beautiful but lonely flight attendant (Cat Ly)—and she adopts the role of matchmaker. Of course, complications arise—Thuy's uncle comes looking for her, the authorities send her to an orphanage, etc.—but the happy ending is pretty much foreordained (a thread about a baby elephant being removed from the zoo is also obviously designed as a counterpart to the girl's story, which almost becomes an advertisement for the adoption of Vietnamese orphans). Still, the engaging cast, along with director Stephane Gauger's ability to capture the raucous, colorful feel of the urban street scene while sensitively portraying the growing bond among the three main characters keep Owl and the Sparrow from ever becoming cloying. A genuinely crowd-pleasing tale that unfolds in an exotic setting, this is recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Stephane Gauger, a behind-the-scenes featurette (8 min.), two deleted scenes (4 min.), stills galleries, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning foreign film.] (F. Swietek)