Beyond Rangoon Movie Review & Film Summary (1. The movies have always known how to make the Inscrutable East scrutable: They create Western heroes and send them there to scrute it, and then we see the situation through their eyes. This is known in screenwriting class as . The strategy is perfectly acceptable in commercial films, because the Western audience can then identify with places and issues that might otherwise elude them. Because the film is well acted and directed, and the Malaysian locations are exotic and seductive, I got involved even though the story (. Laura (Arquette) is mourning the violent deaths of her husband and son, and Andy (Frances Mc. Dormand) has brought her to the Far East for a change of scenery. Laura learns that in the Buddhist world, . She is an eyewitness as Aung San Suu Kyi calmly faces down soldiers with rifles: They begin to tremble, as the smiling young woman leads her followers right through their ranks. Beyond Rangoon is a 1995 drama film directed by John Boorman about Laura Bowman (played by Patricia Arquette), an American tourist who vacations in Burma (Myanmar) in 1988, the year in which the 8888 Uprising takes place. The next day, the tour group is ordered out of Burma. But Laura has lost her passport, and has to stay behind, hearing the last words anyone wants to hear on a package tour: . He is a former professor, now reduced to showing tourists around because he made imprudent political statements and backed the dissidents. Laura stays by his side as he introduces her to a group of revolutionary students, and then, at a train station, troops open fire, one of the students is killed, U Aung is beaten, and Laura jumps from the safety of the train and casts her lot with the outsiders. Boorman is a director who has a special visual feel for jungles (as in . Laura has been established earlier in the film as a doctor who wants to leave her profession because she can no longer stand the sight of blood, but under pressure, with the professor near death, she rises to the occasion. The movie's dialogue is sometimes a little obvious, as when characters explain things to Laura so she (and we) will understand. It is also heavy on the ancient wisdom of the East, which has a way of contradicting itself; when Laura is depressed about the death of her loved ones, U Aung assures her, . Choose one of the above. Arquette, most memorably seen in . U Aung provides an aura of strong serenity, and a running commentary. Not much factual information about Burma is really conveyed (we understand the rulers are repressive, and we see that the dissident leader is brave, and that about does it for the politics). But by the end, as the obligatory final titles crawl up the screen, informing us of the numbers of Burmese who are dead and in exile, we think, boy, if they can treat Patricia Arquette like that, they really must be bad. Which is how political movies usually work. Beyond Rangoon - Wikipedia. Beyond Rangoon is a 1. John Boorman about Laura Bowman (played by Patricia Arquette), an Americantourist who vacations in Burma (Myanmar) in 1. Uprising takes place. The film was mostly filmed in Malaysia, and, though a work of fiction, was inspired by real people and real events. Bowman joins, albeit initially unintentionally, political rallies with universitystudents protesting for democracy, and travels with the student leader U Aung Ko throughout Burma. There, they see the brutality of the military dictators of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), and attempt to escape to Thailand. The film was an official selection at the 1. Cannes Film Festival, where it was one of the popular hits of the event. Only weeks into its European run, the Burmese military junta freed Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (depicted in the film) after several years under strict house arrest. One night, unable to sleep because of nightmares, Laura leaves her hotel in Rangoon and gets caught up in an anti- government protest. She is very impressed by the bravery of Aung San Suu Kyi. When her tour group leaves the country, Laura cannot leave with them as her passport was stolen the previous night. While staying behind waiting for her new passport, she meets U Aung Ko, who acts as an unofficial tour guide and drives an ancient Chevy. He takes Laura out into the countryside to a Buddhist monastery. The car develops problems, but fortunately they are able to coast to the house of some of Ko. Beyond Rangoon remains composer Hans Zimmer's most effective and fully realized embrace of ethnic music tropes -- channeling the Southeast Asian traditions of the film's titular setting, Zimmer employs pipes, wood flutes, and. Beyond Rangoon; Soundtrack album by Hans Zimmer; Released: 15 August 1995: Genre: Film score, new age, ancient: Length: 38:44: Label: Milan Records, RCA Records: Producer: Hans Zimmer, Jay Rifkin. Beyond Rangoon (Q1753610) From Wikidata. Jump to: navigation, search. 1995 film by John Boorman. Language Label Description Also known as; English: Beyond Rangoon. 1995 film by John Boorman. In 'Beyond Rangoon,' sisters Laura(Patricia Arquette) and Andy(Frances McDormand) travel to Burma in 1988 to help Laura get over the murder of her husband and son. Sleepless one night, Laura stumbles across a pro-democracy. Is Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Crackle, iTunes, etc. Find where to watch movies online now! Laura learns that Ko used to be a college professor, who was banned from teaching for supporting anti- government activity led by his former student Min Han. She has a breakdown and tells Ko what happened to her family. The next morning they learn that the 8. Ko takes Laura to a station to get train back to Rangoon. She sneaks on board, but the soldiers start beating Ko and when Min Han intervenes, Han is shot and killed. Laura gets Ko into the car and they leave, pursued by the soldiers, but Ko is shot and wounded. They end up crashing into the Irrawaddy river, but get away from the soldiers. They get on a raft taking bamboo to Rangoon. Laura, who is a doctor operates on Ko to remove the bullet. The next day the raft stops at a village. Laura goes to find drugs to treat Ko. She reluctantly accepts a pistol from one of the crew. At a clinic Laura finds the drugs she needs, but has to shoot a soldier to keep from being raped. When they arrive in Rangoon, the city is in the throes of a full- scale revolt. When Laura attempts to get into the US embassy the military tries to arrest her for helping Ko. The student demonstrators rescue her and Ko. After they witness soldiers killing civilians they get put on a truck heading for the border. Near the border the group has to abandon their truck and make run through the jungle. They meet up with a group of Karen rebels. Laura has a dream where her son Danny tells her she has to let him go. Ko urges Laura to do so, telling her, . They are shadows as we are shadows. Briefly walking the earth, and soon gone. The next day, Laura and her group of refugees make a harrowing river crossing into Thailand under mortar fire and reach a refugee camp. Having found a new purpose in life Laura begins helping at the camp. Time, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly wrote negative reviews, while the critic for The New Yorker called the film a . Film critic Tullio Kezich compared the film to Rossellini's classic, Pais. The majority of the soundtrack was composed by the German composer Hans Zimmer and the album was released in 1.
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