321. Blue Bayou; movie review

 

BLUE BAYOU

Cert 15

118 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence

"Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too. Imagine all the people. Living life in peace."

It's exactly 50 years since John Lennon released his anthem of love and yet, in half and century, the world seems more divided than ever.

Injustice prevails in many different ways but particularly towards those who are perceived to be outsiders.

Justin Chon's riveting Blue Bayou takes this notion to its limit because its subject is facing deportation from a country he has lived for 30 of his 33 years to a nation to which he no longer has a connection.

Chon plays the lead character, Antonio, whose wife (Alicia Vikander) is expecting a baby and has a daughter (Sydney Kowalske) from a previous marriage.

He is desperate for more work to pay for his family but finds that his previous record stands against him.

His plight becomes much worse when he is arrested under false pretences by his wife's ex-husband (Mark O'Brien) and his punchy police partner (Emory Cohen).

Instead of being freed, he is transferred to the immigration department when he is threatened with deportation as an illegal immigrant.

This is possible because he was adopted in America and his parents did not file the paper work to make him a US citizen.

The mere notion of being thrown out your home country into one where the culture is alien would blow anyone's mind.

Sure enough, it can't compute with Antonio and his wife.

These are people on the breadline but suddenly faced with enormous legal bills without the guarantee that their case will be successful.

Such was the conviction of Chon and Vikander's performances, we felt as if we were stepping in the shoes of the pour souls who face deportation in such harrowing circumstances.

Blue Bayou may be relentless and its ending didn't feel as realistic as the rest of the film but it is, nevertheless, a riveting and important watch.

Reasons to watch: Reflects a shattering side of real life

Reasons to avoid: It is almost relentlessly downbeat

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? "The National Council for Adoption and other organisations estimate that 15,000 to 18,000 adults who were adopted as children by U.S. citizens do not have U.S. citizenship. But no one knows for sure."

The final word. Justin Chon: "For “Blue Bayou,” the idea that I’m trying to service a community of people that are underrepresented which is the adopted community, and also their experience in this country, and also the fact that some of them are facing deportation, I just don’t want to let them down." 

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