Reality Check ‘Rangoon’ Tells A Moving Story That’s Not Often Heard
“Beyond Rangoon” is a moving story about an oppressed people, a depressed tourist and a silent revolutionary pressing for freedom. It depicts a world unknown to most, one inescapable to those involved.
“Rangoon” also tells the story of a woman overcoming her fears and regaining an identity she thought she had lost.
Laura Bowman (Patricia Arquette) has just suffered through the murder of her husband and young son when her sister takes her on a tour of the Far East. The night before their tour was scheduled to leave the country of Burma, Laura loses her passport while watching a peaceful demonstration against the military rule there.
Because of a Burmese law restricting tourists to a maximum seven-day stay, Bowman can’t acquire a passport in time to depart before the country is suddenly taken under martial law.
Outside the U.S. Embassy, Laura meets U Aung Ko (played by himself) who escorts her all over the country, from safe house to safe house, hoping to get to safety. That means crossing the heavily guarded border to Thailand.
The trek is no walk in the park, however. They encounter armed Burmese soldiers every time they turn around and are nearly killed several times.
Patricia Arquette is very impressive in her role. Laura rarely speaks, but body language and facial expressions from the actress take the part to a level not easily achieved.
U Aung Ko brings a special flavor to his role by playing himself. His character had the opportunity to experience life in Burma at every level, from the well-respected university professor to a prisoner to a man on the run who cares much more about others than about himself.
“Beyond Rangoon” doesn’t appear to have much of a budget; the scenery is weak compared with similar movies, and the times where computer animation is used are very obvious.
From start to finish, “Rangoon” lives on its characters and their hopes for survival. If you develop sympathy for them, you’ll love the movie. If you don’t, you’ll find it time wasted.
Despite its problems, I think “Beyond Rangoon” is a movie everyone should see. Inspired by actual events, the movie shows a third world that we may never see on the 5 o’clock news. One of the most dramatic scenes involves a huge crowd of people in a refugee camp listening to a BBC broadcast, hearing the immorality of their abysmal existence written off because of a blatant lie from their military “leader.”
Unfortunately more than we may realize, these kinds of events are happening all over the world. The movie is easily summed up by a statement from a foreign photographer: “Does the world know what is happening here?”
Grade: B