Heaven & Earth (1993) User Reviews (59)

A new perspective to the Vietnam War

[Snatchy · 8/10 · 20 March 2000]

As he did with his first two Vietnam films, "Platoon" and "Born on the 4th of July", Oliver Stone creates a powerful tale of the devastation of the Vietnam War. What makes this movie so unique, both from Stone's earlier work and virtually every other American movie about the Vietnam War, is that "Heaven and Earth" is told from the perspective of a Vietnamese woman. This movie is based on two books of memoirs written by Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese woman who grew up in a simple farming village in central Vietnam but whose life --- and those of most Vietnamese people, we can infer --- is turned upside-down by the madness of the Vietnam War.

Strictly as a movie, this is a good but not great film. Even at almost 2 1/2 hours, the structure is a bit stilted in order to accommodate such an extensive story. The first 30 minutes are mostly voice-overs and the movie doesn't pick up steam until later, when scenes are allowed to flow for extended amounts of time and we become caught in the drama. Tommy Lee Jones gives another brutally realistic performance as a lifetime military man who can't leave the war behind. Hiep Thi Ly is okay as Le Ly Hayslip; not Tommy Lee Jones caliber acting, but she competently plays a very difficult role. I read she was an amateur actress only chosen after an extensive casting call, and I'm glad that they decided to go with an actual young Vietnamese woman instead of choosing a generic asian actress. It might not make a difference to most, but it certainly felt more "real" to me with an authentic Vietnamese-American in the main role. Oliver Stone shows his mastery of mood and camerawork as he jumps from the beauty of the Vietnam countryside, to the ravages of war, to the shocking (for Le Ly) wealth of suburban America. The movie occasionally drags but overall I'd still give it an 8 out of 10 because it's such a powerful and important addition to the cinematic depiction of the Vietnam War.

The movie also inspired me to read the 2 books ("When Heaven and Earth Changed Places" and "Child of War, Woman of Peace") it was based on. Stone had to compress many events in order to fit the run time; for example, the Tommy Lee Jones character is a fabrication based on 3 different men (and probably meshed into one man as much for the drama such an explosive character provides as for the time constraints), while her books spend extensive time on all 3 relationships. However, the dialogue for several key scenes were taken almost word for word from her books, and I thought it captured the spirit of the story remarkably well, especially for a major studio movie. I highly recommend anyone interested in the film or in the war to read these books, and I commend Oliver Stone for making a trilogy of important films not just for cinema, but for American history.

Thanks for showing us a different Vietnam Mr. Stone ....

[philip_vanderveken · 8/10 · 22 June 2005]

Oliver Stone has always had a special bond with Vietnam. He is a veteran of that war and the theme about a veteran trying to cope with his war experiences is a subject that comes back in several of his movies. This is the last movie in his Vietnam trilogy. His first movie was "Platoon" (1986), his second "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989) and the third one was "Heaven & Earth" (1993).

In Heaven & Earth he tells the true story of a Vietnamese village girl who survives a life of suffering and hardship during and after the Vietnam war. Before she meets and marries the U.S. marine Steve Butler, she already has had an entire life behind her. She once fled for the violence of the Viet Cong, leaving her farming village for Saigon together with her mother. But soon she disgraced herself by becoming pregnant with her new master's child and as an unmarried mother, she tried to make a living by being a freedom fighter, a hustler and sometimes a prostitute. As soon as they are married, they move to the USA, but life on the other side of the ocean certainly isn't as perfect as she imagined it to be...

Some people say that it is a good thing that Oliver Stone has finally made a movie that shows the Vietnamese perspective of the war and I agree, but only to a certain extend. It's true that we only get to see movies that show the American side of the story and that we need other movies that give us a broader view on the matter, but "Heaven & Earth" isn't the only 'reversed' Vietnam film. Perhaps not many people know this, but the French movie "Indochine" (1992) does approximately the same. The main difference with "Heaven & Earth" is that it doesn't talk about the 'American' period, but about the French colonial period that proceeded it and in which time the Vietnam war really started (The French had almost lost all their battles when the Americans came to help them and thereby got completely stuck into the war themselves...).

But it is true, Oliver Stone has done a nice job with this movie. He has made it an interesting character study, with the war always present in the background. The acting is very good and I don't think there could have been a better actor than Tommy Lee Jones to play the role of Major Steve Butler. The other actors all did a good job too, in fact, I might say that Stone has had an excellent cast to work with and he probably got the most and the best out of them.

If there is one lesser point to this movie, although only a small one, than it must be the language. The Vietnamese all start by speaking almost perfect English to each other, but when they speak to Americans their English is poor, yet when they speak to each other in front of an American its in Vietnamese. I believe it would have been better if Stone had chosen to let the Vietnamese speak their own language all the time and to speak with an accent when speaking to the Americans. But as I already said, I only see this as a minor detail and it certainly didn't spoil the good times that I had with this movie. This is an underrated movie that deserves to be seen by a great audience. I give it a 7.5/10 at least, perhaps even an 8/10.

A Different Perspective of War

[agent52 · 8/10 · 21 March 2006]

A different perspective of war, and very much needed one. This story covers the lives affected by war. The male lead undergoes emotional strain while the female lead contrastingly grows strength from, or perhaps in spite of the war.

The movie's subtext is thankfully never handed to you in a Hollywood-direct manner - yet the movie develops it thoroughly for the viewer. This is the most plain statement there is that war is much more than the sides of the conflict, the survivors, the wounded, the dead. And, it makes clear that the trauma caused affects many for a long long time, and for each it is their own journey.

Oliver Stone is obviously a master movie maker. He is a great story teller and you are always provided a visual and sound experience like no other. This movie contains some incredibly beautiful shots which all by themselves are worth the viewing. When combined with the plot, the beauty contrasts with the brutatilty to help develop the subtext mentioned above.

You might notice I have never said if I like the film. Because the subject matter makes me queasy, uneasy, I don't think I could ever say I like this. But, this is a very powerful film that got under my skin. So, here I am recognizing the movie for its message and method, not necessarily for providing me a Pavlovian reaction seeking more.

Instead of plopping in another war DVD, try this one. I bet you will walk away and it will continue to live with you.

Not too bad

[Idocamstuf · 7/10 · 15 June 2004]

After a long string of box office and critical successes, Oliver Stone tried making a different kind of war film, this one being shown from a Vietnamese woman's perspective. Very interesting and entertaining throughout, but it does have some extremely unpleasant and cruel scenes, not unlike many other war films. The first hour of the film takes place in Vietnam during the war and is full of Vietnamese culture and feeling. As soon as Tommy Lee Jones comes into the picture as an unstable American soldier, the film soon feels and becomes much more Americanized and eventually very depressing. An interesting work from Oliver Stone that unfortunately was barely released in 1993 and received lukewarm reviews from critics. Still, its worth watching, and its never boring. 7/10.

The war from the Vietnamese perspective

[=G= · 7/10 · 10 June 2003]

"Heaven and Earth" follows the life of a Buddhist Vietnamese peasant girl through the protracted and convulsive American-Vietnam war, the aftermath and reconstruction. A solid three star flick, "H&E" is important inasmuch as it casts in concrete for posterity the Vietnamese perspective of the epic American fiasco in an entertaining movie format. As a stand-alone piece of work, "H&E" may grow somewhat tiresome after 2+ hours under the heavy-handed Stone auteuresmanship. Nonetheless, the film should have value for those who only know about the war from the typically biased American film point of view. (B)

****1/2 out of 5

[casey_choas66 · 31 January 2003]

"Different skin, same suffering." Only a director such as Oliver Stone, who is not afraid to take risks and say what needs to be said could make a set of films so daring and powerful that they almost beg to be watched. For those who don't know Stone himself fought in Vietnam. He has since made, not only three of the best films on Vietnam, but three of the best war films period. The first is the award-winning Platoon, followed by Born on the Fourth of July and finally this one. What makes this trilogy so good is that instead of making three war films he has made on war film and two other character studies to accent it. Also these films are not just about huge battles and high body counts like a lot of today's war films. Stone is just as concerned in showing the war going on inside every man on the battle field just as much as the war at hand. Platoon was based on Stone's personal experience in Vietnam, he made an atmosphere where every step could bring death and there was no sympathy. It was hailed as a masterpiece, winning Stone an Oscar for best director and also placing it as one of the greatest war films ever made. Instead of travelling back to Vietnam, Stone decided to follow up Platoon with a look into the decayed life of a worn down veteran. When We Were Soldiers came out last year it was praised as being one of the only films to show that the soldiers were just as human as your or I. Obviously these people didn't see Heaven and Earth because this film bases itself almost entirely on showcasing the life and struggle of a war victim. The only difference here is that it is the life of the enemy. Can anyone honestly say that while watching a war film they think of how whenever an enemy is killed it is someone's son or brother dying or, how the war is effecting the innocent ones? I can say that I haven't and this film has helped me see Vietnam through an all new set of eyes. That is why Stone is such a great director, even though he fought and killed these people he still finds it in his heart to show both sides of the story. This film often gets mixed reviews and I guess that is because it is being compared to Platoon, but to say that one is better than the other would be missing the point. Although they are entirely separate films they all function as one entity and must all be seen in order to see Stone's vision, and a hell of a vision it is, these are three of the most realistic and horrifying war films to date. This is the true story of a young, Vietnamese girl named Le Ly who lives in a small village that is being ravaged by war. The inhabitants spend most of their day peacefully growing rice because it is their only food source. "We worked like slaves and all we wanted was a bowel of rice and another day alive" says Le Ly's father, a line that is important towards the second half of the film. She is then taken away and tortured for information. These torture scenes are brutal ad were particularly hard to watch due to their brutal realism. She is then released on a bribe from her parents that has the whole town questioning their ties with the government. She is the taken away by the Viet Cong and raped because they suspected she gave away information. Her and her mother then move to the city to become servants but are soon asked to leave after Le Ly gets pregnant with her masters son. She then meets Steve; a solider that she thinks just wants sex before he goes home. It turns out Steve is a nice guy. The two get married and go back to Chicago to live in America. Suddenly she sees that America is not what it is cracked up to be. Even though she now has more she was at least happy at home in Vietnam. Now she finds herself seeing tables of food wasted and is living with a family of plastic people who are following the American dream. The film actually functions as two separate works. The best being the first half that is possibly the saddest and most heart-wrenching depiction of a war stricken human being these eyes have ever seen, it truly is powerful stuff. When Le Ly and Steve move to American it stops being a war film and Stone gets a little carried away. He chooses an other-the-top style of direction to show every American as shallow pigs who are blinded by all their material possessions and look down upon the relationship. "They don't understand, but I do." Says Steve. But Stone is smart in how he shows that even though America has much more than Vietnam that doesn't mean it is better. In Vietnam you had to work together and function as a team in order to achieve anything. Everyone loved each other and the people were happy with that. In America it is either push or be pushed, there is no sympathy for anyone. Although this was a smart way to contrast the war, after an hour and a half of watching the horror of Vietnam I felt a little obscure when then film suddenly changed from a war picture. Especially when just coming out of hardships that are enough to twist anyone's heart into knots. This then levels off and we are left with a study of bigotry and how one mans possessions can corrupt his mind and blind his eyes. Stone shows us that although war can leave a life torn and mangled, the people who came out of it are not cold and alone. These people are human beings as well. I don't think people realise this because in most war films we don't see the face of the enemy, they are just nobodies who have set out to be killed. This film helps us realise that they can love, they can hurt, they can feel and the can bleed just like the rest of us. Stone has not just placed a solider and a Vietnamese girl together and sees what happens. He has placed a human and a human together to see how they adapt and grow as one and as separate parties. We see how certain things react with certain emotions and how certain feelings are flared in different situations. Le Ly is not some character that has been made up; she was a real life human being who went through real life struggle. She was a human who lived in a human world. Stone does a fabulous job at showing that Le Ly was a human and he gets us so deep inside of her we can't help but feel for her. Stone filmed on location and the scenery is beautiful. Stone soars his camera across the stunning green plains, through the swaying rice fields, atop the tree and up into the shimmering blue sky. His use of scenery also helps to feel the tragedy when all the beauty is swept away and the horror of war begins. Stone also wrote the screenplay which he based on the two memoirs written by the real life Le Ly. Again he does an amazing job if showing the horrors of war, but this time without using mounds of violence. He also does a great job of contrasting the life in Vietnam as compared to that in America by making them seem like almost separate worlds. I also love the dialogue in this film. It is touching, heart-breaking and empowering all at the same time and that is rare in war films. The acting is also superb from Hiep Thi Le as Le Ly. This girl can show all of her inner torture yet innocence just through her eyes. Tommy Lee Jones is also good as her partner yet enemy Steve. Both of the actors show their humanity on their faces and their struggle in their eyes and easily change emotion from environment to environment, even from minute to minute. Because Stone can make a film like this, showing and saying what many would be afraid to, he truly is one of the greatest directors of our time (only being matched by David Lynch). It is nice to see that someone cares enough to show us that even though they were our enemy, the people of Vietnam were just as effected by this war as anyone in America and that they people just like us. Even though the two films following Platoon didn't reach the success or praise of the first film, Stone has made has made a great American trilogy. Three war films that have just as much to say as they do to show and it would be a tragedy to pass any of them up. Whether you are interested in Vietnam or just want a war film with something more than endless violence, this one is worth checking out.

War lasts longer than anyone can imagine.

[lib-4 · 7/10 · 16 October 1998]

As part of Stone's Vietnam trilogy, this movie does a good job of depicting how war affected the people of Vietnam and the soldiers that went there. It was a little long, but the shots of the rice fields and the chaos of the evacuation were relevant. Most of all Tommy Lee Jones gives a moving performance as Steve Butler- the soldier who only knows how to kill. I was moved beyond words at his desperation- shown so well in the scene with Ly Lip where he goes from wanting to kill her to trying to kill himself. Jones grasps the hopelessness of his character so well. With this last film it seems Stone's ghosts are finally exorcised.

Forget Vietnam

[umiboozu · 10/10 · 10 June 2003]

I don't understand why most people don't appreciate this movie. I guess one reason is that it's not easy to look at your own people, US soldiers, as enemies, or at your country - in the final - as the land of fatty meaninglessnes. Or maybe they were expecting something different from Stone, something more than that history - not so unusual as someone observed - of a simple vietnamese country girl. The point, for me, is that this is not a film about the vietnam war, which is only the background. If you make the effort to forget the vietnam war, its historical and cultural legacy, to avoid being on the side of one of the armies (maybe is easier for me, being an italian), you'll discover one of the most intense movie about the family and the bonds with the earth where you belong. Stone through the story of this simple girl succeeded in telling the story of entire humankind, analizing those which are its roots, its ties, its hopes, its condemnations. Honestly, one of the best movies I've ever seen. Sincere, profound, touching. True.

Heaven and Hell

[rex-10 · 6/10 · 2 August 2002]

Heaven and Earth does present us with a welcome and new perspective. The Vietnamese peasant has rarely been considered other than as a prop or static / background characters. Sadly, Le Ly, the village girl does not tell an unusual or unique story. The film succeeds in depicting how literally damned villagers were if they do and were damned if they don't, when it came to the forces that swept through constantly molesting and looting them.

Le Ly was guilty of signaling the ambush (the scene where she is taking off the jacket as she walked through the field.) This speaks to Michael Herr's comment on innocent, which again is something that we are being brought to believe about Le Ly. How innocent one is when they give the signal to someone waiting in ambush becomes rather untenable, especially when it results in death. She is then rounded up as a VC. I certainly don't advocate the physical and psychological torture administered to her by the ARVN and supervised by an American. But she had certainly become more than an innocent bystander.

Her mother wins her release through a bribe, depicting the often-represented theme of corruption within the GVN/ARVN ranks. The idealism of the propaganda fed to the villagers (her included) is quickly shattered as VC boys of her own village rape her. Sadly, this situation, being suspect by both ARVN and VC operating in her village's area compels her and her mother (who has also become suspect by winning the release of her daughter) to go to the city where they can live and become more anonymous.

The `master' seduction scene demonstrates that it is not only the Anglo foreigners with a `Lord Jim' wish to fulfill. He is quite happy to have a young county-bumpkin wrapped like a dog ‘round his feet. But even this misfortune is too good to last. As tortured physically and psychologically, as she has been, dear old mom supplies another assault by demeaning her while pleading to the master as she tries to maintain their position with the aristocratic family.

The Chinese had a saying during the Cultural Revolution, `alive in the bitter sea' and such is Le Ly's saga. No matter where she turns she is stymied. The corruption of the government is again seen on its operative level when the infamous `white-mice' shake her down when she is caught hawking goods on the street. (Her life is one big shake down. So were many of the lives of the boat people, who also had to endure Thai pirates pulling out gold filled teeth and other depravations on the high seas...)

Up to this point she had all my sympathy. Enter Tommy Lee Jones. `Steve' is, to borrow a line from Mad Max, 'a one-way suicide machine.' His fuse had been lit long before their lives collide. By the time his time bomb detonates, there is already plenty of wreckage for the family to crawl out from. His detestable objectifying of her `a good oriental woman' and Larry's Thanksgiving comment `I had me one of them in Okinawa' expresses an amalgamation of chauvinism and racism. Le Ly's resilience is a nice quasi-feminist answer to those self-destructive male characters.

The so-called Buddhist elements were lacking in what they seemed to be attempting. The compulsion Stone has for heavy-handed platitudes in the narration of his films, such as `Same suffering, different skin' actually erode the compelling nature of the story for me. Ultimately, though I like and appreciate Stone's work in films such as Salvador, Platoon, and others that he has been involved with directing or producing, he also maintains a body of work that aren't quite there. I thought Heaven and Earth was an important film, but I feel that this film might have been better if Tony Bui or someone else directed it.

Lastly, the true-life story of the actor who played Le Ly's father, Haing S. Ngor, is HIGHLY recommended for those who haven't seen `The Killing Fields.'

One Of The Best And Most Underrated Films About The Vietnam War

[gogoschka-1 · 8/10 · 11 February 2018]

This is the last film in Oliver Stone's trilogy about the Vietnam war (the other two are 'Platoon' and 'Born on the 4th of July'). It is also the least known. A shame really; not only is it an excellent film, but it is also one of the very few films that show the Vietnam war from the perspective of the Vietnamese (and from a woman, at that - which makes it even rarer). Impressive, shocking, sad and beautiful - and educating. 8 stars out of 10.

In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites:

imdb.com/list/ls070242495

Vietnam from Vietnamese POV

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 10 November 2013]

Le Ly is a village girl from the country as she becomes intertwined with her country's struggle. Oliver Stone is looking at the Vietnam war from the POV of the Vietnamese. It is probably as important as his other Vietnam movies.

Hiep Thi Le is a great find. She's able to give it heart and soul. It's a big job for somebody in her first big role. It's an almost impossible job.

Tommy Lee Jones has a bit too much intensity. The chemistry is off to me. It's probably more real than I realize. It's a relationship that foreshadows trouble ahead. For a movie goer, I lust for that cinematic romance. But this is not that kind of movie.

The last section in the States is not as compelling. It's almost a completely different movie. That's the weakness here. It's not a simple movie. It's a life story.

Powerful, Accurate View of the "American" War

[craigbenting · 10/10 · 4 July 2001]

I should state this up front:

I'm an American who was born in 1970 towards the end of the Vietnam War and I know very little about it *first-hand*. Most of what I know is from school and the media -- the men in my family who were there just don't talk about it. My wife and my closest friend for the past 9 years was born in Danang, (central) Vietnam, in 1969 and remembers some personal experiences as a child at the end of the war and after until she escaped without her family in 1982 to Hong Kong.

I've *been* to Vietnam including the areas where this movie takes place. This movie very accurately expresses a common view of the war by many Vietnamese people of the era -- that when a civil war like this occurs around you and your home with both sides there day and night your concept of right and wrong can easily change. (or heaven & earth "change places" as they put it in the movie)

If you can possibly get the DVD, you can see deleted scenes including an "alternate/extended" beginning to the movie. It was actually a 30 minute clip that was cut down to be the first 5 minutes of the released movie. It's very interesting because it illustrates many basic parts of Vietnamese life (mainly rural life) as it has been for hundreds or thousands of years.

Yes, this movie contrasts pre-war, war, and post-war life for the Vietnamese (for the ones who stayed there and also for Viet Kieu or overseas Vietnamese like my wife) sometimes in a ridiculously extreme way. Even though life was "idyllic" before the war and horrible during and after, the Vietnamese have fought for literally thousands of years to retain their national identity and independence not just against Americans but also the French, Japanese, and Chinese to name a few.

If you've been moved by other Vietnam War movies, but haven't seen this one then you have only seen the story told from our viewpoint, which is absolutely vain. If you haven't, you must see this movie for their view of the "American" war. Hopefully it will inspire you as it did me to learn more about the Vietnamese people and their long, proud history spanning thousands of years.

Good movie

[851222 · 7/10 · 26 January 2020]

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Heaven & Earth" (1993) wasn't as impactful and great as the other two movies in this so called trilogy about Vietnam war, but i still found it this movie to be good. Craftsmanship is a very good in here - some breathtaking landscape and locations, pretty good acting and solid directing. I knew this movie flopped and i kinda can see why - its because its not as involving as previous two films were, and this one become a bit melodramatic and sentimental during its last act, and dragged towards the end.

Overall, i still enjoyed "Heaven & Earth" despite its flaws. Its a superb looking movie, superbly crafted. It tells the story about this conflict from different perspective, and for that Oliver Stone's trilogy should only be applauded.

Heaven & Earth

[film_riot · 4/10 · 18 September 2007]

This is Oliver Stones third trip to Vietnam but unfortunately also the least interesting and successful. That's a shame given that Stones previous efforts where at least very solid, but even more because this was the first US-American film to put a Vietnamese victim into its centre. The Vietnam films of US-production companies never gave much thought to the victims, even if they were very critical of the United States' role in the war. "Heaven & Earth", however, fails to give the viewer an insight into the pain and sorrow the victims really suffered, because it wants to be too dramatic and meaningful. Much more seriousness and much less sensationalism would have been able to turn this into a good film. The closer the film gets to its end it loses and loses credibility. Tommy Lee Jones' storyline was unfitting and wrong for me, that I almost lost my complete interest in this woman's story, because I just didn't believe it anymore.

One of the best films about Vietnam

[abu_zannad · 19 February 2003]

Oliver stone did a great job in this film,it's nice to watch a film that goes through the Vietnam war from a Vietnamese point of view.All the characters are well studied and well performed,as a director of course Oliver stone did a great job,it's not like any other Vietnam movie.Oliver stone is the greatest.

Epic

[fmwongmd · 7/10 · 13 June 2020]

A multigenerational epic touching on Buddhism and the killing fields of Vietnam.. excellent acting by Hiep Thi Le and Haing Ngor.

Good Film overall, Oliver Stone and Tommy Lee Jones are extraordinary

[elect_michael · 6/10 · 15 August 2021]

6.5 of 10 stars. This is a good film overall, but Oliver Stone and Tommy Lee Jones are extraordinary. The Directing and cinematography that Stone displays are nothing less than great, as he always seems to do, he simply creates scenes that work, both emotionally and cinematographically. He's simply one of the best Director's of the past 50 years. Many have said through the years that one of the many reasons that Stone is one of the greats is the fact that he has passion. But I say, he always seems to have those 3 letters before it (com) that turn passion into compassion and give it that extra...umph. But like Scorsese and many of the greats, there are many reasons. But this is undoubtedly one of them for Stone, and Scorsese too for that matter.

Tommy Lee Jones stars in this film and is absolutely great. He doesn't appear in the film until the halfway point, but he is worth the wait, and he stars in the last half of the film, brilliantly. There is a scene at about the 1 hour 45 minute mark that is a showcase in how to act, the kind of scenes that Drama teachers will show their Acting students on how to act, and how very few can possibly pull off a scene to the level Jones does in this scene. It's the scene where he tells his wife that he doesn't run guns, he kills people. It's an incredible scene, Jones is absolutely incredible in the scene. There is a scene a couple scenes after where Jones again shows his unbelievable Acting where his wife is talking to him on the phone and though Jones doesn't say much, it's his reaction to what she says that few Actors ever could pull off. Jones can act as good with his eyes alone as most Actor's can with their whole being. Stone and Jones are incredible together, and the story is extremely good.

The rest of the cast is good, but don't keep up with Jones, Stone or the story; don't get me wrong, I don't want to take the wrong side of the argument, again, they're good, they're capable, they deliver; but good doesn't look as good as it should when it's next to great, it's only natural.

Overall a good film.

Good Show, Old Man.

[wakethenuns3 · 7/10 · 23 September 2012]

Heaven and Earth (1993) follows Platoon (1986) and Born of the Fourth of July (1989) to conclude director Oliver Stone's Vietnam War trilogy. Where Stone won Best Director Oscars for both previous films, Heaven and Earth proved a box-office disaster and went unrecognized by the Academy, though Kitaro bagged a Golden Globe for his haunting score. It's hard not to suspect that racism underlay the commercial failure, for where the hit movies addressed the sufferings of white American soldiers played by Hollywood stars, Heaven and Earth focused on the fundamental victims, adapting the true story of a young Vietnamese woman, Le Ly, who goes from village girl to freedom fighter to wife of a US marine struggling to adjust to life in America to reconciliation in Vietnam. Superbly made, with a stunning performance by Hiep Thi Le as Le Ly, and powerful support from Tommy Lee Jones, this is intelligent, harrowing film-making that attempts to understand and bridge the divide between nations traumatized by war.

an unrecognised masterpiece

[spirou666 · 9/10 · 27 October 2005]

I don't understand why this film has been rated so poorly, it really deserves better. The breath-taking landscapes, subtle imagery, the overall excellent craftsmanship alone make this movie worth seeing.

The unique and very personal perspective of this movie makes it hard to keep your distance. Some scenes are rather brutal, but these scenes are necessary for telling a realistic story. Definitely no Disney family movie though.

I give it a 9 out of 10, because even with 140 minutes runtime the story feels rushed and crammed. Sometimes less is more, I shall read the books now.

Not Quite Movieworthy

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 3 July 2020]

Try as Oliver Stone did, this movie just wasn't moving. Vietnam War movies were all but extinct by the 90's. "Heaven and Earth" didn't cover the Vietnam War exclusively, but it was instrumental being that the movie was a first person account from Le Ly, a Vietnamese woman.

The movie began with her being a little girl before the Vietnam War. Once the Vietnam War descended upon her country and her poor little village, she began to face one trial after another. As in most wars, the local people caught hell from both sides.

Eventually, Le Ly fell for an American man (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and moved to America. Her life wasn't quite a bed of roses there, but it wasn't unlike the life of many American women: a bitter marriage to a difficult and abusive husband, but with a lot of freedoms and advantages that she wouldn't have elsewhere. Le Ly, by all accounts, "made it". Things weren't perfect, but she was an American with businesses and money: things that her family in Vietnam did not have and even other Americans did not have. She was a success by many metrics even if it wasn't a utopia for her.

Le Ly's story was an interesting one, no doubt. She underwent a lot. Bookworthy? Yes. Movieworthy? Not really.

exploring the "other" and doing it with (imperfect) artistic integrity

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 12 September 2016]

As the third part of an unofficial trilogy of Vietnam films, Stone picked as the final point a good challenge for himself as making a film not only from a woman's point of view (1st time), but from the side of the "enemy" of the war he and Kovic fought in. Of course Vietnamese people were seen in Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, but always as the "other", either in limited roles as the so-called enemy or as tragic figures of oppression. And yet despite opening during the Christmas season, it failed to connect with audiences.

Seeing it now, finally, I can see why in some part; people from the West, Americans especially, wouldn't necessarily be interested in the point of view of someone who was on the side of the 'other', whether it's oppressor or oppressed (despite the attempted selling of the film on Tommy Lee Jones, audiences probably knew better that he wasn't the full star, more on him in a moment). It's one thing to see the point of view from the side of Americans, but for the other it's a tougher pill to swallow (maybe the exception is Letters from Iwo Jima, maybe), despite years after things are over and the wounds are beginning to heal. Maybe there's another aspect that is difficult to pinpoint but I could see it as Stone's, shall one say, spiritual side coming through which is his Buddhism, which is the religion of the protagonist Le Ly. How does one fully forgive and go for the belief in karma and past lives and so on?

For me, this is a film that I could connect to simply on the grounds of it being a human portrait of a life lived through many, many beats. And in a way it makes sense from how the life story is told that it's the third part of a trilogy which began as a story of someone's life in the short term (the stint in combat), somewhat longer (from youth to awakening as a man full circle), and here it's from childhood to further as an adult. The life of Le Ly is at times dramatic... no, actually, it's brutal and unrelenting in its grimness. Le Ly's village is decimated and torn apart by war (not simply the Americans, though they certainly leave their mark, but the division between the two sides of the Vietnamese who bring equal hardship and misery and torture to Le Ly), and then when she has to leave with her mother to Saigon, as the story would say, "my troubles were about to begin".

I'm tempted to say the first half of this may be TOO dramatic, in a sense, that things keep being thrown at Le Ly's way one after another: torture, rape, becoming an unwed mother on the streets, a dying (soon after dead) father, as well as a brother who was sent off to war and died. When I say 'heavy' it's more like an anvil is dropped. This is not to say the tone is always so heavy as far as being over-bearing - the emotion that's poured out in scene after scene by Hiep Thi Le is incredible, showing so much through her eyes as many a great actor can do. I think part of is is simply through Oliver Stone being... Oliver Stone, this coming as the "cool-off" between JFK and Natural Born Killers, so you can expect sometimes unwieldy camera-work and black and white flashbacks and the sort of intense lighting and compositions from Robert Richardson that, in a way, feel a little more out of place this time than in other Stone films of the period. The attempts to amplify the tension and horror (with the exception of one image, a big shock of fire going across the screen) are too much this time and clash with the otherwise strong, pretty straightforward direction of the dramatic scenes.

Then we get into the second half when Tommy Lee Jones comes in, and it becomes a stronger picture. But his part in the film as well as everything that comes after does only work with that first half, if that makes sense; everything that Le Ly has endured and experienced, every moment that's forced her to be less foolish or ignorant or slow to understand something or naive makes her stronger so that when a strong, seemingly kind and generous man like Jones' Steve comes in, we get it. We know why she puts her guard up and why it goes down. And for Jones' part, as he has an arc as well as a man with a slowly-but-surely deteriorating veneer of strength through years of being a f***ed up "Psy-Ops" guy, he gives the performance that I'll just pretend he won the Oscar for in 94 instead of the Fugitive. It's really among his major performances, certainly one of the ones he should be remembered for, creating this man Steve as an engaging, fun, terrifying, wounded, tragic figure in Le Ly's life.

I think that if Stone had reeled in some of his crazier stylistic tendencies of the period - he does, mostly, but not enough - and perhaps cut a little out (at 140 minutes it feels too long, mostly near the end, however necessarily in general it may be to complete Le Ly's arc), it would've been a film to stand with the rest of his work for the time. But as far as underrated films from a major director, this is one that is deeply felt and reveals someone who can deliver an experience outside of his usual worldview. At the same time it works as a feminist picture, a story of a woman making her own life on her own terms, while the spiritual side of things is always there. Though I wanted to like it more, I'd say if you want to finish Stone's oeuvre you won't be disappointed.

An underrated film

[kiki-13 · 8/10 · 18 July 2003]

Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth" is a fantastic film that shows what the effects of war are on the human spirt. Now, more than ever this film is very poignant. The movie is based upon two of Lelay Hayslip's memoirs which chronicle her growing up in Vietnam and the effects of war upon her, her family and her country. It was fascinating and at times very difficult to watch. I couldn't help but thank God that as Americans we have not had to experience what the Vietnamese went through. The view of war that Stone portrays is very humanistic. One line in the film was especially riveting.... "Rebuilding a country after war is like having a family thru rape". We see how the war throws apart Lelay's family. If you haven't seen this film.. I highly recommend it!

Bread And Bhuddha

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 15 September 2013]

It's interesting that when this film was released in 1993 that the prominent scene shown in film review shows is the scene where the South Vietnamese Army enter the village of Le Ly and come under attack by the VC . This gives the impression you're going to be watching a Vietnam film and the early part of the film does concentrate on the history of Vietnam . Too much so because if you do have a rough outline of Vietnamese history then you'll find the main story is being held up by Le Ly's potted history of Vietnam at every opportunity . There is a train of thought that if a film is too reliant on voice over then the film is failing on that level and this may well be a case in point

That's not the only flaw . The way everything is shot gives an idealised view of a far off exotic land . If the Vietnamese government want to do a plug for visiting Vietnam then director Oliver Stone has done the country a big favour . There's a war on don't you and no matter what Le Ly's village still manages to look like a Utopian destination and despite people getting frequently killed and raped one wonders why on Earth anyone would want to leave here . Indeed the cynic in me wonders if Stone is seeking a personal redemption by making this film . I know Stone volunteered for military service in Vietnam and I know prior to that he volunteered to be an English language teacher in Vietnam but yet I never felt I was watching a real world view of Vietnam , more of a clichéd Lonely Planet romanticised Westerner view of the country

There's also another flaw and that is Stone seems obsessed with Eastern mysticism . Heaven and Earth ? Ying and Yang ? Slumdog non millionaire and other new age nonsense as Stone concentrates on Karma and other metaphysical nonsense . The Vietnam war came about via Cold War politics and had nothing to do with nature or anything else outside of human engineered power struggles . Stone wants us to believe that a spiritual force is controlling everything but I'm afraid I'm more likely to listen to historians and scientists rather than soothsayers . The main flaw of the movie is that the story is ugly but the visuals are beautiful and while the audience can understand the point Stone is making via this technique it doesn't make new age thinking anymore credible

So many things happened in such a short life.

[Hunky Stud · 9/10 · 28 July 2008]

Wow, some people live their lives the same way like robots till their death, but this woman lives her life with so many dramas. Same thing is happening in Iraq now, people here in the US are enjoying their lives to the fullest while so many innocent Iraqi people are suffering with no end.

I am surprised that the rating is not too high. The movie "Deer hunter" which was also about Vietname war, it was so slow and boring. If it didn't win some Oscars, I would have stopped watching in the middle of it. This movie is about the same feature length, but this one is much more emotional, and not boring at all.

It is another tear-jerking movie. This movie helped me to understand the pain that Vietnamese people suffered during the war. It is very authentic. Those are the common people who just want to make the best out of their lives, they just want to live. It was especially touching when she finally came back to her village, and her brother told her about how he felt throughout the years. She is not a hero, but she is such a brave woman who suffered so much, who almost died. How many of us will ever live a life like hers. In the end, this movie makes all of us to treasure the life that we have now, there are so many people who are living in this world who still don't have the things that we take for granted.

Thank you for all those who worked on this great movie.

Oliver Stone's most overlooked film

[shaun98 · 8/10 · 28 September 2002]

*some spoilers*

To the best of my knowledge, Oliver Stone's "Heaven & Earth" is the only major American film to depict the Vietnam conflict from "the other side." It's difficult for a filmmaker to believably capture a whole different culture, but Stone does just that, to the point where the audience looks at even the U.S. troops as foreigners, certainly no easy task. It was risky project to tackle, but it works incredibly well. After "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," which dealt with the American experience in Vietnam, Stone comes full circle to the heart of the matter with this autobiographical story, based upon the memoirs of Vietnam native Le Ly Hayslip, who eventually escaped an uncertain future by marrying an American soldier.

She was a peasant farmer whose life was forever altered by the tragedy that tore a nation apart. When she first makes her appearance in the film, she inhabits a peaceful village where life has been more or less the same for hundreds, even thousands, of years. However, all this is forever gone in a very short time, as the French and Americans intrude upon their way of life. Hiep Thi Le does a credible job in her acting debut, making it possible for the audience to sympathize with her character, even if we do not entirely understand her cultural background. The second half of the film deals with her marriage to an American soldier, effectively played by Tommy Lee Jones. As we look through her eyes, we realize with a shock that from her perspective, the United States is just as "foreign" as any far-off land would seem to us, encouraging us to reevaluate our definition of that term. These scenes are deliberately exaggerated, made to appear as overwhelming and intense as possible. Its effect foreshadows Stone's digs at popular culture in his next film, "Natural Born Killers."

Joan Chen and Haing S. Ngor both offer solid performances as the protagonist's parents, who have not weathered the passage of time nearly as well as she has, adding further dimensions to the material. Both performers have had the difficulty of adapting to U.S. culture after being raised in Asian nations, so they're perfectly suited for the material. Ngor, in particular, has gone through experiences uncomfortably similar to Le's character, being tortured in Cambodia before his escape. Debbie Reynolds appears as Jone's mother; her role is basically a cameo though she gets billed in the opening credits.

Note that neither the United States nor Vietnam are regarded as heroic. Every side committed their share of atrocities; the U.S., the Viet Cong, South Vietnam (aided by the U.S.), and the French, who colonized the area decades earlier. In fact, the rather grim implication is that no one is truly innocent, that all concerned bear a degree of responsibility for the tragedy. This was a very brave move on Stone's part, taking a potentially unpopular, controversial political stand. Then again, that comes as no surprise; he made this right after "JFK." Not since he directed "Salvador" has a major filmmaker attacked his own country's imperialist actions. This powerful film, masterfully photographed and directed, deserves to be ranked with the best of his other works.

***1/2 (out of ****)

Released by Warner Bros.