Daughter from Danang - Essay Example

Daughter from Danang The celebrated 2002 documentary film, Daughter from Danang is a spellbinding emotional drama dealing with cross-cultural conflicts, desire, identity, and the personal legacy of the Vietnam War. Directed by Gail Dolgin and Vincent Franco, this poignant documentary recounts the story of Heidi Bub (a.k.a. Mai Thi Hiep), a Vietnamese-American woman, born in Danang in southern Vietnam in the year 1968, who is in search of her birth mother. A careful examination of the documentary film confirms that it addresses essential topics such as histories of Asian American racial formation, cross-cultural adoption, intercultural communication, etc.

Significantly, the film effectively deals with cross-cultural conflicts through the protagonist who returns to Vietnam as an adult to meet her birth mother, where she is able to discover the fundamental elements of the cross-cultural conflicts. One important component of the cross-cultural conflicts is revealed by “Operation Babylift”, the Ford administration plan by which Hiep is sent to the U.S. The documentary film convincingly unfolds cultural differences and cultural shock in the reunion of a mother and daughter after 22 years.

In this riveting film, the cultural differences and the impact of culture on family structure and dynamics become evident through the experience of the protagonist who undertakes a vital journey from the Vietnam War to Pulaski, Tennessee, and back to Vietnam. It is fundamental to maintain that the protagonist lacks a thorough understanding of the cultural differences, cross-cultural conflicts, family structure and dynamics, etc. and this is at the center of the issues cropping up in the reunion of Heidi and Kim.

Most essentially, the reunion between Heidi and Kim rapidly develops tension and misunderstanding, in place of their hopes and expectations. This situation could easily be avoided if the heroine was able to recognize the impact of cultural differences between her and her Vietnamese family.