Hong Khaou’s MONSOON composes a phlegmatically charged account of cultural identity through a self-reflective portrait of the search for identity. Khaou’s feature is a pensive and emotive journey of the discovery of regional roots and the misleading sense of optimism that the answers will reveal themselves in the grounds that have long since changed. MONSOON is more than your typical arthouse flick wavering through the endless ruminations of the human experience; it is a film that encompasses the reality of displacement in an inconstant world.

Kit, a British-Vietnamese man, returns to Saigon for the first time in 30 years to lay his parents’ ashes to rest, after escaping and relocating with his family to England, as a young boy, to flee the disasters of the Vietnam-American war. When he returns to reacquaint with his childhood friend Lee and rediscover the city, he realises he no longer recognises and connects with the place and people he did decades ago. His memories fail to catch sight of the city that keeps moving beside him. He begins a casual relationship with American traveller Lewis: the son of an American who fought in the war, carrying second-hand guilt for the events of the past.

Khaou’s cinematography is picturesque; he captures the streets of Saigon as if the city was a character of its own; with the poetic charm of the erratic, heavily motorised market streets lost in the background, to the stillness and glow of the Vietnamese sun that amplifies the faces that pass. Much like Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s feature THE BOYS FROM FENGKUEI the atmosphere of the life around the lens guides the essence and evokes the nostalgia of youth and projects the spectator into the isolation of the protagonist as he swept into the crowd, failing to retain his centre in the fast-moving streets that eclipse him. Khaou’s balance between capturing the affluence of Saigon and the warmth of the back-street markets resounds the internal confusion that resides within Kit’s inability to connect with his birthplace, alongside the contrasting euphoria that follows Kit’s new beginnings and urgency to embrace the future.

The script is simplistic but powerful; the naturalism that Khaou creates synchronises well with the rhythm and tone of the writing. He manages to formulate a stellar character study within the running time and the light pace of the film’s metaphysical swirls.

MONSOON is a clever, intimate and touching drama film. Hong Khaou’s sores and interpersonal discoveries seep into the foundation of Kit’s character and through the anecdotally-driven direction in the core of the film’s screenplay. It is a film that possesses the ability to form a deep connection with the spectator, expatriate or indigenous: its humanity and truth crystallise the universality that radiates through MONSOON.