Columbia (Castle Rock Entertainment)
The heart and intent of John Boorman’s quasi-exotic political melodrama (which he also produced) are in the right place, but the narrative is so rambling, and the characterization so flawed, that the movie lacks any grounded credibility—-even by Hollywood’s standards.
Grade: C+ (** out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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The protagonist is Laura Bowman (played by Patricia Arquette), an American tourist who vacations in Burma (now known as Myanmar) in 1988, the year in which the famous Uprising takes place.
Her sister Andy Bowman (Frances McDoirmand) persuades Laura to go on a trip to Burma after Laura’s husband and son had been murdered during a home invasion, which sent Laura into a deep depression.
One night, unable to sleep because of nightmares, Laura leaves her hotel in Rangoon and gets caught up in an anti-government protest.
Bowman joins, initially unintentionally, political rallies with university students protesting for democracy, and travels with the student leader U Aung Ko throughout Burma.
After witnessing the brutality of the military dictatorship of the Ne Win Regime, they attempt to escape to Thailand.
The film was mostly shot in Malaysa, and, though it’s a fictional work, it was inspired by real people and real events.
Boorman is a good director and so the movie is well-mounted with impressive production values and lush cinematography, but these factors only partially help grounding this melodrama in a particular historical and political context.
Broadly speaking, Beyond Rangoon belongs to a sub-genre that could be described as “Naïve Americans Abroad,” though it is not a viable sampler. A colleague of mine dismissed the film as “Beyond Rangoon is Beyond Belief.”
Greeted with mixed to negative reviews, the movie was a big commercial failure.
Critical Status:
The film was an official selection at the 1995 Cannes Film Fest.
Reel/Real Impact:
Beyond Rangoon had a real impact: Just weeks into its European run, the Burmese military junta freed Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (depicted in the film) after several years under strict house arrest. The celebrated democracy leader thanked the filmmakers in her first interview with the BBC.
Suu Kyi was re-arrested a few years later, but Beyond Rangoon had already helped raise attention on previously “invisible” tragedy: the massacres of 1988 and the cruelty of her country’s military rulers.
Cast
Patricia Arquette as Laura Bowman
Frances McDormand as Andy Bowman
U Aung Ko as U Aung Ko
Johnny Cheah as Min Han
Adelle Lutz as Aung San Suu Kyi
Spalding Gray as Jeremy Watt
Tiara Jacquelina as San San, Hotel Desk Clerk
Kuswadinata as Colonel at Hotel
Victor Slezak as Mr. Scott
Jit Murad as Sein Htoo
Ye Myint as Zaw Win
Cho Cho Myint as Zabai
Credits:
Directed by John Boorman
Written by Alex Lasker, Bill Rubenstein
Produced by Boorman, Sean Ryerson, Eric Pleskow, Barry Spikings
Cinematography John Seale
Edited by Ron Davis
Music by Hans Zimmer
Production company: Castle Rock Entertainment
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates: June 30, 1995 (UK); Aug 25, 1995 (US)
Running time: 99 minutes
Budget $23 million
Box office $14.7 million
