I just had to jump onto my blog to recommend, with great enthusiasm, that you see an indie film. I happened to see it on one of the HBO channels and it moved me to my soul. It's the second time I've been moved by a film from this young Southern California native.
Justin Chon is an actor and filmmaker who deserves way more than he gets. On HBO, I saw his 2021 release, BLUE BAYOU. Chon skillfully and effectively plays the lead character, Antonio. He's a Korean adoptee raised in a small town in the Louisiana bayou. Married with children, he's a working class, down-home man trying to make a good life for his kids and the woman he loves -- his wife. When he's stunned with the news that he could be deported, the ghosts of his past rise up to confront him. This story and Chon's performance will break your heart. His co-star, who gives an equally strong performance, is Alicia Vikander who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for THE DANISH GIRL (2015). In BLUE BAYOU, she plays Antonio's wife. This tale of deportation, of a family fighting for its future, truly is an American story. Actor Justin Chon wrote and directed BLUE BAYOU.
Justin Chon first came to my attention when I reviewed his outstanding 2017 film, GOOK.
I was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, a child of the 60s. Our family lived in the curfew area during the Watts uprising of 1965, an event of racial anger and frustration that made national headlines. GOOK focuses on two Korean-American brothers who run a shoe store in the L.A. 'hood. We meet them, their friends and customers. One work day, the verdict in the Rodney King trail sets off the L.A. riots of 1992. Justin Chon plays one of the brothers in GOOK. He also wrote and directed the film. Here are a trailer and a clip.
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