Daughter from Danang
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) | Release Date: November 1, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Superb documentary. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneJohn Petrakis
Brilliant documentary. Read full review
90
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Maybe Thomas Wolfe was right: You can't go home again Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Honest and unflinching, Daughter From Danang isn't always pleasant to watch, but it is powerful and memorable. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
That commendable sense of balance, which Dolgin and Franco use to approach this family reunion, ultimately makes the finished product devastating. Read full review
80
VarietyJoe Leydon
An intelligent, well-observed and ineffably poignant study of an Amerasian woman's attempt to trace her roots by journeying back to Vietnam. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Devastating in part because it's so chillingly familiar. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
The film's almost unbearable portrait of sadness and grief transcends its specific story to speak to the ways in which need, history and presumption tangle, and sometimes destroy, blood ties. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Once Kim and Heidi finally meet, it becomes something much more complex: a gripping drama of culture clash and familial responsibility that also serves as a stinging metaphor for U.S. involvement in Third World nations like Vietnam. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The startling documentary Daughter From Danang cautions once again to be careful what you wish for. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Operation Babylift itself was an attempt to provide some semblance of an American happy ending to the Vietnam debacle. But as Daughter From Danang demonstrates, the war's scars may take another generation to heal. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Poignant if familiar story of a young person suspended between two cultures. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
The filmmakers' smug Bay Area bigotry is all too obvious in gratuitous, mocking swipes at Heidi's Southern background. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
This may sound like an Oprah episode, but the outcome is far from predictable and carries the force of a tragedy in which everyone, and no one, is to blame. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
May not be a great piece of filmmaking, but its power comes from its soul's-eye view of how well-meaning patronizing masked a social injustice, at least as represented by this case. Read full review
60
Film ThreatChris Gore
A moving and stark reminder that the casualties of war reach much further than we imagine. Read full review
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