this movie be work toward two goal represent to make a political point and to tell a scary adventure story . it often difficult to do make a political point and still tell a good story ( consider the highly political but rarely entertaining final season of ellen ) . beyond rangoon find a good balance between politics and storytelling . i already know that aung san suu kyi have win the 1991 nobel peace prize and and know something about the oppressive political situation in burma and so the political message of the movie be mostly a dramatization of what i already know . but i think the movie do a good job of tell about aung san suu kyi and the mostly faceless dictator who have for year try to silence her . the device of present an unfamiliar setting through the eye of a character that viewer can identify with be fairly common and but it quite well do in this movie . of course and the real measure of the movie be it entertainment value . arquette be excellent a a young woman whose sister take her to a distant and unfamiliar place to shake her out of her depression over the violent death of her husband and son . she be convincingly detach and depressed . her grieving condition give her a clear reason for her distracted wandering into the thick of a dangerous situation she do not understand and something she would otherwise be much too intelligent to stumble into . once the danger become so obvious that she can see through them even through the cloud of grief and she trap and with no easy escape . that set her on a path of adventure where she need her intelligence to survive . the writer deserve much credit for make her intelligent and resourceful enough to deal with numerous dangerous situation and while still find a plausible reason for her to be foolish enough to get into trouble in the first place . the directing be strong also and keep up the tension throughout the race to escape the force of the dictatorship . this movie have additional impact on me and my wife because of other event of the same time period . we be prepare for a trip to india and and hear news report of western tourist who have be take hostage by a terrorist group in india . avoid isolated terrorist in a peaceful democratic country be quite a different matter from escape an oppressive dictatorship . but the movie and the news share the element of avoid danger in an unfamiliar country . that common characteristic give the movie meaning beyond the strength of it own skillful storytelling . the movie illustrate the international tourist bad nightmare .