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"The Beautiful Country" tells the harrowing story of a young, half-caste refugee's escape from impoverishment and servitude in Viet Nam. Raised in rural countryside south of Saigon by his extended family, since the latter days of the Vietnamese war, Binh has grown-up believing his mother dead and his American serviceman father long-since returned to Houston, Texas. Surrounded by a wounded and intolerant society, Binh has been cruelly raised as "less than dust" - shunned for both his lineage and his striking physical appearance. Upon learning that his mother is still alive in Saigon, he determines to leave his rural existence behind to find her. In so doing his journey leads him beyond the city - onto America, by way of internment in a Malaysian detention camp and aboard a smuggler's cargo freighter.

The film marks the second successful collaboration between composer Zbigniew Preisner and director Hans Petter Moland, following their previous experience on "Aberdeen" (2000). It is to the musical territory of this film that Preisner returns, with similar orchestrations and a distinct harmonic language deftly tackling continued themes of abandonment, loss, and reunion.

Recorded in Warsaw, in 2003, the composer's uplifting music is performed by the Orkiestra Radiowas under the baton of Michal Nalecz Nieziolowski. Alongside recognisable contrapuntal traits, Preisner's music features eclectic instrumental pairings and ethnic timbres - with much use made of his idiomatic writing for the African Kalimba.

1. The Beautiful Country
2. A Dream Of Freedom
3. Saigon
4. Ship Of Hope
5. The Promised Land
6. Letter To My Mother
7. The Streets Of New York
8. Rain
9. A Brother's Death
10. Conversation With Father
11. Memories of Mother
12. Malaysia
13. Strange Look
14. Saigon Version 2
15. Farm
16. Time Passing
17. The Beautiful Country: End Credits

About Zbigniew Preisner

Often cited as one of the most outstanding film composers of his generation, Polish-born Preisner is intenationally-recognised for his work with director Krzysztof Kieslowski and script-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz on "Dekalog", "The Double Life of Veronique", and the "Three Colours" trilogy. In dedication to Kieslowski's memory, his work "Requiem for my friend" - written for recording and live performance - received its world premiere at the Teatr Wielki, Warsaw on October 1, 1998.

Zbigniew Preisner is a two-time Golden Globe® Award nominee. He is also the recipient of two Cesars from the French Film Academy, a Silver Bear from the Berlin Film Festival in 1997, and three L.A. Critics Association Awards over consecutive years for Most Outstanding Composer of Film Music.