Indochine

I've seen at least 10-20 post-Vietnam movies, nearly all concentrating on the war or the aftermath of a war in a country that most Americans know absolutely nothing about (including me).

What a relief it was to learn something about the years of mistreatment Indo-Chine (or Vietnam) suffered at the hands of the French colonists who seem to have the 'reverse-Midas-touch' when it comes to their land possessions. Then again, I suppose this is the way of all colonists who invariably mistreat their 'possessions'..

The acting was terrific by all involved. Learning the pre-war background behind the extreme North/South polarizations and seeing all the strife that's touched Vietnam was the best lesson I've yet gleaned from any Vietnam movie.

I think a cure has finally been developed for Oliver Stone.

As high a rating as possible.

If we think about movies that deal with the recent past of Vietnam, then everybody immediately thinks of war movies like for instance, Platoon, Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter... But why is that? I know how important this war was for the Americans as well as for the Vietnamese, but this is an old country with an ancient culture that has a lot more to offer than the battles, bombs and booby traps in the jungle, the rice fields or the cities. "Indochine" is a movie that tries to show us another part of the country's history. It deals with the latest years of French colonial times in Vietnam or Indochine as they called it back then.

The story starts in the 1930's at one of the largest rubber-tree plantations in Indochine (Vietnam). This plantation is owned by the French colonist Eliane, a proud woman who lives with her father and her native adoptive daughter Camille. She doesn't have a husband or a man in her life (apart from her father), but gets to know the young officer Jean-Baptiste when both want to buy the same painting at an auction. They have a short affair, but than she refuses to see him again. In the meantime it's Camille who has fallen in love with Jean-Baptiste and Eliane knows it. She makes sure he's send to one of the most desolate outposts on some remote island, making sure that the two will never see each other again. Camille has no choice, but to marry the man she was promised to, but in the meantime she starts a search to find the man she really loves.

This could have been a romantic movie in a different setting than we are used to, but nevertheless one like we have seen many more before. And in a way it is, but the movie has a lot more to offer as well. It shows the atrocities committed by the French, the great poverty of the indigenous people, the rise of Communism and the futile attempts to stop them (before the French got involved in the war that would later be continued by the Americans). This movie is a lesson in history and geography wrapped in a paper of romance and marvelous landscapes. It was beautiful and dramatic at the same time. I was touched and amazed by it and really liked it a lot. That's why I give this movie at least an 8/10.

I thought it was good, if over-long. I've been reading the comments and people saying things about Indochine's realism. From what I can understand from my family (who are all half-French, half-Vietnamese, and who left Vietnam pretty much at the time the film wraps up), the sense you get of Eliane "being in charge" of the Vietnamese, and the failure to look at things from the viewpoint of the Vietnamese themselves, but only from the French perspective, is pretty accurate.

Society was essentially segregated in Saigon / Indochina. One member of my family told me a story about how they left the French "compound" in Saigon one day with their mother and - for the first time - saw the real Vietnamese people, in tattered clothes... Cue "why are they in rags, mummy?" "because that's the way most people live."

So, as I see it at least, I wouldn't criticise this film for the sense you get of the French being oblivious to the reality of their existence in Indochina. That's the way it was. That's the way most colonies were, in fact (think Shanghai). And I think that's the masterstroke of this film: that people lived their lives without ever thinking about the broader impact of what was going on, until everything just fell to pieces around their ears.

After seeing The Scent of Green Papaya, I was not expecting much, just a vehicle for Catherine Deneuve. And while it most definitely is that, it is also so much more.

The stunning cinematography, the elegant score, and the epic love story set against the turbulent colonial times. I was quite taken with the myriad plot twists. Too bad our high schooler has a 3minute attention span.

This is a very real depiction of colonialism. One reviewer noted the maternalism of Deneuve's character while pointing out the brutality of the slave sellers. People expecting a total condemnation of colonialism or a total condemnation of communism just don't see the gray between the black and white. Unfortunately, only Europeans could have made this movie. There is no didactic viewpoint, which is why some Americans don't react well to it. While the ending is a bit flat, it still doesn't detract from the fact that this was a great movie.

One of the little pleasures of this movie is listening to the Vietnamese housemaid's pidgin French and reading the subtitled translation. While movies like The Scent of Green Papaya are wonderful and deserve all the accolades they are accorded, this movie is very underrated. Green Papaya is a nice cultural experience but it can't come close to Indochine for grit and history. 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Indochine is a wonderful, poignant film set in the 30's during the French Vietnam conflicts. Catherine Deneuve is the terribly engrossing heroine,Elaine Devries, who uses her wealthy status as a rubber plantation owner to cover up her affairs. However, things get complicated when her adopted daughter falls in love with her much younger lover. This movie shows a wonderful unbiased perspective about Vietnam, and the acting is superb, with Vincent Perez and Dominique Blanc. This is a intricate and complex movie that will leave you thinking long after the movie is finished.