Indochine (1992)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Brilliant!

In 1992, this work won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as another 9 wins & 10 nominations internationally. This is a beautiful, almost poetic, movie telling a story of the final years of French Indochina through the eyes and narration of the story's protagonist, Eliane (Catherine Deneuve). It starts when Eliane adopts a young Annamese princess, Camille (Linh Dan Pham), when her parents are killed in a plan crash. With this adoption, Eliane and her father inherit a large amount of land, making their rubber plantation one of the largest in French Indochina….The story ends with the adoption of Camille's teenage son (c.1954 when the French give up Indochina). However, the real story of the movie is in those ellipses (above). That is, what transpires between the adoption of little girl, Camille and that of her son as a teenager.Since the story uses this time frame, it makes me wonder if the movie isn't an allegory telling us the story of the constantly changing relationship between France and Indochina during their final 30-some years together as the mother country and colony—the parent and child. The movie is filled with, and constantly evokes, changing 'parent-child' emotions such as love, hate, jealousy, revenge, and redemption. Just as many children are taught and influenced by his parents only rebel against them later, so too, is the relationship between 'Imperial parents' and their 'childlike colonies'---at least to some. In any case, this allegory works well for the telling of this story.Indochine is the kind of French Colonial historical epic that we have so often come to relate to British Colonial epics such as: Lawrence of Arabia, Gandhi, A Passage to India, and The Jewel in the Crown. That is, as we experience these movies, we feel an uneasy relationship lurking between the colonists and their imperial rulers, and we foresee the seeds of independence brewing in front of our eyes until independence is all but an inevitable. Assuming that movie watching is like voyeurism, this is an historic adventure that makes you WANT to be told the story that the movie is telling you. It also fills in some or the historical background and perspective about Southeast Asia before Vietnam.

Some people, think this is a Romantic Movie. They are right. Others think it is political. They are also right. I think otherwise: This movie is about the resilience of ASiatic Peoples, their capacity to suffer adversity, and ultimately their domination of our STUPID WESTERB WORLD. Sidartha Gautama will will win over your Semitic GODS, because he was just a Man. THere is a superiority of Asiatic RTeligions over Meddle Esteran one which our Chtistians adopted . I Have nothing else to say. Tell. The Movie BluRay version from STudio Canal is slightly superior to the DVD version. But no worth the extra cost, Some people, think this is a Romantic Movie. They are right. Others think it is political. They are also right. I think otherwise: This movie is about the resilience of ASiatic Peoples, their capacity to suffer adversity, and ultimately their domination of our STUPID WESTERB WORLD. Sidartha Gautama will will win over your Semitic GODS, because he was just a Man. THere is a superiority of Asiatic RTeligions over Meddle Esteran one which our Chtistians adopted . I Have nothing else to say. Tell. The Movie BluRay version from STudio Canal is slightly superior to the DVD version. But no worth the extra cost,

This film was made with such breathtaking care that I don't expect to see another film that will move me with such intensity. The story line is told with painstaking detail in Vietnam against the back drop of war, and that's what makes this movie so poignant, you understand the characters, through the little details, so well, that you cannot help but feel that what you perceive is what these characters are feeling. I literally cried throughout 15 of the films' 90 minute runtime, not just a tear in the eye "oh that's too bad," but sobbing "OH MY GOD WHY, WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?!" Catherine's character and the Vietnam girl play it to perfection.I remember a comment kept running through my head, "this is not fair, it's not fair it had to happen to them, it's not their fault, dammit it's not their fault." This film is a representation of how good dramatic anime can be, if used correctly. There are no kung fu fights, or mysterious dragons, only reality. Such horrible wonderful reality that one will find that they cannot think about war in the same way as they did before. I know that this was the greatest war movie I have ever seen. It also might just be the greatest film ever. See it, don't walk, run, you must see this

Just watched this movie on VHS on a TV. It was not like seeing it for the first time on a large screen in a theater. Watched it in French without subtitle, because I am bilingual. Probably that is helps to like the movie. The plot is a bit stretched, but the historical perspective is very good. It serves as a good educational tool, to understand the reasons behind the defeat of France and after that the USA. The scenery is just incredible. Deneuve is a great actress and the other actors too including even minor supporting actors. It is not an action pack movie with a rapid pace; but the plot is so interesting, it is never boring.