User Reviews

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.

Epic and spectacular movie plenty of romance , emotion , intense drama and historical events . In Vietnam before the American there lived the French . It deals with a plantation owner , Eliane : Catherine Deneuve , who creates a particular civilization transported to her hothouse and along the way she contends with the changes to her country . Deneuve starts a loving story with a young naval officer, Vincent Perez . But later on , he has a passionate affaire with Deneuve's adopted daughter, Linh Dan Pham , who grows up and becomes independent . Things go wrong when the French officer , Vincent Perez , is sent to a far outpost on the Gulf of Tonkín , shortly after, there appears the young Vietnamese girl . Midway throughout , having involved us so deeply in colonial Enterprise , he abruptly cut our cultural ties and plunged into the sweeping as well as bloody revolutionary myth . After that , the lovers get together and go on the run , being hidden by the communist guerrilla posing as theatre players . When the girl is incarcerated she discovers her people .

This is a lush romanticism movie , the alegorical intimitations can not be entirely believable , however the film is attractive and interesting , though overlong . It is almost as exotic as the breathtaking Vietnam landscape . It is rather enervatingly composed with long and boring scenes , but photography and gorgeous outdoors make up for it , though pacing could be certainly tighter . Deneuve gives a nice and controlled acting in her usual fashion as a powerful woman reared in Indochina from 1930 , following her life until the communist revolution 25 years later . She displays an unchanging and cold beauty that is eminently watchable . She is well accompanied by the young Vincent Perez and Linh Dan Pham . Along with notorius French secondaries as Jean Yanne and Dominique Blanc.

Shot on location in Vietnam with impressive and exquisite cinematography by Francois Catonne . It was filmed on location in Vietnam, Malaysia, and France. Some scenes were shot at Hue Palace and slave market frames were filmed in Halong Bay in Northeastern Vietnam, and several images from Paris . It contains a sensitive and evocative musical score by Patrick Doyle . The motion picture was professionally directed by Regis Wargnier . Regis is a good filmaker who has directed some nice and interesting films , such as : ¨The gate¨ , ¨Have mercy on us all¨, ¨The ligne droite¨ , ¨Une femme Francaise¨, ¨I am the king of the castle¨, ¨The woman of my life¨ and his greatest hit, ¨Indochina¨. It won several prizes and nominations . Being France's official submission to the 1993's Oscars in the best foreign language film category and it achieved Hollywood Academy Award to the Best Foreign film and various Golden Globes . And a lot of Cesar awards , such as : Actress, Art direction, cinematography, sound, and support actress Dominique Blanc. Rating : 6.5/10. Well worth seeing. Better than average.

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.

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.

Éliane Devries (Catherine Deneuve) adopts her Vietnamese best friends' orphan daughter Camille. She becomes one of the biggest rubber plantation owner combining both properties. Her father keeps a young Vietnamese girlfriend. She has a secret affair with French officer Jean-Baptiste Le Guen. After a dangerous incident, Camille believes that Jean-Baptiste saved her and falls in love with him.

This won the Oscar for foreign film and Deneuve was nominated. It's a sprawling melodramatic romantic epic. Despite the Oscar love, I don't completely share the feeling. The epic setting is beautiful. It is grand in scale and personal in scope. I can't really get into Eliane. The most compelling character is Camille although the actress is a newcomer struggling to rise to the occasion. The romance with Jean-Baptiste is the heaviest of melodrama. It's all melodrama and not really to my taste.

There is some difference of opinion about whether this is a good film or not. Some have called it a "soap opera" beautifully filmed. (Both Leonard Maltin in his Movie and Video Guide and the good people at Video Hound used that designation.) But I don't think that is correct at all. Beautifully filmed yes, stunning at times like something from David Lean; and in fact this film has more in common with the Hollywood panoramic epic than it does with the tradition of the French cinema. But it is certainly not a soap opera. In a soap opera the important element is a narrow focus on things material, social, and sexual played out in a banal, cliché-ridden and bourgeois manner. In Indochine the focus is on political change and why it came about.

The story begins in Vietnam in 1930 and concludes on the eve of the communist revolution in 1954--presaging the tragic American involvement a decade later. Catherine Deneuve plays Eliane Devries, the strong-willed owner of a rubber plantation in Vietnam, then part of the French colonial empire. Having no children of her own (or a husband) she raises the Vietnamese girl Camille (Linh Dan Pham) as her own. She conducts secret affairs (and even visits opium dens) while maintaining the appearance of respectability. We are shown the decadence of the French living in Vietnam and the exploitive evils of colonialism, hardy the stuff of soap opera. We are made aware of the social unrest stirring amongst the population and even shown what amounts to a slave auction conducted by the colonial powers with the aid of the French military, in particular, the French navy.

Enter Jean-Baptiste (Vincent Perez), a handsome French naval officer who, despite the difference in their ages, initiates an affair with Eliane. She is at first put off, then reluctant, and then madly in love. Perhaps this familiar progression is what some think of as soap opera material; and perhaps it is, although their affair is only a small part of the film, and at any rate, such behavior is entirely consistent with Eliane's character and that of Jean-Baptiste, and is necessary for the plot developments to come.

Deneuve was nominated for Best Actress by the Academy but didn't win (Emma Thompson won for Howard's End), but the film itself won as Best Foreign Film. In truth Deneuve's performance is a little uneven. Regardless, this is one of the most important roles in the career of an actress who was as beautiful in 1991 when this film was made as she had been in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) at the beginning of her career. Indeed, I would say even more beautiful. My favorite Deneuve film, by the way, is Mississippi Mermaid (1969) with Jean-Paul Belmondo directed by Francois Truffaut.

Also uneven is the direction by Regis Wargnier. The scenes set in Saigon involving the French and the Mandarins at their pleasures amid their wealth as they maintain their privilege are done with strikingly beautiful interiors splashed with the kind of color seen in, for example, the films of Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The scenes amount to indictments of the French and demonstrate why the communists eventually came to power. Note that the privileged are always decked out in the most amazing displays of color while the workers and the peasants are brown and dirty.

The panoramic cinematography of the Vietnamese country is also strikingly beautiful. We are shown the sheer cliffs falling into tranquil waters dotted with junks, the rock outcrops nestled in verdant growth, the angry skies, and the deluge of the monsoon. But the trek of Camille across the land to find her beloved is not realistically done. Her quick incorporation in a peasant family is also not convincing. And the following scene in which she and Jean-Baptiste escape from the slave market defies probability. However what becomes of her and him is brutally realistic and consistent with what we know about those times, although I would like to have seen them being fed when they are rescued and some indication of how they spent their time in that Shangri-la-like hidden valley.

Despite the flaws and inconsistencies, this is a fine cinematic experience, enthralling, disturbing and visually beautiful. See this as a prelude to all other films about Vietnam and the Vietnam War. What will become clear is how foolish was our involvement and how doomed to failure it had to be.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

I first saw this movie in a french class at univ. I don't think it is a film talking about communists or communism,it is more like a brief history of Vietnam under control by France. Every country has its own style and way of developing,so telling a love story can't part from the condition or the atmosphere.It is not a happy-ending love story,I don't know whether "tragedy" is a proper word, but it fills with joys and sorrows.I like something with deep meanings and deep feelings or emotions.Indochine is right for me.I am not sure where the film was shot,the scenery is nice and characteristic. The roles are vivid and rich,esp Eliane played by Catherine Deneuve. Although i had to read the English subtitles while listening to french, the film still grabbed my attention tightly.

This is a wonderful very tragic movie about love triangle set against French fall down in Vietnam. I was actually quite surprised at one of the comments, which roughly said that the Vietnamese girl falls in love with French officer for no reason at all. Does not everybody know that love always happens for no reason at all? That is why many famous love stories are tragic, people tend to fall in love with completely wrong people, from different perspectives.

I did not seem wrong to me that Elaine was "mothering" her Vietnamese workers. Remember "Gone with the wind"? How Scarlett's mother was treating her slaves, tending to them when they were sick? I believe that many people felt that way towards their slaves/servants/workers. Elaine grew up in Vietnam, she thought about it as her home and Vietnamese as her people, though in a bit simplistic way. What I am trying to say, is that her relationship with Vietnamese in the movie does not look untrue. Perhaps to some people it just looks politically incorrect these days, when most people think that colonization was all that bad. It is too complicated an issue and the movie was not about it. On the contrary, the movie wins while portraying both caring and cruel French people in Indochina, not painting only with black and white colors, rather raising questions, than giving simplistic answers. It is rare in movies these days. This movie is done with impeccable European charm and gets 10/10 from me.

I am ready to defend my viewpoint at the Message Boards any time.

A beautiful film about the latter years of the French colonial era in Vietnam. I notice some comments that seem confused about Deneuve's characters attitude toward the Vietnamese on her rubber plantation. They find her "maternalism" offensive and therefore? what, they don't like the film? What do they expect from a colonialist? Compare this to Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot, a slave owner who has released all his slaves (1700s) and re-hired them. Is this more believable? More comfortable?

The French exploited the natural resources and the population of Vietnam; that's what colonialism was all about, and I don't see that this film is even faintly supportive of colonialism. On the contrary, Indochine offers some clarity about what the Vietnamese were rebelling against, and background for the conflict that would later pull in the US.

And a gorgeous, gorgeous movie.

This story is set in 1930, at the time when French colonial rule in Indochina is ending. An unmarried French woman who works in the rubber fields, raises a Vietnamese princess as if she was her own daughter. She, and her daughter both fall in love with a young French navy officer, which will change both their lives significantly.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like if you mention "Vietnam" to the average American, you would have them thinking about our country's role in the Vietnam War. Specifically, how it affected our veterans. Rarely would you get anyone thinking about the country itself. And also, it may not be well-known (though it should be) that France had a far deeper history in the region than the United States ever did.

This film looks great, and may have some of that glamor that is not realistic, but it does attempt to show the interaction of the French and the Vietnamese (in what was called French Indochina). Anyone interested in Vietnam or colonialism ought to check it out.

I was never aware of this film, perhaps because I was not of the appropriate age to appreciate, but I must say, about thirteen years after its theatrical release, I was quite pleased with it on every level. Not only were the locations appropriately beautiful, and the cinematography mature and relaxed, but the acting, casting, plot development, and dialogue were in beautiful harmony. The film was a fantastic lesson in history to which Vietnam and the rest of us are owed. To satisfy length requirements for my comments, I will add, that this crew did not shy away from showing characters who experience anger, insult, jealousy, pain and all the rest with true precision. It is nice to see fine acting and depth with appropriate casting. I recommend this film to anyone who wants to see color and who can read subtitles. I would also recommend that this film be viewed in two or three sittings. I did this because of disruptions, but actually, this respite added to the inherent suspense of each characters' fate and made the film easier to digest on a whole. Nonetheless, you will find, that the film flows and throws in excitement just where it is needed.

Can you say telenovela? If the characters were speaking Spanish, that's what this melodrama would resemble. Granted, the technical and production values are much better than your typical Latin American soap opera, and one never tires of Catherine Deneuve's acting abiity or timeless beauty. However, unlike a typical telenovela--which often has no reference to current events or the passing of years (cars, telephones, clothing styles etc. remain the same, even though years have passed)--this film focused heavily on the post World War II French control of Vietnam. But this comes across as a stage upon which to present one family's story, not a real in-depth presentation of why the French failed in their effort of retain control of Vietnam or to prepare it for independence, i.e. like Britain in India or the U.S. in the Philippines. One odd element was the fact that Catherine Deneuve didn't seem to change or age in appearance over the decades, from adopting and raising her daughter to having a 20-something grandson. That would be about 25 to 30 years, enough time to take its toll on any woman--or man.

What could have been a wonderful film about the twilight of French Indochina is irretrievably lost in the turgid pot boiler of a melodramatic boy-girl-mom 'love' triangle that seems to have been plotted and scripted (even in the original French) by a first year drama student. Cinematography 100% though: it makes you weep. Such an opportunity missed.

Perhaps the film should be considered as a precursor of the late 90s series of 'classic' films where location and the reproduction of period detail become the focus of the production, overlooking the need for realistic - or at least believable - dramatic progression. The characters are beautiful people (Catherine Deneuve is spectacular as always), the location shots are wonderful, but the storyline is only just this side of trite. The film could be used as a classroom example of style-over-substance.

OK let's get it out of the way up front, Eliane IS France, Camille IS Vietnam the story is their story. Of course it is told from the French viewpoint, France is telling the story about her child growing up. It is a sad story, the French lost. It was not a happy story for the Vietnamese they had to fight for 2 more years to be reunited and struggle for 15 more to start to come out of the whole process. That said this is one of the most beautiful movies ever made, period.

The intricate ballet of personal dealings and politics is carried out so well that one can easily get lost in the levels, just as one can get lost in the intricate dance that is life in Asia. What you see is what you see, it may be more or less depending.

I do not believe that the movie defends France not does it condemn her. That part of the story is wisely left alone, what remains is a human drama of the folly of resisting the inevitability of change. As the film unfolds the sheer weight of history comes down on all involved.

It is that weight that brings the tears. From the time that Jean-Baptiste is brought to Saigon to the closing credits, there is no escape for anyone. The old order is out the new is awaiting its time of entry upon the stage. It is a time for tears, a time to mourn and ultimately a time to heal.

Americans in particular have a funny sense of history. We forget that others have been down the same roads before us. France's relationship with vietnam was most likely more of a force in the history of its people than ours with all of our napalm will ever be, because the French left a legacy of life that could be seen even in the senslessness of the American presence.

This movie captures that relationship and transcends it. Masterpiece is the lest one can say about such a work.

'Indochine' was released to the big screens in France by the time of my first visit in Paris in 1992, the city was then full of posters about it, I remember them even on the Champs Elysees. Going to the movies was not my priority at my first time in that splendid city, and thus more than 20 years passed until I got to see this film, probably one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the French cinema, a tentative in the historic epic and romantic saga genre set in the final decades of the French colonial rule in Indochina. As other similar projects like 'Gone with the Wind', 'Australia', 'Cold Mountain', or 'A Passage to India', it mixes a long and tortuous romantic story with a rendition of the history from the perspective of the 'white man'. It works to a large extent. Falling empires and republics in turmoil have many similar things and a charm of their own on screen.

Romance and history meet in an intrigue which is a little bit too long, and too much decorated with coincidences, but then credibility to the detail is not necessarily the principal quality we look for when reading sagas or watching saga films. The main character played by Catherine Deneuve is a rich, beautiful and independent plantation owner who raises a Vietnamese adopted daughter and tries to keep the luxurious way of colonialist life while the world around her is cracking and falling apart. Her passion for an officer younger in age turns into a family drama when this one falls in love with the adoptive daughter and in political intrigue when the two take ways apart and join the anti-French forces. Cultures and ideologies mix and conflict in the film – colonialism fights nationalism and communism, cosmopolitan French style of life clashes with the traditions and religions of this area of Asia. There are many details in the film, but I also had a feeling of lack of focus, like in a very large picture full of characters and objects, but also a little blurred. Or maybe these were only background elements for director Regis Wargnier, I cannot know. The director BTW all but disappeared after a few ambitious but not very successful movies in the 90s.

There are two fabulous qualities in this film which balance all the minuses. One is Catherine Deneuve. I am in love with her until she will be 150. There are only two other actresses at the same level, radiating light, intelligence, beauty in any role they play – Ingrid Bergman and Cate Blanchet. Deneuve crosses in this film many years in the story but she stays beautiful and dignified, socially strong but emotionally vulnerable. A great role. The second exceptional quality is the cinematography, and I must mention the name of the artist in charge – Francois Catonne. The landscapes filmed in location are exquisite, so are the scenes that bring back to life the cities of Indochina of the 30s. I am not sure if after watching 'Indochine' I have really a more accurate image about how that part of the world was in the 30s of the previous century, but I surely do have a beautiful one.

Not many foreign films have caught my eye. A lot of them seem surreal and have hidden messages that you have to try hard to convey. Indochine is different. It is intense and gripping and all the while you never lose sense of the message. The love story intertwined makes it remarkably attractive to females, the adventure makes it great for males, and the epic history of Vietnam makes it a masterpiece to critics and professionals. I thoroughly found this film to excel and it does live up to its praise.

The always cool and elegant Catherine Deneuve plays a cool, elegant plantation owner in French Indochina swept up in changing times while pursuing a beautiful but cruel French naval officer. Things get complicated when the sailor elopes instead with Deneuve's innocent, adapted Vietnamese daughter, and the young lovers embark on a heroic journey across Southeast Asia: the girl is nearly sold into slavery; the Frenchman rescues her and they escape; a revolution breaks out; the couple is separated; a baby is born; so forth and so on.

Needless to say the plot is packed with enough melodrama to fuel more than one TV miniseries, which proves to be a saving grace. On a purely emotional level the film is shallow but entertaining, not unlike a classy, subtitled soap opera, with over two full hours of grand passion, exotic scenery, and turbulent history. As Deneuve's native housekeeper says: "I'll never understand French people's love stories; they're nothing but folly, fury, and suffering." Which may well be the perfect endorsement for such an unlikely saga.

I saw this movie first when I was only 14 and I fell in love with it. It has a wonderful storyline and it keeps you involved from beginning to end. The cast is magnificent, each playing their character with amazing believability and accuracy. Besides being educational (for those of us who are or were unversed in the history of the rubber industry in Indo-China, as I was), it also has stunning cinematography. There are plenty of pan and aerial shots to keep you amazed throughout the movie. The only disadvantage for some viewers may be that it is French with English subtitles. But if you decide to rent this movie, I highly doubt you will be disappointed, it's a definite 10 out of 10.

Catherine Deneuve is the aristocratic owner of one of the largest rubber plantations in French Indochina. She has adopted Linh-Dan Pham, added her dead parents' plantation to her own, and loves her dearly. But when they fall in love with the same man, conflicts arise.

It has Catherine Deneuve, which is a major plus to any movie. However, this Oscar-bait movie, which won the following year's Best Foreign Movie award, looks hollow on re-examination. It hits all the marks on cinematic beauty and opulence, along with an almost obligatory self-castigation of the policy of French governments by men long gone, as if director Régis Wargnier had gone through a careful analysis of what the award-winner should look like, and had stuck to that in production. As a result, its 160-minute length becomes tiresome and monotonous well before the movie ends. I could get through it only by looking at it in sections. Always watchable, never compelling, always disapproving, never positive, it certainly can be watched, but never with any pleasur, except for the sour satisfaction of knowing we are oh, so, right now, and they were oh, so wrong then.

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.

I first saw this movie as a college project and was just blown away. It has a really decent plot that allows one to enjoy the movie while giving a history lesson and some of the reasons for the war between the French and Vietnamese people. A good see for those who want to see a different kind of movie and a MUST see for anyone interested in the history of the French involvement in Vietnam and the reasons for the intense dislike of the French by the common man in Vietnam. The scenery is outstanding. You will need to be ready to pay attention because the movie is in French and has English Subtitles. I think that this adds to the allure of the movie and did not take away from my enjoyment.

Semi-engrossing, but way too over-long account of rubber plantation matron, the orphan she raises and the instability of the Indochine Colony. Beautiful, lush locations, interesting story with potential, yet takes so long to speak the obvious. The audience is so far ahead of the characters, that the effect is deadening. If you can survive the monotonous stretches, the story is pretty good. This movie did manage to garner an Academy Award for best foreign film, but my instinct tells me this was likely a pretentious gesture on the part of the voting academy.

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.