Indochine (1992)

Eliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.

Director:

Régis Wargnier

Writers:

Erik Orsenna (original scenario & adaptation and dialogue), Louis Gardel (original scenario & adaptation and dialogue)

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham

Won 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Éliane
Vincent Perez	...	Jean-Baptiste
Linh Dan Pham	...	Camille
Jean Yanne	...	Guy
Dominique Blanc	...	Yvette
Henri Marteau	...	Émile
Carlo Brandt	...	Castellani
Gérard Lartigau	...	L'Admiral
Hubert Saint-Macary	...	Raymond (as Hubert Saint Macary)
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Hebrard
Mai Chau	...	Shen
Alain Fromager	...	Dominique
Chu Hung	...	Mari de Sao
Jean-Baptiste Huynh	...	Étienne, adulte
Thibault de Montalembert	...	Charles-Henri (as Thibault De Montalembert)

Storyline

This story is set in 1930, at the time when French colonial rule in Indochina is ending. A widowed 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.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | french naval officer | french navy | year 1930 | vietnam | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, sensuality and drug related scenes

Did You Know?

Trivia

France's official submission to the 1993's Oscars in the best foreign language film category.

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Goofs

42m 19s: One raw block of rubber reappears on the table after it has already been fed through the flattening machine.

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Quotes

Yvette: Of course you are beautiful, but it is not beautiful to be so beautiful when you have no beauty

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Connections

Featured in The 65th Annual Academy Awards (1993)

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Soundtracks

La môme Caoutchouc
Music by Maurice Yvain
Performed by Dominique Blanc
Editions SALABERT
Lyrics by Serge Veber (uncredited)

User Reviews

Good

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.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Vietnamese

Release Date:

23 December 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Indochine

Filming Locations:

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Box Office

Gross USA:

$5,603,158

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,603,158

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paradis Films, La Générale d'Images, Paradis Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

148 min (cut) 153 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1