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Indochine

Indochine

List Price: $27.95
Your Price: $22.36
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Must See !
Review: What isn't to love in this film? Catherine Deneuve proves once again that she is not only the most beautiful woman in the world but a great actress. Vincent Perez is so handsome that he takes your breath away. This is movie not to be missed but anyone who is interested in history and in love!! Candace Serviss

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love and History
Review: From the opening sequence of a royal funeral to the last shot of Deneuve in Switzerland, this movie had me enthralled. It has everything that makes a movie exceptional: strong acting from its leads, beautiful cinematography, a romantic and emotionally wrenching love story, a tense historical backdrop, beautiful actors and a well-plotted storyline. This movie draws you in, pulling you into that beautiful and passionate world of 1930's Indochina. (Indochina was the collective name of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos when they were still under French control)

The story revolves around a powerful French, plantation owner Eliane (Deneuve), her adopted Indochinese daughter Camille (Pham) and the French naval officer who romances these two women, Jean Baptiste (Perez). The movie starts off with Eliane having an illicit affair with the young Jean-Baptiste, only to have her heart broken when the officer starts feeling claustrophobic in their relationship. Unfazed, Eliane carries on with her life, running a lucrative business and raising the lovely Camille into the ways of the French. But things go awry when Camille and Jean-Baptiste accidentally meet. Believing that Jean-Baptiste saved her life, Camille falls head over heels in love with her mother's former lover. Thinking it in her daughter's best interest, Eliane uses her influence on the government to have Jean-Baptiste sanctioned to some remote outpost of Indochina. But a strong-willed Camille defies family and society and ventures into the countryside, alone, to join Jean-Baptiste. Along the way, Camille discovers first-hand the sufferings of her people under the French. When the two young lovers reunite, it is under circumstances that forces them to flee and hide from the authorities. To make things more complicated, the communist movement is gaining momentum, embroiling Camille and Jean-Baptiste in a situation that is beyond their (even Eliane's) control.

I've seen this movie more times than I can count, and everytime, it never fails to move me. Deneuve is gorgeous as ever and her acting is superb. She plays the scorned lover, worried mother and stern manager with amazing elegance and restraint, without making her character look stiff. She definitely deserved that Best Actress nomination. Vincent Perez is perfectly cast as the passionate Jean-Baptiste. With his dark, good-looks and amazing acting talent, he easily conveys all the ambiguities, and later on, the passions of Jean-Baptiste. But the real discovery here is Linh Dam Pham. She is stunningly beautiful as Camille and does so much with so little. Her role is underwritten, but with her sincerity and talent, Camille comes off alive and full of passion. A mere glance here and there and you see everything that Camille is feeling. Her Camille is an unforgettable heroine.

There is also amazing chemistry between the actors. Deneuve and Perez sizzle in their scenes. It is easy to see the passion that drove these two into their affair. But the most unforgettable and emotionally-charged scenes are those between Perez and Pham. Simple gestures and exchanged looks convey a deep and abiding love between the two characters. Their scenes in Halong bay can melt any cynic's bitter-shell.

Apart from being a romantic epic, Indochine is a rare honest look at the events that led to Vietnam's independence from France. The bloodshed, the filth, the oppression...it's all there. Nothing is glossed over. Kudos to the French for their honesty and reflection.

This movie should definitely be in any person's video library. When the end credits start rolling, the images will continue to haunt you. By then, you'll be glad you own the DVD. You can play it over and over again to your heart's content.

(...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Favorite Movie!
Review: This is a beautiful movie, the cinematography, the scenery and the story. I've seen this movie multiple times and every time I see it I love it more. This is a great movie if you like romantic dramas set against a historical backdrop.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Little Something For Everyone
Review: Indochine is the epic tale of French and Vietnamese sailors, lovers and revolutionaries in colonial Southeast Asia at the dawn of the Vietnam War. It contains plenty of twists and turns, sufficient action and a fascinating historical background. I even talked friends of mine who did not understand French into watching it with me and they loved it, in spite of their having to read subtitles!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The critics must be crazy...
Review: These critics make me so sick to my stomach.The movies that they praise usually put you to sleep. "Indochine" is one of the most wonderful movies, so well written and directed. Despite what the editorial review said, Catherine Deneuve was perfectly casted for her role. You start watching it, and you won't stop until the end. I enjoyed this as much as I did "the Last Emperor". Like I said before, movies critics are like politicians: They lie for a living.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fabulous Film!
Review: In 1930s Indochina, a woman manages her rubber plantation but loses her French lover, a naval officer, to her adopted Indochinese daughter. The story is memorable. The lush scenery is spectacular. The acting is outstanding. And history comes alive in this great movie. Sincerely, Diana J. Dell, author, "A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great for Social Studies teachers
Review: I teach social studies to grades 10 and 11. An English teacher recommended Indochine to me. I am so glad she did. The kids get totally engrossed and there is enough historical backrgound to facilitate several lessons: 1)European Imperialism, 2) French Involvement in Vietnam, 3) Vietnamese Nationalism, and 4) the Mandarin Class in Vietnam. I have shown this video for three years now. The kids consitently rate it tops and they enjopy the writing assignment/learning log I assign with it. The characters are complex and well developed. As a Vietnam veteran, I also appreciate the movie in its own right. This is one great flick.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderous adventure through French Indochina
Review: This is one of the best films I've ever seen. It combines great acting, beautiful scenery, and a political background that provides a full(as full as they can get with the length of the movie) perspective while drawing the viewer in. Catherine Deneuve is spectacular all throughout this romance/drama/time period piece. Also the clever blend of odd and sometimes naive characters mixed in gives it a realistic touch.

It seems, in fact, to be two movies woven together. They fit so perfectly together, though, because of the way the plot unravels. The first portion centering around the female plantation owner and her relations with a soldier, and the second portion which focuses more on her Indochinese adopted daughter who chases after her first love--the same soldier. Tied in is the sentimental story of Sao and her family.

Everything about this movie is marvelous. The only thing that may scare away some of the viewers is the length of the movie, which I think just allows it to be more in depth. Indochine is A MUST SEE, especially for foreign-flick fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Holy Schnikes...
Review: I quite agree; sometimes, even critics I respect (sort of) are buffoons when it comes to movies. This movie, as Hannah12 stated so aptly in her review, IS indeed haunting. And beautiful. And thoughtful. It is not a happy story, certainly, and that is what gives it it's power. The actors are all incredible, as is the scenery, and when I get to be 55, I want to look half as beautiful and poised as Catherine Deneuve. This movie is one of the first that caught my fascination with foreign films. It DESERVED that Oscar.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A visually gorgeous film that quickly runs out of steam
Review: Imagine a sort of Gone With The Wind where Scarlette is a Confederate feminist who has kicked Daddy into early retirement. She swaps about half her gowns for stuff that Rhett Butler didn't want anymore. She makes a point of personally flogging slaves, but manages to do it without (miraculously, in the heat of humidity of Southeast Asia) having a bad hair day. Imagine that the plot is designed for a long mini-series, but has been squeezed into a feature-length film. Imagine some really fine actors struggling to breathe life into this thing. This is one of those films that makes wonderful trailers and stills you could turn into art, but that just doesn't work as a movie. I know a man who was a young draftee in Vietnam. He once told me, "You know those Chinese paintings with the twisted trees and the misty landscapes? Well, it really looks like that." If this film is any indication, he was right. The landscape is the best part of this film. Mostly, this movie is just tragic and sad, which is probably the point. If I had been in her shoes, I would have sold the plantation, taken my adopted daughter, and made a beeline for the south of France the day after the communists blew the brains of of the village elder I was being introduced to. I must say that Miss Deneuve still looks wonderful; the thirties fashions, especially those marvelous hats, really flatter her.


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