Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

brice-coutagne Tran anh Hung films have to be watched with a photographic sensitivity, for it relates to the color and shapes as a medium to express feelings and mood. As I was watching Xich Lo, with great curiosity as I lived in Ho Chi Minh city for a while, I was caught by this sense of surreality that the movie expresses to and fro. This is definitively not a movie about Vietnamese reality as a saigonese inhabitant can see it, but rather an author's view about a magic city (as I can define cities with magic, and cities without), recalling what can be seen in some footage of HK in trendy Wong Kar Wai movies (especially Fallen Angels)... The cast also focuses about this Vietnamese-Chinese mixed up story (This happens in Cholon, Saigon's Chinese district), and Tony Leung's long stances, silences, cigarettes, brings back to some HK underground ambiances... Add to this Hung's way to break plot rhythm, waving between poetic calm to harsh violence, and you get a movie rather unique in its genre, that I surely enjoyed. 8 out of 10

mifunesamurai The pressure of modern day life is on and Nineteen year old Cyclo dives into the deep end in order to survive. This is far beyond the gentle stream flow of Tran's previous film, SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA. This film is bloody and confronting, boldly told with minimal dialogue.

tyeve I loved the first part of this movie. It was beautifully shot, with generally good acting, set in a country full of stories we in the western world know little of. But then something goes awry. That something is called "the script".We're first introduced to the cyclo driver and his family, and are given a fascinating taste of life in HCM City. It's when the movie begins introducing shadowy, poorly wrought, cardboard-cutout characters that it loses me. The script moves from interesting, maybe even captivating, to confusing and ridiculous. The unbelievability of plot events becomes irritating.My two biggest gripes are the script/story (by the director, Anh Hung Tran, and Trung Binh Nguyen) and the acting by the good/bad guy ("Poet") played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai. His acting was a bad take on old Peter Lorre movies. Think of Lorre in "Casablanca" - white suit, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I found the Poet character unsympathetic, grating, and unbelievable. I cheered when he finally buys the farm. I had been secretly hoping for a meteorite to crash to earth, destroying the whole lot of them.I have noticed that other reviewers have commented on this film being set against the background of noisy, active HCM City. Well, "background" is an understatement. There are only furtive glimpses of the city. I was longing for more views of HCM City and its life, and fewer interiors peopled with unsympathetic characters.I await a Vietnamese movie with the production values found in this film. Meanwhile, I'm launching a campaign to see that Anh Hung Tran's license is revoked.

HaN-hAn Xich lo is a highly disturbing movie which manages to combine aspects of many cinematic traditions to make something new. It seems that the director held European cinematic and directorial traditions very high, and that is plainly visible in this movies. But the use of colours that somehow seem to move the soul can only be asian.The humdrum of the city does not let up. The movie depicts a vicious cycle of abuse, extortion and violence. Le cyclo's attempt to get justice after his cyclo has been stolen is futile at first. Angry, he seeks help from le poete. This leads him into a spiral of violence, drugs and insanity. The fact that the actors do not have names, simply lables, such as "le cyclo," "le poete", and "le grand-pere," seem to reinforce the futileness of life in such conditions.There is a strong undercurrent of frustration in this movie. Le poete, pimping out his girlfriend to fetishists whose pleasure does not come from the sexual act. He wants to keep her virtue for himself, but of course, this is folly. And even sadder is the le grand-pere, who is old, and sick, and yet, has to perform back breaking work to get by in life. Given a chance to earn some money, he rejects it, sticking by his principles. But ultimately, this does not get him anywhere.So what is one to do? Being honest doesn't help you get anywhere. Neither does being a gangster. Or a madame. In the end, this is the question that remains unanswered...or to which there is no answer.