TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

gavin6942 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.

dromasca '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.

armenian_nj I can understand Americans' harsh criticism of this film. This movie is far from Hollywood blockbusters that wash their brains. This is a masterpiece. Who called the play of Deneuve uneven? Actually, she lost the Academy Award to Thompson just because they do not like French actresses in the Academy. Let's recall Adjani in Camille Clodelle. Another masterpiece that lost Oscar to Anglo Saxon actress. Deneuve's performance is not only the Award winning performance, it is a cosmic, universal achievement of humanity. And there are no enough expressions and words to describe the magic of this movie. Let's do not get into the details of historical inconsistencies found by some paranoic personalities. Let's watch the movie through the eyes of French and Vietnamese people and not through the judgemental eyes of some always reprimanding complaners.

alma I wish I could find something good about this film but helas... I really tried hard watching it at different times but still, it's almost unbearable to watch. I really envy non french-speakers who may then not be affected by the terrible acting (but the script is basically awful so the actors may not be totally responsible). This film is discontinued, the storyline is either too slow or too fast, no identification with the characters is possible, it's just uncanny. The actors seem to 'recitate' their part with no emotion (Deneuve has such a monotonous and unconvincing tone of voice. Vincent Perez is very good-looking but truly has no talent whatsoever). Everything happens abruptly with no real continuity, the editing is appalling. We don't see that much of the Vietnam either and these bits of history do nothing for the film. What this film lacks above all is depth, it just goes in different directions with no coherence. Bits of this and bits of that, I find HARD to believe this film got an award for the best foreign film. The landscapes maybe? I certainly would recommend 'The Lover' inspired by Marguerite Duras' novel of the same name as well as films like 'Cyclo' or 'the scent of the green papaya'. A different aspect of the Vietnam but far more interesting.