Indochine (1992) - film review

This is the story of Eliane who owns a rubber plantation in Indochine (now Viet-Nam) at the time of the French colonisation of the country.  Eliane adopts a native girl, Camille, as her daughter.   Eliane and Camille both fall in love with the same French officer, Jean-Baptiste.  When Camille shoots another French officer, Camille and Jean-Baptiste flee into an uninhabited region of the country, where they are befriended by communist rebels.  In the end, Jean-Baptiste has to return to face a court-marshal and Camille is separated from her child.

Indochine is a film with many strengths but unfortunately several weaknesses.  Its greatest asset is the location.  The views of the Viet-Nam landscapes are genuinely breathtaking and add a richness and epic quality to the film which it would otherwise lack.  Then there are some very fine acting performances, notably from Catherine Deneuve and Vincent Peréz.  Deneuve is particularly on form in this film, demonstrating great versality and emotional range, perhaps more so than in any of her other films.

However, on the minus side, the content is noticeably lacking and the plot does stretch credulity to its limit in more than a few places.  The conversion of Peréz’s character from a cold-hearted cynical French officer to a sympathetic character prepared to give up everything for a local girl is unconvincing to say the least.  Camille’s eagerness to abandon her child towards the end of the film is even more unbelievable and little attempt is made to rationalise her behaviour.

It is never clear whether the film is pro- or ante- the French occupation of Indochine, and it probably suffers as a result of that ambiguity.  In fact it is the non-commital nature of the film which is probably its biggest flaw.  The viewer does not necessarily have to agree with a stance the director or writer has taken, but a stance should have been made more clearly, if only to add some substance to the motivation of the main characters.

© James Travers 2000

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