Review of Indochine (1992) by Tanya D — 04 Feb 2010

It's difficult indeed to describe this film without using the term "sumptuous" many times over. Set in the dog days of the decaying French Empire and finishing with the Geneva summit that split Vietnam into 2 separate countries, the decadence is tangible as Catherine Deneuve performs the full range of Gallic gestures, ultimately sacrificing her interests in a stiff upper lip style that would greatly impress the France's colonial rivals, the British.

That said, the star of the show is the Vietnamese scenery - with Ha Long Bay's picturesque islets and peaks dominating the latter two thirds of the film. There are a host of richly drawn characters including an incandescent Corsican official forced to give up the hunt for the film's two lovers and a grossly bearded petty colonial official whom Deneuve has rejected as a lover.