Review of Indochine (1992) by Phil P — 27 Jan 2010

Thankfully, the scenery is breathtaking, and the dynamic socio-political setting, however inaccurate historically, carries the story along.

I can only assume that people giving high ratings to this film read the original story and filled in the countless gaps from memory. Catherine Deneuve and a couple other leads work miracles by creating some semblance of character out of thin air. Every supposed romantic relationship is a surreal surprise. Sometimes ending before we're given reason to feel they had begun. The twists & turns of the characters are arbitrary and incomprehensible. How can a film be described as a romance when development of relationships is virtually nonexistent. Despite a running time of 2.6 hrs, plus a voice-over narration (late addition to prop up an unintelligible early draft?), the film is a maze of gaps and non sequiturs.

Did feuds between writers or directors mangle the script? Perhaps the gaps are due to a vengeful editor, who carefully cut & destroyed key development scenes. -The gaps are too complete to be accidental. Itâ??s amusing to read various reviews and note the ubiquitous contradictory descriptions of relationships and character motivation. Itâ??s not due to distracted viewing or poor notes- we simply have no choice but to puzzle and imagine for ourselves.

Oddly, the chief of police is alone in being a well developed and believable character. Although mad, mouthing dialogue and taking actions explicitly contradicted by other parts of the film, Deneuve somehow manages to be believable. The others characters are just mad.