Indochine (film)
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| Indochine | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Régis Wargnier |
| Produced by | Eric Heumann Jean Labadie |
| Written by | Erik Orsenna Louis Gardel Catherine Cohen Régis Wargnier |
| Starring | Catherine Deneuve Vincent Perez |
| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
| Cinematography | François Catonné |
| Editing by | Agnès Schwab Geneviève Winding |
| Distributed by | Bac Films (France) Sony Pictures Classics (USA) Roissy Films (worldwide sales) |
| Release date(s) | |
| Running time | 148 min. |
| Language | French Vietnamese |
| IMDb profile | |
Indochine is an 1992 Academy Award winning French film that tells the story of a young Indochinese woman named Camille. The title refers to the colony of French Indochina, of which modern Vietnam was once a part. The screenplay was written by Erik Orsenna, Louis Gardel, Catherine Cohen and Régis Wargnier. It was directed by Wargnier. It stars Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham, Jean Yanne and Dominique Blanc.
The movie begins as Camille, a young girl from an Annamese aristocratic family, is adopted by Eliane Devries after her parents die. Perhaps as a consequence of the adoption, Madame Devries owns and runs a large rubber plantation that employs indentured laborers, and where she raises Camille as her daughter. Madame Devries meets and has an affair with a French Navy officer Jean-Baptiste. In an accident, a French police officer almost kills Camille, and she is rescued by Jean-Baptiste and she too falls in love with him. Madame Devries has Jean-Baptiste sent away to protect Camille from being hurt.
Camille goes through with an arranged marriage to Tanh, a young man who was studying in France and supports the Communists. After one day of marriage, Tanh allows Camille to leave and look for Jean-Baptiste up north. Camille travels with a Vietnamese family, and reaches the island where Jean-Baptiste is. The island is being used as a slave market, and Camille ends up shooting a French officer when Jean-Baptiste tries to take her away.
Camille and Jean-Baptiste sail away to a secret cave and are rescued by the Communists. Tanh arranges to smuggle the two lovers into China with a Communist theatre troupe. One day when baptizing their new son Etienne alone, Jean-Baptiste and Etienne are captured by the French. Madame Devries takes Etienne, but Jean-Baptiste is murdered by French agents because he knows too much.
Camille is captured and sent to prison. She is later released but, rather than return home to her mother and son, she resolves to fight for her country's independence.
Years later Madame Devries and Etienne return to France. Etienne, now grown up, gets a chance to meet his natural mother, Camille, who is part of the Geneva Conference which will bring about Vietnamese independence. However, Etienne does not meet Camille because he sees Madame Devries as his mother since she raised him.
- Catherine Deneuve as Eliane
- Linh Dan Pham as Camille
- Vincent Perez as Jean-Baptiste
- Jean Yanne as Guy
- Dominique Blanc as Yvette
- Henri Marteau as Emile
- Carlo Brandt as Castellani
- Gerard Lartigau as The Admiral
- Hubert Saint-Macary as Raymond
- Andrzej Seweryn as Hebrard
The movie won the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Catherine Deneuve received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mediterraneo |
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1992 |
Succeeded by Belle Époque |
| Preceded by Europa Europa |
Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film 1993 |
Succeeded by Farewell My Concubine |