Blog 4 - Indochine

Indochine is a film that attempts to show us the dynamic of the relationship between the French and the Vietnamese during the time of the occupation. The movie centers around Elaine, a french woman who owns a rubber plantation in Vietnam. Also playing a large part in the film is Camille, a Vietnamese girl adopted by Elaine. The actions of these two characters are symbolic of the actions of the French and Vietnamese at this time of French occupation.

Elaine symbolizes the French rule over Vietnam. She rules over them with great rigidity and little sympathy. Elaine beats a Vietnamese man in one scene for trying to escape from the plantation. This is just how the French treated the Vietnamese during this time, refusing to let them free and punishing them for trying. Also, Elaine says that the workers are like her children, and she doesnt want to hurt them. This is also representative of how the French thought they were better and smarter than the Vietnamese, and how France claimed they had the best intentions for the Vietnamese people when they actually did not. The character of Elaine is meant to portray the smothering overseer that was France during their occupation of Vietnam.

Camille symbolizes a maturing Vietnam that realizes it wants to be free. Camille was adopted by Elaine at a young age and was thrown into higher society. She was isolated from the majority of Vietnam, only knowing her small slice of life as reality. Camille ends up falling for Elaine's lover and runs away from her home. Away from her home, she realizes what the rest of Vietnam lives like and sees the oppression of the Vietnamese by the French. This motivates her to end up pursuing a life of fighting for communism, and therefore freedom, instead of living her life in the higher French class. Camille embodies the Vietnamese desire for freedom through the medium of communism.

The film sympathizes with the Vietnamese, portraying the innocence of the Vietnamese and highlighting the negative aspects of the French. Indochine shows Elaine ruling over her Vietnamese workers with an iron fist. It shows French domination and abuse of power. This leads the viewer to sympathize with the Vietnamese also. I would not necessarily say that the movie takes the side of communism, though. The film promotes Vietnamese freedom, communism just happens to be the vehicle. Overall, this film focuses on the French abuse of the Vietnamese, and shows the Vietnamese struggle for independence.