Blog 4

In Wargnier’s film, Indochine, Eliane, the owner of a rubber plantation, embodies France during the occupation of Indochina. Eliane presents herself as royalty while amongst the workers on the plantation, also shown in the way she treats the workers. She thinks of them as her children, but she beats them and is often cruel. In one scene, Eliane beats a worker for trying to leave the plantation. Despite this cruel punishment, she proclaims that she sees them as her children by saying she does not like to beat her children. These acts embody the French colonization of Indochina in the way that Elaine acts and treats the Vietnamese people. Just as Eliane was oppressive of her workers, treating them cruelly, so too were the French during their occupation in Indochina. The French occupation can be seen in a more literal sense in the way the Vietnamese people dress and other cultural implications, such as music. In many ways, Eliane’s life represents the French control over Indochina during the time.

Eliane adopts a Vietnamese girl named Camille, that the viewer watches develop throughout the film, who begins to represent communism. Camille falls in love with Jean Baptiste, Eliane’s lover. Eliane has Jean Baptiste sent away to a remote island, forcing Camille to run away. While traveling with another family, Camille sees how the people of Vietnam live, giving the viewer a different perspective, separate from what is seen on the plantation and with Eliane. Camille begins to feel sympathetic for the people of the country and also becomes frustrated with the situation Jean Baptiste is in. This causes Camille to support the communist movement when she began opposing the society she was brought up in.

Eliane’s life embodies the French struggle in French Vietnam. Eliane’s life begins to spin out of control as her power is lost. Her struggle can be seen in the way she tries to cope with her problems by frequently visiting the opium den. The loss of her power and control can be scene when her lover leaves her for Camille, her daughter, and when Camille runs away and begins to support communism. Her loss of control as a mother symbolizes France’s loss of control as a nation in Indochina. Just as the French control over Indochina fell apart, so too did Eliane’s life collapse. The film shows the impact that the French occupation of Indochina had on both the people of the country and the French. The French struggle is shown through Elaine whose life falls apart. The director used her character to help to demonstrate the ramifications of the occupation. The film showed how the native people could come to support the communist movement and the oppression that was alive during the time.