Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Blog 4

The film Indochine brings shows us the large cultural divide and struggle between the French and the communist Vietnamese in French Indochina. the film is set in the days when French colonial imperialism ruled the country. The story follows the lives of a wealthy French rubber plantation owner, Elaine Devries, and her adopted Vietnamese daughter Camille.
Camille is raised in the French household but from a young age it is decided that she will marry in tradition and marry a Vietnamese man. She decides to go against this forced marriage and follows an French Naval Officer, Jean- Baptiste, to another station. Her and Jean- Baptiste have a child together but soon after, while out on the town with the boy, Jean is arrested and shot. Camille begins a journey through the country to find Jean- Baptiste. Throughout her journey we see the her native self come through the french covering that was created during her upbringing. as she travels through the countryside she starts to realize that she is better off siding with her people and communism.

We see the differences between the two peoples revealed in this film. The two characters, mother and daughter portray their respective people. Elaine is the proper, high class french woman, and even though she starts the movie as the young adopted daughter, we clearly see the vietnamese in her. In the end, when the country becomes independent from the french, we see Camille forget the family she once knew and follow the ways of communism.

1 comment:

  1. The film Indochine brings shows us the large cultural divide and struggle between the French and the communist Vietnamese in French Indochina. the film is set in the days when French colonial imperialism ruled the country. The story follows the lives of a wealthy French rubber plantation owner, Elaine Devries, and her adopted Vietnamese daughter Camille.
    Camille is raised in the French household but from a young age it is decided that she will marry in tradition and marry a Vietnamese man. She decides to go against this forced marriage and follows an French Naval Officer, Jean- Baptiste, to another station. Her and Jean- Baptiste have a child together but soon after, while out on the town with the boy, Jean is arrested and shot. Camille begins a journey through the country to find Jean- Baptiste. Throughout her journey we see the her native self come through the french covering that was created during her upbringing. as she travels through the countryside she starts to realize that she is better off siding with her people and communism.The symbolism of Camille's growth throughout the film shows the growth and independence of the Vietnam people.
    This film really shows how the French treated the Vietnamese people in those times. The French were brutal. The Vietnamese people were treated as slaves in their own country. We see Camille as a slave or servant in the beginning and her rise to become an independent woman.
    We see the differences between the two peoples revealed in this film. The two characters, mother and daughter portray their respective people. Elaine is the proper, high class french woman, and even though she starts the movie as the young adopted daughter, we clearly see the native vietnamese in her. In the end, when the country becomes independent from the french, we see Camille forget the family she once knew and follow the ways of communism.

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