The film Indochine presents interesting insight into the life of the Vietnamese during the French occupation of Vietnam. The film centers around Eliane who is a wealthy rubber plantation owner. I think that she represents the mindset and attitude of the French occupants. She was very wealthy and powerful. I think she saw the Vietnamese people as inferior, as we can see by her treatment of them. Like the French, she did not respect them as equals and used them as slaves without a second thought about their well being. She used them to become wealthy and better position herself in life. The Vietnamese, however, worked long hours doing difficult tasks and still lived in poverty. Overall Eliane's attitude was similar to the attitude of the French because she prospered off these poor people without a second thought about how it was effecting their culture and lifestyle.
If Eliane represents France I think her adopted daughter Camille represents Vietnam. For most of her life she remained sheltered and happy under the protection of Eliane (France). Then she met Jean-Baptiste, however. I think Jean-Baptiste could represent communism. After Camille was injured and saved by Baptiste she could not resist falling instantly in love with him. After she became attracted to him she started seeing life in a new perspective. She was no longer sheltered by her rich mother and went out to see the world. In the real world she saw the cruel acts that the French were committing to her friends for no good reason. I think Camilles mindset reverses and she starts sympathising with the movement for Independence. She starts seeing the liberty that Communism can grant her country. When she finally kills the French soldier it symbolises her loss of innocence and how she forcefully cuts ties with the occupationalist French government. Then her son which is born from a French and Vietnamese couple represents South Vietnam which is innocent and is not turned to communism. They are of the same descent but still radically different people.
I think the film definitely takes the side of the Vietnamese. It shows the cruel acts of the French. Eliane whips her workers and treats them very unfairly. Jean-Baptiste lights the boat of the Vietnamese boy and father on fire because he suspects them to have Opium. Finally the French soldier kills the Vietnamese family because he says they tried to "start a rebellion". Overall the treatment of the Vietnamese by the French was harsh and unnecessary. The film is shown in such a way that the viewer can even sympathise with Vietnam's choice to pursue Communism because it was clearly preferable to the harsh rule of the French.
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The film Indochine presents interesting insight into the life of the Vietnamese during the French occupation of Vietnam. The film centers around Eliane who is a wealthy rubber plantation owner. I think that she represents the mindset and attitude of the French occupants. She was very wealthy and powerful. I think she saw the Vietnamese people as inferior, which can be seen by her treatment of them. Like the French, she did not respect them as equals and used them as slaves without any thoughts about their well being. She used them to become wealthy and better position herself in life. The Vietnamese, however, worked long hours doing difficult tasks, and they still lived in poverty. Overall Eliane's attitude was similar to the attitude of the French because she prospered off these poor people without a second thought about how it was effecting their culture and lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteIf Eliane represents France I think her adopted daughter Camille represents Vietnam. For most of her life Camille remained sheltered and happy under the protection of Eliane (France). Then she met Jean-Baptiste, who I think represent's communism. After Camille was injured and saved by Baptiste she could not resist falling instantly in love with him. After she became attracted to him she started seeing life in a new perspective. She was no longer sheltered by her rich mother and went out to see the world. In the world around her. she saw the cruel acts that the French were committing to her Vietnamese friends. I think Camilles mindset reverses and she starts sympathizing with the movement for Independence. She starts seeing the liberty that Communism can grant her country. When she finally kills the French soldier it symbolizes her loss of innocence and how she forcefully cuts ties with the occupationalist French government. Then her son which is born from a French and Vietnamese couple represents South Vietnam which is an innocent body unaffected by communism. They are of the same descent but still radically different people.
I think the film definitely takes the side of the Vietnamese. It shows the cruel acts of the French. Eliane whips her workers and treats them very unfairly. Jean-Baptiste lights the boat of the Vietnamese boy and father on fire because he suspects them to have Opium. Finally the French soldier overreacts and kills the Vietnamese family because he says they tried to "start a rebellion". Overall the treatment of the Vietnamese by the French was harsh and unnecessary. The film is shown in such a way that the viewer can even sympathize with Vietnam's choice to pursue Communism because it was clearly preferable to the harsh rule of the French.