"Indochine" is an epic tale, a big, long (2 1/2 hours) sprawling story of a French woman and her adopted Indochinese daughter, set largely during the 1930s against the backdrop of French-occupied Indochina (which later became Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia).
As the film begins, we meet Eliane (Catherine Deneuve), a Frenchwoman who has never been to France. She was born in Indochina to a wealthy rubber plantation owner, and she is a strong feminist who is well ahead of her time.
Eliane is also rather condescending to "her children," the Indochinese workers on her plantation, and is not above whipping them for infractions. But she also has her adopted Indochinese daughter, Camille (Linh Dan Pham), who is of royal descent. Eliane took Camille in when the girl's parents died in an accident.
As the film begins in earnest, Camille is young and naive — and very close to her adoptive mother. But later she will take up with a French naval officer and literally head for the hills, becoming a leader in the revolution and finding herself a legendary figure who will be used as propaganda to inspire her peers.
"Indochine" should be about how Camille and Eliane are changed by this experience, possibly as a metaphor for changing Indochina. But as with many films of this type, the focus is too much on the French and not enough on the Indochinese.
The cinematography is gorgeous and there are lots of beautiful shots — of both the landscape and the cast. But there is little emotional connection, which is essential in a movie that aspires to be take an epic view.
The concentration instead is on soap opera plotting that gets pretty sappy sometimes, as well as thick, torpid dialogue.
There's no question that only an actress of Deneuve's stature could carry something like this off and retain her dignity — much less get an Oscar nomination for it. But she is good.
In fact, in this case — and despite her being absent from a good deal of the second half — Deneuve is the film. Her fans will certainly want to see it, even if they find the overall effect less than satisfying.
After all, it's been awhile since American audiences have been treated to a Deneuve movie. And who knows when the next one will come along?
"Indochine" is rated PG-13 (though an R might be more appropriate) for violence, sex, nudity, profanity and drugs.