Cyclo
by Anh Hung Tran
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Hoang Phuc Nguyen, Le Van Loc, Nhu Quynh Nguyen, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tran Nu Yên-KhêDirector: Anh Hung Tran
Cinematographer: Benoît Delhomme
Cinematographer: Laurence Trémolet
Writer: Anh Hung Tran
Editor: Claude Ronzeau
Producer: Adeline Lecallier
Producer: Alain Rocca
Producer: Christophe Rossignon
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Vietnamese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Yorker Video
Movie Reviews of Cyclo
Movie Review: An Elegy for Elegies
Summary: 5 Stars
Tran Anh Hung seems to have developed some edge. Gone is the elegy to and organic and pastoral and with Cyclo we are transported to grittier space - that space where we have lost our innocence. The causeways of Ho Chi Minh City are a metaphor for that sense loss of innocence in Cyclo. From the director of The Scent of Green Papaya gone is the pastoral elegy we have grown to love. In a way it is, it a way it is not a departure from the aesthetic lyricism of both The Scent of Green Papaya and The Vertical Ray of the Sun. The movie is violent, disjointed, convoluted, and it is nothing short of a representation of the strong, seductive pull of desperation.
According to this rendition in Vietnam, a cyclo is a pedicab driver. A crucial member of society - the one that keeps the metropolis moving, the cyclo inhabits the lowest levels of the social order. The cyclo not only endures the horrendous physical deterioration for miniscule pay but he also fears for his life being threatened by gangs and turf wars. In Tran's multifaceted movie the protagonist is an 18-year-old never do well, acted by Le Van Loc. The cyclo loses both parents and finds himself subject to the whims of the Madam, the underworld boss lady acted by Nguyen Nhu Quynh. Almost as if on purpose - in an effort to trap him, the cyclo's bicycle is stolen. In order to pay back the loss, the Madam forces him to work - with of all people Tony Leung Chiu Wai of Wong Kar-wai fame - who plays the Poet, making the cyclo her prisoner. A sympathetic thug, the Poet recites his poetry in voice-over. The Poet, although he does not really say much throughout the movie is a pivotal character who introduces the cyclo to the foundations of crime. The Poet is also, ironically, the lover of the cyclo's sister - the stunning Tran Nu Yen-Khe.
In an effort to effect some form of analysis, Cyclo is narrated though the perspective of a young man's trying to survive the mean streets of Ho Chi Minh City. Tran builds - or tries to build - a sense of mystery. I think it is amazing, this departure, the movie is less lyrical, less pastoral - we are subjected to a dreamscape of hallucinatory imagery and crisp editing reminiscent of Wong Kar-wai. The impact is a surrealism that we have not seem before - in a way showing us that Tran has range and is willing to take risk. Tran allows his camera from time to time to do what he does best - long master shots - we escape the slatted doors and look over the battered buildings unfinished edges into at the frenzied and apathetic metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City. It's a powerful tool for portraying the cyclo's segregation and sense of anomie. Tran once again goes inside the man's mind and we his sordid world through his perspective. Once again, like The Scent of Green Papaya - we hear the ever present looming sounds of helicopter propellers - giving the mean street an even greater edge. Tran's dystopia is unnerving, edgy, and risky yet somehow we know we are watching a deeply metaphoric Tran film.
Disturbingly, towards the finale, the cyclo begins to feel a sense of empowerment. He discovers the use of a handgun. There was hidden social commentary all over the place. The film includes an exploration of the confluence of drugs, liquor, easy money, and crime that permeated most of the scenes including the cyclo. The cyclo pulls a pseudo Apocalypse Now scene as he slathers blue paint on himself and in Tran form destroys the fish tank. My only hope is that he takes care of the animals in these movies the way Kim Ki-duk does with his players. My sense is that the cyclo's descent to hell is paved in Krishna blue rather than the cliché blood red. For certain - what with The Scent of Green Papaya and The Vertical Ray of the Sun, Tran has a penchant for at time graphic but more time subtle imagery, even when his meanings are ambiguous. As mentioned previously, Cyclo is a departure from the lyrical The Scent of Green Papaya as well as The Vertical Ray of the Sun. Think of it as sign of Tran's spirit of adventure and faith in his audience's aptitude to bend to the multifaceted, psychologically difficult films he produces.
Miguel Llora
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