Movie · 1992 · Drama, Romance · 2h 39m · PG-13 · French
Curator score: 4.5/10 (19.5K ratings)
A great film from a mysterious world
Overview
In colonial Vietnam, dashing French naval captain Jean-Baptiste, wealthy plantation owner Éliane Devries, and her adopted Vietnamese daughter Camillevare the three points of a cross-cultural romantic triangle. As the struggle against European imperialism sweeps Indochina, Jean-Baptiste and Camille have to choose sides and Éliane faces the emotionally difficult challenge of raising the child of her daughter and ex-lover.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.5/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.41/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 74%
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Régis Wargnier
Production
Bac Films, Paradis Films, Orly Films, La Générale d'Images, TF1 Films Production, Ciné Cinq
Cast
Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh-Dan Pham, Jean Yanne, Dominique Blanc, Alain Fromager, Eric Nguyen, Jean-Baptiste Huynh, Henri Marteau, Carlo Brandt, Gérard Lartigau, Hubert Saint-Macary, Andrzej Seweryn, Mai Chau, Chu Hùng, Thibault de Montalembert, Thinh Trinh, Thi Hoe Tranh Huu Trieu, Michel Voïta, Ngo Quang Hai
Where to watch
fuboTV
Curator Review
Verdict
A lush, old-school colonial melodrama with strong performances, striking production value, and a sweeping sense of historical upheaval. It’s worth watching if you want romantic tragedy and prestige-period spectacle, but its colonial perspective and tendency to center French characters can make it feel dated and ethically fraught.
Best for
viewers who enjoy expansive historical melodramas
fans of prestige period romance with political backdrop
people interested in colonial-era cinema and its limitations
audiences who value rich visuals, costumes, and score
Skip if
you want a clearly anti-colonial point of view
you’re sensitive to imperialist or paternalistic storytelling
you prefer lean, modern pacing
you dislike romances built around privilege and emotional manipulation
Overview
Indochine is a grand, polished melodrama that treats French colonial Vietnam as both a love triangle and a collapsing empire. The film’s appeal is obvious: elegant framing, lavish settings, and Catherine Deneuve’s icy command give it the scale of a classic studio epic, even when the emotional dynamics are deliberately operatic and cruel.
Worth noting
What keeps it from being an easy recommendation is the perspective. The film does show the violence and hypocrisy of colonial rule, but it also filters much of that history through European desire, guilt, and self-mythology. That tension can be productive if you’re interested in how prestige cinema handles empire, but frustrating if you want the Vietnamese characters and politics to be fully centered.
Bottom line
As a romance, it’s emotionally manipulative in the best and worst ways: beautiful, doomed, and often infuriating. As a historical drama, it’s handsome and serious, but also very much a product of its era in how it imagines race, class, and “civilization.”
Top Letterboxd reviews
genevieve (2.5★) · 166 likes
omg they let that mf stand outside in the rain while they fucked in his car....... rich people stink so bad
Sara Clements (3.5★) · 145 likes
i honestly can't believe that catherine deneuve is a person that exists it blows my mind
Chris 🍉 (0.5★) · 118 likes
the fact that this was made as recently as 1992 and even won an oscar says so much about how whites/europeans used to and continue to feel about non-white people (asian people as 'exotic')... "yeah i whip and overwork my coolies but look at me take care of this child :) im the savior of these primitive indo-chinese :)"... also love the inclusion of the explicitly racist Castellani to make the rest of the French seem better
M3L0DY (4.5★) · 116 likes
French Scarlett O'Hara in Vietnam checks her white privilege
big nut (2★) · 89 likes
imagine telling your mom that you're in love with a dude that she'd been fucking like a few months ago