Indochine

Set in French-ruled Vietnam during the 1930s, Indochine centres on Eliane Devries, a wealthy French rubber plantation owner who has long lived a guarded, unmarried life. Her closest bond is with Camille, the adopted Vietnamese daughter she has raised. Their world is unsettled by Jean-Baptiste Le Guen, a young naval officer newly posted to Saigon, with whom Eliane begins a passionate affair. Camille, meanwhile, has been promised in marriage to a cousin, Tanh, and the arrival of the officer complicates the household further. As communist-led unrest spreads against colonial rule, the private loyalties of the three main characters become entangled with the wider upheaval around them.

The film was directed by Régis Wargnier, who wrote the screenplay with Erik Orsenna and Louis Gardel. It was his first feature, preceding East/West (1999) and Redress (2025) in his directing career. Catherine Deneuve leads the cast as Eliane, with Vincent Perez as Jean-Baptiste, Linh-Dan Pham as Camille, Jean Yanne as the security director Guy Asselin, and Dominique Blanc and Alain Fromager in supporting roles.

Indochine runs 159 minutes and was produced across Vietnam, Malaysia and France with backing from Canal+, TF1 Films Production, CNC and Paradis Films. It took about 30 million dollars worldwide, a strong result that suggests it reached audiences well beyond France. On IMDb it holds 7/10 from roughly 12,000 votes, and on TMDB 7/10 from around 242 votes. A critics' rating of 6.5/10 from 19 reviews is lower than both audience scores.