Catherine Deneuve is the aristocratic owner of one of the largest rubber plantations in French Indochina. She has adopted Linh-Dan Pham, added her dead parents' plantation to her own, and loves her dearly. But when they fall in love with the same man, conflicts arise.
It has Catherine Deneuve, which is a major plus to any movie. However, this Oscar-bait movie, which won the following year's Best Foreign Movie award, looks hollow on re-examination. It hits all the marks on cinematic beauty and opulence, along with an almost obligatory self-castigation of the policy of French governments by men long gone, as if director Régis Wargnier had gone through a careful analysis of what the award-winner should look like, and had stuck to that in production. As a result, its 160-minute length becomes tiresome and monotonous well before the movie ends. I could get through it only by looking at it in sections. Always watchable, never compelling, always disapproving, never positive, it certainly can be watched, but never with any pleasur, except for the sour satisfaction of knowing we are oh, so, right now, and they were oh, so wrong then.
It has Catherine Deneuve, which is a major plus to any movie. However, this Oscar-bait movie, which won the following year's Best Foreign Movie award, looks hollow on re-examination. It hits all the marks on cinematic beauty and opulence, along with an almost obligatory self-castigation of the policy of French governments by men long gone, as if director Régis Wargnier had gone through a careful analysis of what the award-winner should look like, and had stuck to that in production. As a result, its 160-minute length becomes tiresome and monotonous well before the movie ends. I could get through it only by looking at it in sections. Always watchable, never compelling, always disapproving, never positive, it certainly can be watched, but never with any pleasur, except for the sour satisfaction of knowing we are oh, so, right now, and they were oh, so wrong then.