Cyclo (film)
Cyclo | |
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Trần Anh Hùng | |
Written by | Tran Anh Hung |
Produced by | Christophe Rossignon |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Tôn-Thât Tiêt |
Distributed by | New Yorker Video (Region 1 DVD) Gaumont (Region 2 DVD) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
Countries | Vietnam[1] France[1] |
Language | Vietnamese |
Cyclo (
The film is considered hard to understand because of abstract and wordless communication. However, in a review, Janet Maslin asserted that this style, which is typical of the film director, makes the movie more memorable and successful.[2] The film won the Golden Lion at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival.[3]
Plot
The movie is about an 18-year-old who has been orphaned after his cyclo driver father died in collision with a truck. The father's desire was that the son would have a better life than he had but, because of family hardship, the boy has to take over his father's job, pedaling a cyclo taxi around the busy streets of Ho Chi Minh City. He lives in a small house, with his old grandfather, who repairs tires despite of his failing health, his little sister, who shines shoes for local restaurant customers, and his older sister, who carries water at a local market.
Their poor but peaceful lives are jeopardized when the cyclo is stolen by a gang. Having no money to pay his employer for the robbed cyclo, the boy is forced to join a criminal organization under the supervision of a brooding gang leader, who is also a poet.
His older sister also comes under the influence of the poet and becomes a prostitute. They develop feelings for each other and she visits his house where he is beaten by his father, furious about the profession he has taken. The poet brings the cyclo driver to "Mr. Lullaby," who slits a victim's throat while singing a lullaby.
Ho Chi Minh City is hit by a gang war. The cyclo driver, unseen, blinds one eye of the man who stole his cyclo. He visits his employer to pay part of his debt, but she refuses and becomes busy with her mentally disabled son who has covered himself with yellow paint.
The poet assigns the cyclo driver the job of murdering a man. His two accomplices give him a gun and teach him how to kill their intended target. They also hand him a bottle of pills to reduce his anxiety but warn him not to take too many. The poet and the cyclo driver's sister visit his childhood place. He leaves her in a nightclub with a client, who abuses her. The man offers compensation to the poet, but the poet kills him and later himself by setting fire to his room.
Meanwhile, the employer's son is fatally hit by a truck. The cyclo driver gets drunk and takes two of the pills. He becomes hallucinatory in the flat where he has been forced to stay. Failing to carry out the job of killing the man, he covers himself with blue paint and then due to the hallucinations he mistakenly shoots himself twice. The next morning, gang members find him badly injured. The lady spares his life despite his failure because he reminds her of her deceased son and releases him from the gang. The cyclo driver, still contemplating the memory of his father, drives his cyclo with his grandfather and sisters down a crowded road.
Cast
- Lê Văn Lộc as the cyclo, a cyclo driver
- Tony Leung Chiu Waias the poet
- Trần Nữ Yên Khêas the elder sister of the cyclo
- Nguyen Nhu Quynhas the lady of the cyclo business
Soundtrack
The film
- Nắng Chiều - Sung and played by handicapped street performers.
- Ru Con (Lullaby) sung by Lullaby Man.
- Thằng Bờm (Little Bờm)- Sung by Sad Woman to Crazy Son. Transliteration and translation.
- Em ơi, Hà Nội phố - Sung by Thanh Lam (the lounge singer).
- Creep by Radiohead - Playing in dance club.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[5]
Awards
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Film Fest Gent | October 10–21, 1995 | Georges Delerue Prize | Tôn-Thất Tiết | Won | [6] |
Grand Prix for Best Film | Trần Anh Hùng | Won | |||
Venice Film Festival | August 30–September 9, 1995 | Golden Lion | Won | [7] | |
Fipresci Award | Won | [8] |
See also
- Bicycle Thieves, 1948 Italian film about a poor working class man searching for his stolen bicycle.
References
- ^ a b "CYCLO (1995)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- ISBN 978-1-903364-67-3.
- ^ "Cyclo". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Cyclo". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- Film Fest Ghent. Archivedfrom the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ "Venice Film Festival - History 1932-2022". Venice Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ Rooney, David (September 18, 1995). "Venice Fest Goes 'Cyclo'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
External links
- Cyclo at IMDb
- Cyclo at AllMovie
- Cyclo at Rotten Tomatoes