Xích Lô (1995)
Genre: Crime / Drama
Duration: 120 minuten
Alternative title: Cyclo
Country:
Vietnam / France / Hong-Kong
Directed by: Tran Anh Hung
Stars: Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Nu Yên-Khê Tran
IMDb score:
7,1 (5.908)
Releasedate: 22 March 1996
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Xích Lô plot
An eighteen-year-old orphan finds a job as the driver of a cyclo (bicycle taxi). He therefore belongs to one of the lowest castes in society. When he is also brutally robbed of his vehicle by a gang, his boss does not thank him. She forces him to perform criminal activities for her in return. To this end, he is included in the gangs of 'the poet'. And that means being isolated in an extremely violent, hallucinatory environment....
Actors and actresses
Cyclo
Poet
Madam
Tooth
Knife
Happy Woman
Sad Woman
Crazy Son
Cyclo's Friend
Grandfather
Reviews & comments
Insignificance
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- 3220 messages
- 5589 votes
Where you can sometimes encounter a helicopter on the street and when Radiohead was still a great band. Dull misery in sweaty, crowded streets, dilapidated lofts that pass for housing and a world where the weakest of society are exploited without mercy or whatever. And more. Not that Tran tells an overly coherent story, but it doesn't have to. The power of his images speaks for itself most of the time.
It appeals less to me if he communicates in a different way. Leung has a fascinating role, but also a somewhat repetitive one, and when Tran throws his poetry into the film in spoken and sung words, I don't like it significantly. Give me the visual. I must have missed some symbolism, but rather something like that with the mud, the aquarium or the blue paint than a song or a voice over. A bitter beech nonetheless.
Translated from Dutch · View original
DVD-T
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- 15565 messages
- 3129 votes
What a raw and realistic picture Tran Anh Hung paints here.
A fantastically told story about poor people who try to earn a little bit of money in every possible way and go very far. On the other hand, there are also exploiters who make money from people who already have nothing. All this is portrayed quite melancholy, it doesn't always make it easy, but it is so sincere. Story has some great twists and situations. The setting is also great. The heat, the busy main roads where there are perhaps even more cyclists than in the Netherlands, the small alleys and slums, the dilapidated apartments/houses. Everything is done to get you into the film as best as possible. And that worked out well. It is almost hypnotic, which is also partly because it is a bit slow. Very nicely done.
Visually it is at times very beautiful. Moments that have been mentioned before are of course the moment with the blue paint and the aquarium. The mass shots are also very nicely portrayed. The use of color is very nice. Music, sometimes beautiful, sometimes it doesn't work quite right and just doesn't seem to fit what's going on on the screen.
Acting is very nice. Tony Leung Chiu Wai plays great again. I've actually never seen a bad performance from the man. But Le Van Loc is also very strong. The one who steals the show is Tran Nu Yên-Khê, fantastic game.
I sometimes missed that little bit more impact in scenes that really matter. But otherwise Cyclo is a very beautiful, realistic, raw film.
Translated from Dutch · View original
SmackItUp
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- 3505 messages
- 2648 votes
Atmospheric video.
I have no idea whether this film is a model for Tran's other films since this is the first film I see of him, but it is special. Vietnam vapes, steals, smokes and is silent. The film has a great atmosphere. Some scenes are also beautiful to behold. For example, consider the entire scene with the aquarium. Huge eye for detail.
The downside is that it gets a bit messy at times. For every beautiful scene there is at least one boring one. All in all, certainly adequate, but no more than that.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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