WTF ASIA: Cyclo
NAM!!!!
Cyclo is the second movie by Tran Ahn Hung, who also did that beautiful slideshow of a French soundstage called Scent of Green Papaya. This time, the French director, his wife, and his music composer actually go to Vietnam to portray a sensual and somewhat impressionistic slice of misery about the lives of two siblings as they enter the criminal world.
This movie focuses on three characters without names: Cyclo, Sister, and Poet. Cyclo ferries people around in a pedicab, Sister is his older sister, and Poet recites poetry…sometimes. Cyclo is in this line of work in order to help provide for his family after the death of his father, but part of the money goes to paying off rent of the pedicab to his “Boss Lady’. The city streets are tough, and Cyclo must be careful to avoid straying into the territory of rival pedicab drivers. Sister works at a restaurant and their grandfather pumps tires, but neither of these jobs is ideal either.
One day, Cyclo’ pedicab gets stolen and when he runs after the thieves, they beat him up right there on the street. No one steps in to stop them. No one stops. Boss Lady, who dotes on her mentally retarded son, is pretty unsympathetic to Cyclo’s plight. It turns out that the people who stole his pedicab actually worked for the Boss Lady. It is too late for him to do much about it as she has assigned him to another gang, led by Poet, who pretty much trap him in an apartment while waiting for further instructions. While he technically can leave the apartment at any time, he still owes Boss Lady for the stolen pedicab, even though she herself most likely had it stolen from him. So, he is trapped, let out only to buy food and do dirty work for Boss Lady and the gang. It is not long before he sinks further into the world of crime, sometimes by force, but sometimes voluntarily.
Sister comes to Poet’s office, probably assigned by Boss Lady to be a prostitute after the Cyclo theft. The two seem to know each other already, but it is unclear how or for how long. Apparently, out of respect to her reluctance to take part in all of this, and her most likely being a virgin, Poet restricts her clientele to those with mild fetishes, like pee watchers (there were two scenes involving a little boy peeing in Scent of Green Papaya, by the way) and foot powderers. The two form sort of a relationship and he even takes her to visit his parents. His mother seems to like her, while his father is more concerned with beating him senseless, enraged at his line of work and his bringing one of his prostitutes home. Scenes like these demonstrate that Poet, ruthless and stoic as he may be, still has elements of fragility. Meanwhile, though Sister cries during her first session, she becomes more comfortable (or better at masking her misery) later on. She also begins to bond with Poet’s other two prostitutes.
Poet watches as Cyclo and Sister learn to develop thicker skin in order to survive. As the siblings gradually shed their innocence, he slowly beings to unravel. It is implied that he refuses to have sex with Sister, but has little reservations about doing so with his other prostitutes. He is also extremely upset when Cyclo asks to officially join the gang. Is he seeing part of his own past in what they are going through? Was he also an innocent once, forced and seduced into the life of a gangster? Is he revisiting the pain of that loss? What has this city done to these two to take them down their paths? What has he done to them to turn them into what they are becoming? He might be able to slow down their descent a little, but he cannot stop them, let alone turn them around. It actually makes him a little sick.
It is notable that Poet is played by Hong Kong star Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who doesn’t know a lick of Vietnamese and probably had to learn all of his lines phonetically. Most of his lines are the poems that he recites in voiceovers. I know that there are (or were before the Communist Takeover) a lot of ethnically Chinese people living in Vietnam, but Poet does not really seem to be one of those people. The only reason I can think of for him to be in this movie, aside from him being excellent in the role, is that he was famous.
The movie appears to be steeped in gritty realism at first, but occasionally dips into surrealism as the characters descend further and further, though it never actually strays into the fantastical. The style of the film can be fairly hands-off at times and in-your-face at others. The musical score is sort of that early 20th Century modernism, which can be irritating, but helps to establish the tone. All of this goes off the deep end during the final half-hour, as the plot itself slows down to dwell upon the inevitable consequences of certain actions.
The movie can be seen here:
http://www.putlocker.com/file/D88ACD4826E77135#
or here:
http://www.sockshare.com/file/CF05FE7E2D02DD24#
Warning, there are a few of scenes with flashing lights and one scene at a pig-slaughtering plant. I was not warned, but you are. The scene of pig-killing is brief, but totally unprompted and whether it real or not, it is disturbing.
Also be warned, there is a scene involving the song “Creep” by Radiohead, just in case you hate that song. Yes, apparently Radiohead was well known in Vietnam (or at least amongst ethnic Vietnamese in France) way back in 1994. There have been discussions over whether this scene was effective or too on-the-nose. Personally, I think that it is effective, though I like both Radiohead and even that overplayed song.
This seems to be a movie about choices and consequences in a place where the choices are far from ideal and consequences are often unfair. It is about people falling, taking others with them, and holding onto others who are falling. Sometimes, it seems as if the characters do not believe that there is a way out, or have little concept of there being a way out. However, I grew quite fond of these characters, and truly hoped that at least most of them could free themselves from the vicious cycle. Or, in this case, the vicious cyclo.
Cyclo is the second movie by Tran Ahn Hung, who also did that beautiful slideshow of a French soundstage called Scent of Green Papaya. This time, the French director, his wife, and his music composer actually go to Vietnam to portray a sensual and somewhat impressionistic slice of misery about the lives of two siblings as they enter the criminal world.
This movie focuses on three characters without names: Cyclo, Sister, and Poet. Cyclo ferries people around in a pedicab, Sister is his older sister, and Poet recites poetry…sometimes. Cyclo is in this line of work in order to help provide for his family after the death of his father, but part of the money goes to paying off rent of the pedicab to his “Boss Lady’. The city streets are tough, and Cyclo must be careful to avoid straying into the territory of rival pedicab drivers. Sister works at a restaurant and their grandfather pumps tires, but neither of these jobs is ideal either.
One day, Cyclo’ pedicab gets stolen and when he runs after the thieves, they beat him up right there on the street. No one steps in to stop them. No one stops. Boss Lady, who dotes on her mentally retarded son, is pretty unsympathetic to Cyclo’s plight. It turns out that the people who stole his pedicab actually worked for the Boss Lady. It is too late for him to do much about it as she has assigned him to another gang, led by Poet, who pretty much trap him in an apartment while waiting for further instructions. While he technically can leave the apartment at any time, he still owes Boss Lady for the stolen pedicab, even though she herself most likely had it stolen from him. So, he is trapped, let out only to buy food and do dirty work for Boss Lady and the gang. It is not long before he sinks further into the world of crime, sometimes by force, but sometimes voluntarily.
Sister comes to Poet’s office, probably assigned by Boss Lady to be a prostitute after the Cyclo theft. The two seem to know each other already, but it is unclear how or for how long. Apparently, out of respect to her reluctance to take part in all of this, and her most likely being a virgin, Poet restricts her clientele to those with mild fetishes, like pee watchers (there were two scenes involving a little boy peeing in Scent of Green Papaya, by the way) and foot powderers. The two form sort of a relationship and he even takes her to visit his parents. His mother seems to like her, while his father is more concerned with beating him senseless, enraged at his line of work and his bringing one of his prostitutes home. Scenes like these demonstrate that Poet, ruthless and stoic as he may be, still has elements of fragility. Meanwhile, though Sister cries during her first session, she becomes more comfortable (or better at masking her misery) later on. She also begins to bond with Poet’s other two prostitutes.
Poet watches as Cyclo and Sister learn to develop thicker skin in order to survive. As the siblings gradually shed their innocence, he slowly beings to unravel. It is implied that he refuses to have sex with Sister, but has little reservations about doing so with his other prostitutes. He is also extremely upset when Cyclo asks to officially join the gang. Is he seeing part of his own past in what they are going through? Was he also an innocent once, forced and seduced into the life of a gangster? Is he revisiting the pain of that loss? What has this city done to these two to take them down their paths? What has he done to them to turn them into what they are becoming? He might be able to slow down their descent a little, but he cannot stop them, let alone turn them around. It actually makes him a little sick.
It is notable that Poet is played by Hong Kong star Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who doesn’t know a lick of Vietnamese and probably had to learn all of his lines phonetically. Most of his lines are the poems that he recites in voiceovers. I know that there are (or were before the Communist Takeover) a lot of ethnically Chinese people living in Vietnam, but Poet does not really seem to be one of those people. The only reason I can think of for him to be in this movie, aside from him being excellent in the role, is that he was famous.
The movie appears to be steeped in gritty realism at first, but occasionally dips into surrealism as the characters descend further and further, though it never actually strays into the fantastical. The style of the film can be fairly hands-off at times and in-your-face at others. The musical score is sort of that early 20th Century modernism, which can be irritating, but helps to establish the tone. All of this goes off the deep end during the final half-hour, as the plot itself slows down to dwell upon the inevitable consequences of certain actions.
The movie can be seen here:
http://www.putlocker.com/file/D88ACD4826E77135#
or here:
http://www.sockshare.com/file/CF05FE7E2D02DD24#
Warning, there are a few of scenes with flashing lights and one scene at a pig-slaughtering plant. I was not warned, but you are. The scene of pig-killing is brief, but totally unprompted and whether it real or not, it is disturbing.
Also be warned, there is a scene involving the song “Creep” by Radiohead, just in case you hate that song. Yes, apparently Radiohead was well known in Vietnam (or at least amongst ethnic Vietnamese in France) way back in 1994. There have been discussions over whether this scene was effective or too on-the-nose. Personally, I think that it is effective, though I like both Radiohead and even that overplayed song.
This seems to be a movie about choices and consequences in a place where the choices are far from ideal and consequences are often unfair. It is about people falling, taking others with them, and holding onto others who are falling. Sometimes, it seems as if the characters do not believe that there is a way out, or have little concept of there being a way out. However, I grew quite fond of these characters, and truly hoped that at least most of them could free themselves from the vicious cycle. Or, in this case, the vicious cyclo.