Cyclo
Picture: B- Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B-
Tran Anh
Hung wrote and directed the popular Scent
of the Green Papaya (1993) and did not get follow-up press on further
films, which is strange after watching the impressive Cyclo (1995). In it, a young
man (Le Van Loc) in need of his pedicab is barely making it financially (ala The Bicycle Thief) when his vehicle is
stolen by local hoodlums. He wants it
back and the trip into the dark underworld of Ho Chi Minh City to do this will be life-altering.
This has
its Gangster genre moments, but is really trying to be a study of the city and
its people. It is also a tragic look at
the sad reality of living poor in this part of the third world. Some of the moments are of narrative
consequence, but Hung also has two other things going on in this film, pauses
for distinctive visual moments and more sequences of zero dialogue than you
would think. The film does not always
manage to fit all of these things together, but it is interesting even when it
does not work. Hung is a very talented
filmmaker.
This
would be more problematic if this did not take place in Vietnam versus the U.S., where the more common things
would be common. Some things are
predictable, while others are just sad.
It is better than I expected, but I am not with the crowd that is raving
about it either. The acting all around
is good.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.66 X 1 image is bookended in a 1.78 X 1 frame, but
looks good, though the bookending will disappear on older 1.33 X 1 TVs. Benoit Delhomme is the cinematographer behind
this and some of these shots show great camera talent. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is good, but for
a film released in Dolby Digital 5.1 with SR analog backup tracks, there are no
Pro Logic surrounds at all. That is
odd. There are no extras, except five
trailers for New Yorker DVDs, including this one.
All in
all, this is not bad and definitely worth a look. Hung is an up and coming filmmaker and we
look forward to covering all of his films on this site.
- Nicholas Sheffo
