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CycloRating:
Release Date: 03 February, 2004 Retail Price: $19.95 OUR Price: $17.99 You SAVE: $1.96! Cast: Complete Cast (5 total) |
Cyclo Reviews
Haunting, gripping, mesmerizing, honest
The protagonist's father from beyond his grave wishes his son a better life than what he'd had. But can his son escape his fate? Life as a gangster seems to offer that chance -- the money seems easy, and there's no lack of work. But his son almost loses his life the same way his father did, and it's a jolt -- to the viewer, to the cyclo.
What is this movie about? Can we ever escape our fates? Are we always victims to our screwed-up childhoods? Is there redemption in death? Does capitalism suck? Does this shade of blue look good on my skin? I can't say definitively what the movie is trying to express, but I know that I have been mesmerized by the film every time I've seen it.
If you are curious about the world, this movie will grab you and stay with you, urging you to see it again, making you wonder about your own life, filling you with a sense of thankfulness about the world that you inhabit. Let it draw you in with its lush cinematography: you will feel that you are with them in the summertime dusk, you will feel that you are right there just before the sun rises.
A magnificent work; one of my all-time favorites.
Her Wrists will Heal
Around five years ago or so a friend and I were channel surfing until we came across a film in which several pigs were tied up by their hind legs and soon had their throats slit. Wondering what we had come across we checked the local listings and soon learned that the film was a Vietnamese film and that it was titled Cyclo. Not wanting to ruin the film by starting to watch it at the midpoint, we decided that we would later rent it. Well, we never did, so the name Cyclo and the scene in which the pigs have their throats slit remained deeply seeded in my brain. I've finally watched the film and I must say that it was a truly visceral experience.
The film opens with the grandfather of three telling of the hardships of his family especially that of his grandson. In order to makes ends meet the grandson, only known as "the cyclo" peddles people around on his bicycle/taxi. To aid their brother, the elder sister delivers water and the younger polishes shoes. The grandfather also pitches in by repairing tires. If this poverty-level existence was not bad enough, the grandson also owes 200, 000 dongs to a mafia Madame.
Things go from bad to worse when the cyclo is stolen and the grandson is imprisoned in a nearby apartment by the Madame's man, played by Tony Leung, who is simply known as the Poet. A quiet man who is prone to nosebleeds, the Poet orders the grandson to carry out the Madame's orders, including lobbing Molotov cocktails and smuggling drugs in pork carcasses.
Unbeknownst to the grandson, the poet has connections with the young man's older sister. Although a virgin, the beautiful girl, played by the enchanting Tran Nu Yên-Khê, becomes a prostitute. However, she does not become an average prostitute. Instead of becoming a common prostitute, she instead fills the fantasies of fetishists, including those who enjoy watching women urinate. The Poet guards the Sister making sure she remains a virgin and affection grows between the couple. Therefore on one end the Poet is making the grandson murder while on the other he makes the sister embody the fantasies of perverts.
Cyclo has to be one of the most violent films that I have ever seen. While there are not many scenes of violence, scenes such as the torture scene with the terrifying Mr. Lullaby are truly horrific. The grandson's self-destructiveness is also quite difficult to watch. Also the depictions of poverty are also quite eye opening and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is quite immense. However, these scenes are also quite beautiful. One can literally feel the humidity of Vietnam, smell the rotting starfruit, and experience the frustration and hopelessness of the grandson when his cyclo is stolen.
While I cannot recommend this film to everyone, I do recommend it to those who are interested in Asian film and especially those who have yet to watch films outside of East Asia.
More Customer Reviews (17 total)
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