Watch Cyclo For Free

Good movie but grossly overrated

An Exercise In Nonsense

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Perhaps to emphasize the fact that these are people who would easily blend into the city's gritty atmosphere and would therefore be eventually inconspicuous, the characters of Cyclo, Tran Anh Hung's foray into Saigon's seedy underworld, have no name. Merely referred to as the cyclo driver, the poet, the sister, the madam, etc., these characters are merely the paint director and writer Tran uses to create the bigger picture, rather than the pictures themselves.As such, to linearly follow the story's plot is to somehow miss the point since the film is more interested in weaving various story lines to create a brooding picture of Saigon and its impoverished inhabitants. Set in 1995 in the busy commercial capital of Vietnam, a young man (the cyclo driver, played by Le Van Loc) is barely making ends meet pedaling passengers around the city via a pedicab (or a cyclo) all day. But when his cyclo is stolen, the cyclo driver turns to the poet (Hong Kong actor Tony Leung) who takes him under his wings, involving him initially in petty crimes and then gradually to major crimes such as murder and illegal drug trafficking. Meanwhile, the cyclo driver's sister (Tran Nu Yên-Khê) works as a prostitute for the poet, with whom she shares (or shared) a relationship with.More like a visual poetry, the narrative aspect of the film may not appeal to more conventional members of the audience but Tran's masterful creation of a graphic portrayal of the city evokes a visually stunning sense of desperation and decay. The depressing portrait of a city is shared by those who live in it, amplified by the depressing atmosphere that permeates on screen. The end result doesn't necessarily make one feel good; but in this case, that doesn't necessarily mean bad.

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.

Tran anh Hung films have to be watched with a photographic sensitivity, for it relates to the color and shapes as a medium to express feelings and mood. As I was watching Xich Lo, with great curiosity as I lived in Ho Chi Minh city for a while, I was caught by this sense of surreality that the movie expresses to and fro. This is definitively not a movie about Vietnamese reality as a saigonese inhabitant can see it, but rather an author's view about a magic city (as I can define cities with magic, and cities without), recalling what can be seen in some footage of HK in trendy Wong Kar Wai movies (especially Fallen Angels)... The cast also focuses about this Vietnamese-Chinese mixed up story (This happens in Cholon, Saigon's Chinese district), and Tony Leung's long stances, silences, cigarettes, brings back to some HK underground ambiances... Add to this Hung's way to break plot rhythm, waving between poetic calm to harsh violence, and you get a movie rather unique in its genre, that I surely enjoyed. 8 out of 10

The pressure of modern day life is on and Nineteen year old Cyclo dives into the deep end in order to survive. This is far beyond the gentle stream flow of Tran's previous film, SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA. This film is bloody and confronting, boldly told with minimal dialogue.