Xich lo (1995)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Anh Hung Tran

Writer:

Anh Hung Tran (writer)

Release Date:

2 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

From the director of the Academy Award Nominated film "The Scent of Green Papaya" comes a shocking new vision of beauty, passion and power.

Plot:

A young man who struggles through life by earning some money with his bicycle-taxi in Saigon (Ho-Chi-Min-City) gets contact to a group of criminals...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Amputee | Gangster | Foot Fetish | Dead Boy

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Le Van Loc	...	Cyclo
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Poet
Tran Nu Yên-Khê	...	Sister
Nhu Quynh Nguyen	...	Madam
Hoang Phuc Nguyen	...	Tooth
Ngo Vu Quang Hal	...	Knife
Tuyet Ngan Nguyen	...	Happy Woman
Doan Viet Ha	...	Sad Woman
Bjuhoang Huy	...	Crazy Son
Vo Vinh Phuc	...	Cyclo's Friend
Le Kinh Huy	...	Grandfather
Pham Ngoc Lieu	...	Little Sister
Le Tuan Anh	...	Handcuff Man
Le Cong Tuan Anh	...	Drunken Dancer
Van Day Nguyen	...	Lullaby Man

Also Known As:

Cyclo (France)
A riksás fiú (Hungary) [hu]
Bisikletçi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Cyclo (Spain) [es]
Entre a Inocência E o Crime (Brazil) [pt]
O Ciclista (Brazil) [pt]
Riksakuski (Finland) [fi]
Riksha (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Rykszarz (Poland) [pl]
Triciclo (Colombia) [es]
Tricikli (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

USA:123 min

Country:

Vietnam | France | Hong Kong

Language:

Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | Australia:R | France:-12 | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Vietnam:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Ho Chi Min (Saigon), Vietnam

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

"Visa d'exploitation" in France: #83320

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Creep

Possibly the most stunningly visual film ever made

While Tran Anh Hung's "Cyclo" is one of the most stunningly visual films that I have ever seen, I have heard it commented that it is merely "eye candy." I think that this statement could most certainly be argued for by someone who isn't very perceptive. Because although "Cyclo" is a film that is very much a film that is about movement and composition, it is much more than simply "eye candy." It is, I think, one of the greatest films I have ever seen. "Cyclo"'s influences are easy to identify. There are strong elements of French New Wave style apparent throughout. It is also easy to spot the influence of some of the more recent stylized Hong Kong action pictures. But "Cyclo" is obviously not a French New Wave film, and it is no action picture. While it may contain these elements, it is itself a true original - completely unlike anything I've ever seen before. And although Tran's earlier film, "The Scent of Green Papaya" was very good and showed much promise, Tran's follow-up caught me completely off-guard. It simply blows his previous effort out of the water. "Cyclo" has a complex narrative structure that makes it one of the reasons why it's more than eye candy. It is mad, rambling, almost constantly moving (employing excellent handheld camerawork) and can leave the viewer frustrated and confused. It doesn't follow a linear pattern, but seems to branch off whenever it feels like it to follow some other goings-on. In this respect I am reminded of John Cassavetes, and wonder if Tran modeled this seemingly loose style after his works. The story of "Cyclo" is that of a young man who practically supports his family as a pedicab driver ("cyclo") on the mean streets of Saigon. When the pedicab is stolen by some thugs, the young man turns to a gang member (Hong Kong star Tony Leung) to help him retrieve it. Eventually it leads him to a life of petty crime, and in one of the more spectacular scenes in the film he buys a bottle of gasoline from a young kid and then buys the shirt off the kid's back, tears the shirt, stuffs the end in the bottle, lights it on fire and proceeds to throw his homemade bomb into an empty warehouse - all in the middle of the day, surrounded by people rushing by on bicycles.

The young man's (who is never named, as are any of the other characters in the film) story is weaved in with the story of the silent gangster Leung and the young man's sister, who is a prostitute in the gangster's employ. It's also so much more than that, but I'm in a rush so I'm not going to go into a lengthy plot synapsis but I very much recommend this film for a variety of reasons.