Indochine (Indochina)

So what is this one about?
Netflix tells us,

A wealthy plantation owner (Catherine Deneuve) and her adopted daughter (Linh Dan Pham) are living in French Indochina when civil war erupts. When both women fall for the same French naval officer, their relationship becomes tumultuous. Directed by Régis Wargnier, this lavish, elegant film won both the Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Best Foreign Language Film as well as numerous French Academy of Cinema awards.

And anyone who knows me will know that the idea of a Wargnier film about two women falling in love with the same man is right up my alley. My love for films like Est-Ouest (East-West) and Tmavomodry Svet (Dark Blue World) and their love triangles/tragedy would, of course, pique my interest in this film.

I guess the joke was on me.

And how much did I pay to watch?
With all the Netflix movies I have gotten this month, this individual one cost me $1.21

And what did I think?
This film was SUCH a disappointment. As I already mentioned, my love for East-West probably made me expect too much out of the director. But this film had so many problems.

First, it was trying hard to be epic. The plot of two women falling in love with the same man always smacks of epic love stories/dramas. Then set the film during a changing time in history (Vietnam in the 1950s) to add some historical epic-ness. Then add some striking sets and costumes that are possible because the main characters are all rich, and TA DAH! Epic film. Except not.

The characters were pretty flat, and their motivations were almost entirely unknown to the audience. The lack of development in the characters made me not care about any of them. I wanted someone to befall a tragic death (which would have added to the epic aspirations of the film) because at least then they might have been more interesting and it would have added some sort of emotional layer to the characters. As it was the characters just seemed like bizarre caricatures of some sort of person who should be captivating but wasn't.

The movie just was a colossal waste of time. And the fact that it won both Oscars and Golden Globes was mental. MENTAL!

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
On Netflix I rated this a 2. Two stars stands for "didn't like it". In blogspot terms I suppose I will give it a 2 as well.