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Cyclo Movie Review

Cyclo is a 1995 Vietnamese crime drama film directed by Tran Ahn Hung. It is a gruesome movie for sure, but it’s still worth seeing for its artistry and realism.

When a poor bicycle-taxi driver has his cycle rickshaw stolen, he is forced into a life of crime. Meanwhile, his sister becomes a sex worker. Tran Ahn Yung is a phenomenal director, a man behind the superb ‘Scent of Green Papaya’. But it was fascinating seeing this entirely different movie with a wildly different tone, and for the most part he excelled once again at executing this important storyline.

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The film was excessively violent to me personally. I respect it for its authenticity and realism, but still there was no need to portray as much gross imagery as possible. For instance, the fluids in this film are overwhelming sensory overload, ranging from blood to paint to everything else imaginable under the sun really. The deaths are also overlong and painful to watch as is all the excessive animal cruelty on display.

Still, Cyclo offers a necessary look into the early 90s era Vietnam in all of its worst elements – the poverty is extreme, Ho Chi Minh City is in ruins after the war and the crime was going through the roof. As a pure special drama about never-ending pain and suffering, the film is a must see, but also for its artistic elements, which are abundant throughout.

Tran Ahn Hung is famous for his very idiosyncratic filmmaking, which includes a lot of wordless storytelling. The dialogue in this film is quite sparse, making some parts difficult to understand, but for patient viewers the film is understandable and even riveting to watch despite its slow pace.

That is because he has this amazing knack at hooking you in the story by creating an instantly memorable world and strong characters. The protagonist is striking here and the acting is mostly terrific. The brother and sister’s plights are heartbreaking and you root for them throughout. The movie’s third act wasn’t my favorite, but everything else was very engaging and gorgeously shot with a great use of color, contrasts and wide shots. The score is also pleasantly old-fashioned and even noirish in its tone.

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Tran Ahn Yung makes movies that are almost wordless and very slow, but still riveting to watch due to a great sense of place, time and realism. Cyclo is a very difficult, at times even overly gruesome watch, but it offers an essential look at the poverty and crime of early nineties Vietnam fueled by strikingly atrocious imagery, strong thematic resonance and confident storytelling.

My Rating – 4