CYCLO

In the film CYCLO, director Tran Anh Hung, who made the exquisite, THE SCENT OF THE GREEN PAPAYA, once again shows his flair for creating scenes rich in their details and color. Cyclo is a young man who rides the Vietnamese pedal-cab for a living. When his vehicle is stolen by thugs, he pays back his lady boss by joining her gang of mobsters. The head of the gang is the Poet, who draws Cyclo further into the underworld of crime. The Poet is also the pimp for the Cyclo’s Sister, who resorts to prostitution out of poverty and a romantic interest in the Poet. Their lives spiral downwards until each meets their own turning point. The Poet falls prey to his self-created web, the Cyclo is saved by the same lady who introduced him to the underworld and the Sister changes her life through the hand of fate.

The film is crafted with sophistication and style, and teems with rich symbolism. The major theme is one of lost innocence in the lives of the principal characters and in post-war Vietnam. Too many other underlying themes however, cloud the film’s storyline. The extreme violence in CYCLO is overwhelming, gory and uncomfortable to watch. Crime and prostitution are woven into the theme and seen as a solution to poverty. The final redemption comes not on religious grounds, but on the timely intervention of fate.