Xich lo (In English, "Cyclo") 

Released 1995
Stars Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tran Nu Yên-Khê, Nhu Quynh Nguyen
Directed by Anh Hung Tran

The Vietnamese film "Cyclo" is a difficult, depressing, yet visionary film about the hellish aftermath of decades of war. It is neither for mainstream audiences nor for the squeamish, yet cinephiles might be excited. "Cyclo" is as visually exhilarating as it is emotionally devastating. The title refers to the men or boys who drive the bicycle taxis that ferry passengers through the streets of Vietnamese cities.

The Cyclo of the title is a youngster trying to make his way in Ho Chi Minh City. His father, also a cyclo, was killed a year earlier in a traffic accident and our hero wants to support members of his family. Life takes a drastic turn when Cyclo's pedal cab is stolen by a gang, leaving him in debt and with no means to earn income. Which means he is vulnerable and ready to be coerced into crime by the ruthless gang queen who had put him into business and now "owns" his life. The descent into this inferno is rapid, tragic and all consuming.

Filmmaker Tran Anh Hung films Cyclo without ever once referring to Vietnam's wars with either France or the United States. Yet the stench of war - with its disruption, its disease, its detritus of orphans and invalids - hangs over the city like a storm cloud. Violence is in the air. The visuals depicting this are so vivid, so daring, so astonishingly beautiful and ugly in angry juxtaposition that the film consumes the viewer with an intensity that is both emotionally and physically shattering.

Summary by Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

At times I found this film engrossing, but for the most part it was incomprehensible, and worse, dull. The visuals, however, were never dull. There are several memorable scenes, including:

• Cyclo's sister peeing into a pan while standing with her first customer watching in awe from below.
• Cyclo smothering his body and head with blue paint while the single light bulb shorts in and out in a slow-motion strobe effect. The scene culminates with him shooting himself in the abdomen, and, while lying on the floor, placing his live goldfish in his mouth. We watch the fish's mouth open and close, while Cyclo lies in the paint, high, drunk, and bleeding.
• Cyclo covered in either excrement or mud. The camera zooms in to show tiny spiders, millipedes, and worms (maggots?) crawling over his face and in and out of his mouth, while he stands impassively in the dark waiting for the police to pass.
• The several scenes of the street life. You know these scenes aren't constructed on a studio lot, so you're getting a glimpse into life in this third world country from a knowledgeable and patient camera.

What do these scenes mean? Who knows, but they were interesting to watch.

Bill Alward, 1999