Synopsis
French Indochina, 1930. The world is about to change. The beautiful, elegant and controlled Eliane Devries (Catherine Deneuve), with her father, Emile, rules over the vast domain of rich, red soil that is their rubber plantation. The only love of Eliane's life is for Camille, her sixteen year old adopted Vietnamese daughter, a princess of Annam, whose parents died in a plane crash. Jean-Baptiste LeGuen (Vincent Perez), a French naval officer has just arrived in Saigon in search of glory. In spite of himself, Jean-Baptiste will confront Eliane and Camille with their destiny. The two women fall in love with him; Eliane will give him up, but Camille refuses. Jean-Baptiste's tour of duty exiles him to remote outpost on one of the Tonkin Islands. Unable to live without him, young Camille treks across the country in search of the man she loves. On this arduous journey she discovers her real country, her people, her past. Camille's voyage, her reunion with Jean-Baptiste, which leads her to commit a murder, and their flight from the French, are the seeds of the legendary story which sweeps across Indochina, that of the Red Princess, her French lover, their new born child.