One Wild Ride Through Eurotrash Espionage

Read Time:5 Minute, 17 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Sidewalks of Bangkok (Les trottoirs de Bangkok) (DVD)
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Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Year Released: 1984, Redemption Films 2025
Runtime: 1h 25m
Director(s): Jean Rollin
Writer(s): Jean-Claude Benhamou, Jean Rollin
Cast: Yoko , Françoise Blanchard, Brigitte Borghese, Andre-Richard Volnievy, Gerard Landry
Where to Watch: Available April 15, 2025. Pre-order your copy here: www.kinolorber.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: Jean Rollin rarely took the conventional path, and SIDEWALKS OF BANGKOK is proof that even when leaning into a genre as familiar as the espionage thriller, he does it his way—off-kilter, unpolished, and unapologetically strange. This isn’t a sleek international spy saga. Instead, it's an oddly charming mashup of softcore indulgence, pulp storytelling, and late-night cable weirdness that remains with a hook, even when it stumbles over its genre madness. It’s flawed, often ridiculous, and certainly not for everyone, but it delivers just enough spectacle and Rollin flair to make you stick around until the end, even if you’re not exactly sure why.

The plot—if you can call it that without smirking—follows Eva, a nightclub performer in Bangkok who unintentionally becomes the central figure in a hunt for a deadly biological agent. Supposedly carrying a vial of destruction (though she’s blissfully unaware), she is targeted by a shadowy criminal organization and the French secret service. What sounds like a setup for globe-trotting intrigue quickly morphs into something else: a string of disconnected encounters and a storyline that barely holds together. If you’re looking for tight plotting, this isn’t it. But if you’re here for the vibe, you might find enough to enjoy.

Rather than delivering suspense, SIDEWALKS OF BANGKOK often settles for mood—sometimes sultry, sometimes surreal, sometimes just plain absurd. The narrative rarely gathers momentum. It jumps between extended dance routines, sudden bursts of violence, and voyeuristic side quests, with very little connective tissue. But even as it trips in its journey, it’s never truly boring. An unpredictable energy is coursing through this rough it as if Rollin is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Eva herself is a peculiar center for all this chaos. She spends most of the film shuffled from one location to another, more an object to advance the story than a character with agency. That might sound like a fatal flaw, but her passivity weirdly works within the context of Rollin’s world, where atmosphere trumps psychology and action often feels incidental.

If anyone deserves the spotlight, it's Claudine, played by Françoise Blanchard. While her motivations shift in confusing ways, Blanchard brings enough screen presence to make her scenes stand out. Whether playing a seductive trickster or a sympathetic ally, she commands more attention than anyone else in the cast. That said, her character transformation could’ve used deeper connective tissue—it happens too quickly and with little emotional logic.

There are moments when Rollin’s dreamlike aesthetic breaks through—moody lighting, shadowy interiors, crimson-soaked nightclubs—that feel like they belong to a different film. Then, there’s the way the film handles its setting. Bangkok is used less as a real place and more as an exotic backdrop, which leads to several stereotypes. Characters and settings are reduced to broad clichés, and the overall tone leans heavily into sensationalism that hasn’t aged well. It’s exploitation cinema, no doubt—but it’s also a reminder of how easily style can veer into caricature when not handled with care.

The production design and technical elements reflect a modest budget. Sets are sparse, costumes feel recycled, and while the film is competently shot, there’s little visual cohesion. The soundtrack has a few catchy beats but doesn’t leave much of an impression, and the editing often struggles to maintain a smooth flow between scenes. Still, none of these limitations are surprising given the film’s scope—they’re part of the charm if you’re in the right mood.

So what makes SIDEWALKS OF BANGKOK worth watching? It’s the audacity of the whole thing. Rollin tries to mix two wildly incompatible genres—spy thriller and erotic melodrama—and the result is a beautiful mess that occasionally works through sheer force of style and sleaze. It has its moments: strange montages, awkward yet memorable set pieces, and just enough accidental comedy to stay interesting. You can’t call it good, but you can’t entirely write it off.

Ultimately, this movie is for those who appreciate the oddballs in cinema history. It's far from a polished finished product, but it has its place as a late-night oddity—a curiosity from a director trying something new and getting it half-right. It won’t win over those looking for depth or coherence, but it might work under your skin if you’ve got a soft spot for bizarre genre hybrids with a touch of grindhouse flair.

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[photo courtesy of KINO LORBER, REDEMPTION FILMS]

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