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Tran Nu Yên-Khê,
Tran Nu Yên-Khê,
Lu Man San,
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:
Tran Anh Hung,
Tran Anh Hung
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: Not Rated
: Columbia TriStar
: Drama, Foreign, Southeast Asia
: 104 min.
: English
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This title is currently out of print.
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The interior life of a Vietnamese household in the 1950s, as seen through the eyes of a young servant girl, is explored in Tran Anh Hung's placid, but visually intoxicating tone poem, L'Odeur de la Papaye Verte. The film begins in 1951, when the beautiful and inquisitive 10-year-old peasant girl Mui (Lu Man San) is hired to work at the home of an affluent Saigon family. When the father absconds with the family's money, the tireless mother (Truong Thi Loc) is forced to support the family through the slim profits of her tiny fabric store. As the family struggles to make ends meet, Mui becomes attracted to a friend of the family, Khuyen (Vuong Hoa Hoi). The film then shifts to 1961, when the family is in desperate straits. The father has died, and Mui (Tran Nu Yen-Khe), now twenty years old, finds herself working in Khuyen's home. Khuyun has grown into an attractive, sophisticated French-speaking pianist, with his own expensive mistress. Mui serves him as she has served the family -- with perfection and silence. She also loves Khuyen is silence, and gradually Khuyen begins to take notice of Mui's love for him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
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| Buddhist masterpiece
by RWaller
October 16, 2004 - 1:25 PM PDT
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4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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This stunningly beautiful film has a strong Buddhist theme, so it's unsurprising that many American viewers were perplexed by it even while captivated by its beauty.
It is the story of Mui, a poor servant girl ... except she is no ordinary servant girl, she is an Enlightened One. She lives totally in the here and now, and sees and appreciates everything (and so do we, thanks to the breathtaking color cinematography). She quietly goes through her ordinary life, giving every tiny moment all her attention and invisibly enriching the lives of all those around her, until near the end of the picture she is given off to a family friend whom, coincidentally, she has fancied since she was little. He is engaged to another woman, but one day he picks up a bust of Buddha, and stares at it with recognition, realizing suddenly that the face and the smile of the Buddha are something he has been seeing every day, on Mui. He sees her for what she is, and both their lives are transformed.
Even more astounding than the richness and beauty of this film, is the feat of finding two wonderful actresses 10 years apart, to play the same very unusual girl, both identically beautiful and graceful and having the Buddha smile.
Intoxicating and unforgettable.
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| A meditation
by johnnyclock
September 3, 2004 - 2:27 PM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| This is a very slow film, but not at all boring. Consider it a meditation, a contemplation of Life, through the example of (in the main) one life, that of the young girl servant, and herself ten years later. My criticism of this film -- and I would have rated it higher but for this -- is that it is heavy-handed in its emphasis on the young girl's perceptions of the life around her. This should have been lightly done, as is the film as a whole, but, instead, suffers from a preciousness that is cloying. |
| A feast - start to finish.
by dybevick
August 5, 2003 - 12:45 PM PDT
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2 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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I rented this movies because when it's name came up related to a running joke about films where nothing really happens, the audience collectively responded, yes, BUT it's just so beautiful ... and there was a group sigh.
I was not dissappointed. Actually a lot does happen, although most of it is implied. And it IS beautiful, to the point of being sumptuous. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.41)
101 Votes
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