FILM TITLE: THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA DIRECTOR: TRAN ANH HUNG COUNTRY: SOUTH VIETNAM 1994 CINEMATOGRAPHY: BENOIT DELHOMME MUSIC: TON-THAT TIET CAST: Tran Nu Yen-khe, Lu Mansan, Truong Thiloc, Nguyen Anhhoa, Vuong Hoahoi, Lam Donhat SUPER FEATURES: Colorful, quiet, well told story.
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There is one very nice thing in this film, which reminds me of the care that Akira Kurosawa has in filming his material. It is the subtle attention to detail, and the deliberate, and quiet, shooting style. The camera kind of poses in one place, and the action slowly develops in front of it, as if we were hidden in the bushes and caught the sights.
Like many of the films out of China, the most distinctive style in these films is the design which tends to look very meticulous, with the slow style of camera movement. The action in front of us has a look of a direction to the actors that is carefully detailed and defined. Somehow, it never hurts these films. It, instead, enhances the characterizations.
The Scent of the Green Papaya, is the story of a young girl who is hired as a maid in a reasonably well to do family, in the days of the French occupation of Vietnam. The young girl withstands the disrespectful attitude of the young lad, who chooses every moment he can to do something inappropriate. She maintains her work, and does it well, while slowly learning about the family and its reclusive members. Grandma has been in seclusion and prayer since the war days. The father once in a while grabs the money from his wife's business and runs off for weeks at a time. The wife is accused of not being able to love her own man. In turn, she suggests that it wasn't her choice to marry him, or vice versa. One of the sons is a very good piano player, and is becoming a composer.
And several years go on. Miu reaches into her later teen years and becomes the family cook. She does her work carefully, meticulously, and quietly. But her mind already has a few hopes and ideas. She has caught the eye of the composer, though he is basically involved with a woman from an upper class family, who doesn't respect the servants, or what they have and appreciate.
And one day she is seen putting on a dress that makes her look very good, and attractive. And she is caught by the composer. And things change. She ends up being with the composer, and the story of the film is now ended as a flashback, to a tale being told to a young one, in the form of poetry, a reading which inspires the young man to compose more music.
The story is not complicated, and neither is anything about this film, but the watching of it, makes one wonder in the early stages what is going to happen. It is never clear what will happen. An aging man is still pursuing the elderly woman in her loneliness. But the maid, Miu, never loses sight of the things she cares about. She still manages to take care of the cricket she has kept in a small cage, and fed all along. Her care is a nice symbol for her style, and eventually she gets rewarded for it.
Really nice direction, with few wasted shots or fillers at all, this is a film that also pays much attention to the music and how it fills the space. At first it is heard as an echo that runs through the house, the only symbol that this is really one of the main themes in the story. But the film does not give it away, and neither does it suggest that this is one of the main parts.
With some very nice acting, and very carefully designed angles, this is not your average film. It comes off as a study in movement and angle design by what is a rather confined space for all the action to take place. The only changes are a few new things added here and there as time goes by.
Worth seeing. Very nice work. Colorful.
4 GIBLOONS Copyright (c) Pedro Sena 1995. All Rights Reserved.
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