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
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
liked it.
This is not a movie that you watch for action-packed scenes, scenery-chewing performances, witty dialogue, or convoluted plot twists. Instead, this is a slow-paced film that emphasizes the rhythms, textures, and quiet beauty of daily life. The film is based primarily on appreciating small moments such as juice flowing from a papaya or a lizard climbing out of a vase; the camera lingers to savor these images, then moves deeper into the frame to find further levels of visual detail, just as a child might slowly explore the surrounding world. Meanwhile, the soundtrack reinforces the serene mood through music, which is performed on traditional Vietnamese instruments and piano, and natural sounds such as crickets and rain. The issues raised by the film, such as the effect of French colonialism on Vietnamese culture, are addressed in a relatively understated manner (with a few exceptions, such as the symbolism of a scene in which someone drips hot wax onto a group of worker ants). The Scent of Green Papaya seems to express a yearning for a simpler time when people, particularly women, accepted traditional social roles; some viewers may be put off by this apparent attitude, particularly since the film doesn't compensate for it with in-depth characterization. Also, some viewers are likely to find the film dull because of the languid pace and minimal plot. However, the movie is gorgeous enough to merit viewing if you're in a patient mood and willing to tolerate the film's limitations. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide