Movie: The Scent of Green Papaya
Vietnamese: Mùi du du xanh
Genre: Drama, Romance, Music
Director: Anh Hung Tran
Writer: Anh Hung Tran
Release Date: 1993
Runtime: 104 min
Language: Vietnamese
Country: Vietnam | France
Cast:
Tran Nu Yên-Khê ... Mui Age 20 (as Trân Nu Yên-Khê)
Man San Lu ... Mui Age 10
Thi Loc Truong ... La mère (as Truong Thi Lôc)
Anh Hoa Nguyen ... La vieille Ti (as Nguyên 'Anh Hoa)
Hoa Hoi Vuong ... Khuyen (as Vuong Hòa Hôi)
Plot:
"Watching it is like seeing a poem for the eyes." That's how Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert described this exquisite, Oscar-nominated, French-Vietnamese film from 1993, which begins in the 1950s and ends more than a decade later during the early years of the Vietnam war. The story is set almost entirely in a Saigon house where a 10-year-old orphan girl named Mui arrives to work as a servant. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Mui is quietly and carefully observant of everything around her, from the scent of green papaya (hence the title) to the relationship between her employers. The film takes its visual cues from Mui's observations--it's a placid, soothing film that lingers over the physical and emotional details of its setting and story.
What's really astonishing about this beautiful film is that director Anh Tran Hung shot it entirely on a soundstage in Paris, but the sights and sounds are so completely convincing that you'd swear the setting is an actual home in Saigon. This remarkable craftsmanship remains invisible to the viewer, and the seductive progression of the story unfolds with exacting visual precision. It's a film about Mui's growth and development, but also about her benevolent effect on the world around her. As such, it's a movie to savor like no other, life affirming and glorious in the memorable depth of its captivating simplicity.
Nominated for Oscar.
General:
Format.......: Matroska
File Size....: 4474,17 MiB
Duration.....: 1h 44mn
Bitrate......: 6 012 Kbps
Subtitles....: English embedded
Source.......: Blu-ray
Screenshots (Click for full resolution):
Video:
Video Format......: AVC
Video Codec.......: x264 - core 115 r1995 c1e60b9
Bitrate...........: 5 445 Kbps
Frame Rate........: 23.976 fps
Aspect Ratio......: 1.667
Resolution........: 1200x720
Audio #1:
Format..........: AC-3
Bitrate.........: 448 Kbps
Channels........: 2 channels
Sampling Rate...: 48.0 KHz
Language........: Vietnamese
