Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Scent of Green Papaya (1993)
Director: Tran Anh Hung
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The story of Mui, a peasant girl who comes to Saigon to serve in the house of a bourgeois family: grandmother, parents, three sons and a maid. It's 1951, the influence of the West is beginning to make itself felt, but already the old conventions are beginning to crack. Tran's first feature - shot, remarkably, in France - is sensuous, evocative and politically ambivalent. It focuses particularly on the servitude of women. We watch in close-up as Mui learns her duties: cleaning up after the youngsters, running errands, cooking rice and papaya for the family. At first these are mere chores, but later, as she grows into a woman, they take on a more fulfilling purpose. The movie's poetic-realist design meshes detailed, patient observation and delectable, poignant travelling shots; it grounds us in the quotidian duties of service and dissects contemporary Vietnamese social hierarchies, yet adds up to something much more subtle and enticing: a lyrical portrait of the human spirit in work and in love. Exquisitely controlled.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Tran Anh Hung
Producer: Christophe Rossignon
Cast: Yen-Khe Tran Nu, Man San Lu, Thi Loc Truong, Anh Hoa Nguyen, Hoa Hoi Vuong full cast
Genre(s): Period/Swashbucklers
Duration: 104 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now