The Scent of Green Papaya | 
| Director: Anh Hung Tran
Actors: Tran Nu Yen-khe, Man San Lu, Thi Loc Truong, Anh Hoa Nguyen, Hoa Hoi Vuong
Studio: Sony Pictures
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $4.50
You Save: $15.48 (77%)
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Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 11087
Format: Color, Ntsc
Language: Vietnamese (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6303379222
UPC: 043396743434
EAN: 9786303379227
ASIN: 6303379222
Theatrical Release Date: January 28, 1994
Release Date: February 13, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: FORMER RENTAL, ships in bubble wrap/envelope, I ship every weekday
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
"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. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 A hauntingly beautiful love story March 26, 2000
JLind555
98 out of 99 found this review helpful
It is hard to imagine a more beautiful movie than Tran Anh Hung's "The Scent of Green Papaya". With a bare minimum of dialogue, Tran brings to the screen the story of Mui, a 10 year old Vietnamese girl who comes from the country to Saigon in the early 1950's as a live-in servant to an upper-class family whose wealth is being squandered by the dissolute and womanizing head of the house. Mui is a simple soul who finds delight in things most of us take for granted; the exquisite cinematography in this film brings out the beauty in the most ordinary objects and lets us share in Mui's sense of wonder and discovery. Ten years later, when the family's wealth has been dissipated to the point where they can no longer afford a live-in servant, Mui is sent to work for a wealthy young pianist, Khuyen, the friend of the eldest son of her former employers. Khuyen is engaged to be married but in Mui he finds the peace and serenity that is lacking in his shallow and materialistic fiancee. In very basic terms, "The Scent of Green Papaya" could be called a Vietnamese Cinderella story, except for the lack of a wicked stepmother. Despite the almost total lack of dialogue in the second half of the film, the movie is so beautifully crafted, and techically and emotionally so satisfying, that you come away awed with how Tran was able to do so much with so little. This film is living testimony to the fact that sometimes less is more. It's a beautiful, unforgettable story of a young woman's coming of age.
Sensitive Portrayal of Unexpected Love January 6, 2007
Erika Borsos (Gulf Coast of FL, USA)
45 out of 47 found this review helpful
This film captures beautiful images as seen by the naked eye when the camera hones in on such natural wonders as a frog on a large green leaf, an ant carrrying a crumb or a papaya tree with green ripening fruit located outside one's window. Or when the camera scans the the interior of the home and captures oriental lattice work on a porch railing or a screen wall divider or porcelain vases on a credence. These images are impressed both on the viewer and on the mind of Mui, a nine year old Vietnamese girl from a small village who gets a job as servant in the household of shopkeepers. The artistic use of cinematography leaves the viewer with a sense of wonder and anticipation, expecting to be spellbound by even more mysterious oriental imagery - the viewer will not be disappointed! This feeling and tone is mesmerizing as so much beauty and such a wonderful love story unfolds ... with a minimum of dialogue.
Mui learns the household routine from an older servant ... She awakens early to make breakfast, cleans the floors on her hands and knees, and learns to prepare delicious and colorful meals using a wok....The family has three sons, one is older, almost an adult, two are younger - the middle son is about 11 or 12 years old, the youngest is about 5 or 6 years and very mischevious. The family business is selling textiles. Mui is treated kindly and later learns the family had a daughter who would be exactly Mui's age. She died of a mysterious disease. There is slight tension within the family regarding the business. The wife runs the business impeccably. She keeps accounts accurately and locks up the cash in a safe. Her husband often spends his time daydreaming and playing an oriental stringed instrument, sometimes accompaned on a flute by the eldest son. In the past, the husband had abruptly left the household, taking all the cash and likely gambling away their savings. After one such episode, his baby daughter became ill and died exactly the day before he returned. This event haunts him ...
One day, the servants were awaiting his return for dinner but he does not show up. The wife was notified. She checked his room and then went to the safe only to discover all the household cash and savings were gone. He did not break his gambling habit. His wife gave some gold earrings to pawn to have enough money to buy rice for the meals. She sold some of her antique vases to make ends meet. Eventually, he returned but was ill. Despite the best Oriental medicine, including acupuncture and moxibustion, his health deteriorated and he died. Ten years passed and the textile business was waning. Mui was still employed by the same family who were contemplating sending her to work for a wealthier family since they could not afford to keep her any longer.
Mui accepted the news sadly and received a pearl necklace and gold bracelet as parting gifts from her former mistress. The mistress tearfully bid her good-bye, telling Mui how much she appreciated having her live in their home, feeling Mui was like her own daughter. Mui became the only servant to a bachelor musician/composer who was engaged to be married. His fiance intimated and teased him about having a young pretty servant but he ignored her jibes. The fiance was a modern VietnaMmese woman for the 1950's. She felt secure in her position and looked forward to an upper class lifestyle. Her confidence gradually eroded into jealousy as she suspected the musician had feelings for Mui and even possibly a physical relationship ...
Mui discovered a sketch of herself in a drawer in the musician's bedroom. She also found a tube of lipstick left there by his fiance . Despite her shyness, one day, when the musician was not at home, she dressed up in a silk dress and Vietnamese silk pants, putting on the lipstick and viewing herself in the mirror, dreaming of a lifestyle outside of the one she lived. That very day, the musician came home early. He wandered around his house, trying to find Mui. They were playing hide-and-seek, a cat-and-mouse game with each other. She deftly hid behind a door as he came around the corner and did not find her. She darted into her room and took off her fine clothes and lipstick. He silently tip-toed to her part of the house,gingerly opened her door ... and his fiance's greatest fears became realitiy. The film very sensitively portrays the unraveling of their engagement and delicately intimates the growing love between the musician and his servant. All of it is shown naturally, yet without any explicit scenes. By far, this is among the best oriental love stories ever shown on film. Erika Borsos (pepper flower)
 Simplified culture February 3, 2002
Wu Yuan (Singapore/China)
19 out of 27 found this review helpful
"The Scent of Green Papaya" tells the evolution of Vietnamese society in its 1950s through the story of Mui, a girl from the rural area, from being a servant in an upper class family to her marriage with a westernized pianist. The focal point of the movie is very much on the cultural richness of Vietnam. You can easily feel that each frame is very carefully set and shot. The camerawork is slow, but sometimes very formularized, and so is the acting.The director Tran An Hung has been living in Paris for years. His dream of his parents' culture makes Vietnam the obvious choice for his film. The seemly artistic presentation of Vietnamese society received a lot of recognition in the West (Oscar nomination for the best foreign movie). But in my humble opinion, this acclaimed movie depicts a Vietnam that exists in this westernized director's fantasy rather than the Vietnam in the ordinary native Vietnamese's heart. The real Vietnamese culture has to be way beyond just a simple collection of symbolized exotic items presented in this movie.
Exquisite visual movie with poor DVD transfer December 8, 2002
Island Reviewer (Alameda, CA United States)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
I agree with all the positive things said about this movie. This is one of the most beautifully photographed movies you will ever see. Each shot is beautifully framed, an absolute poem for the eyes. The beauty of the film is almost beyond description and the poignant story, told almost without dialogue, is beautiful as well. Why then, why, oh why, was this movie put out with such a poor DVD transfer? The screen size is described as "FULL" but it is a compromise where if your TV is set to a 16 x 9 ratio you get a widened image with fat heads and elongated horizontal limbs; if your TV is set on regular 4 x 3 ratio you get a scrunched up image. The quality of the image is grainy and poor as well. This is such a disappointment because, almost more than any movie I can imagine, Scent of Green Papaya deserves a top quality DVD. Get this movie, but see it in your local art house theater if you ever get the chance. And we can only hope that this film will eventually be released in a new and improved DVD edition.
Vietnamese Cinderella February 9, 2003
Rebecca Johnson (Washington State)
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
I'm always on the lookout for Cinderella type stories. In this story we definitely have a servant and two "naughty" step-type brothers instead of sisters. The two boys in this movie don't quite know what to make of their new servant. They almost tend to treat her like a sister in some ways while otherwise completely ignoring her and never really speaking to her. One would imagine that children at that age would look beyond the servant/master issues and actually converse as friends.
The "stepmother" could be her employer, however Mui is never treated unkindly by her because she reminds her Mistress (Thi Loc Troung) of the daughter who died many years before and would have been the same age. When the family can no longer afford to employ her, she goes to live with a wealthy young pianist.
This movie excels in artistic expression and the silent interpretation of dreams and wishes. There is a minimum of dialogue and the most casual observances become almost a cherished encounter with nature. Mui watches little frogs, crickets and ants with a sense of awe while her employer's sons would be happy to kill any insect they found.
If you love cooking, you will probably love this movie. You can even get a quick lesson in how to stir-fry. Cooking is done on the floor over coals and Mui takes on the role of chef and housecleaner. There is an emphasis on the rituals of life. The simple is made beautiful. Every natural sound seems amplified. This is not only visually appealing; the sounds of rice being poured into a huge urn or the sizzle of oil in a wok are all spectacularly recorded.
Mui is told she will get to see her mother but we never see this occur. In fact, everything in the story takes place in the house or in the surrounding village.
Astonishingly beautiful and I can't believe this was shot entirely in Paris. Although, the ending does have a rather Amelie feel to it. You'll see.
The plot is really simple, but this doesn't seem to detract from the sheer visual enjoyment.
~The Rebecca Review
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