The Scent of Green Papaya

1993 1h 44m VI

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 220

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

1950s Saigon through the eyes of Mui, a Vietnamese servant girl. At 10 years-old, Mui leaves her village to work for an affluent, troubled family. As she comes of age, Mui finds work in the household of a pianist she has admired since childhood, and finds their relationship growing in complexity.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Trần Nữ Yên Khê
Mui
Man San Lu
Young Mui
Thi Loc Truong
Mother
Ánh Hoa
Old Woman
Hoa Hoi Vuong
Khuyen
Ngoc Trung Tran
Father
Vantha Talisman
Thu
Keo Souvannavong
Trung

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Trần Anh Hùng
Writers: Trần Anh Hùng
Languages: Vietnamese
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Trần Anh Hùng, shot by Benoît Delhomme. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tôn-Thât Tiêt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jean-Pierre Roques shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Trần Nữ Yên Khê and Man San Lu and Thi Loc Truong carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0107617 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Trần Anh Hùng directs. Benoît Delhomme behind the camera. Tôn-Thât Tiêt scores. Jean-Pierre Roques cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in Vietnamese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

133 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Trần Anh Hùng, shot by Benoît Delhomme. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Tôn-Thât Tiêt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Jean-Pierre Roques shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Trần Nữ Yên Khê and Man San Lu and Thi Loc Truong carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0107617 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Classified under 8 themes, including "adultery", "vietnam", "buddhism", "musician".
8Released under 23 different titles around the world.