Chen Yingxiong is a famous Vietnamese director, his "Taste of Green Papaya", "Tricycle Driver", "Taste of Summer" is known as the Chen Yingxiong trilogy, his film with a strong color collocation, implicit and introverted Oriental philosophy as the tone, the Oriental thought into Western art, "The Taste of Green Papaya" as Chen Yingxiong's directorial debut, the whole process was filmed in the French studio, the heroine Mei is Chen Yingxiong according to the impression of his childhood mother, with a faint poetry and praise.
The storyline of "The Taste of Green Papaya" is very simple, in Saigon, Vietnam in the early 1950s, young Mei went to a family as a maid, Mei looked very much like the hostess's dead daughter, thus getting the love of the hostess, the hostess also had three sons, 10 years later, the hostess fell in the middle of the road, Mei was sent to the home of the eldest son's friend Ren Hao, and fell in love with Ren Hao, and finally the two finally became family members and lived a happy life.
01, using green papaya as a metaphor for the status of women being enslaved, showing a sad life
In Freudian psychology, spherical fruits are often used as a metaphor for women's breasts, and the "green papaya" in the movie refers to the existence of women as natural, and in May has all the virtues of oriental women, forbearance, kindness, simplicity, and dedication. However, in Vietnamese society, women often become appendages of men, and Mei is the representative of women's enslaved status.
Every time Mei appears, she is always hunched over and crept, she is accustomed to using this gesture to gain the approval of the master, and then get the space to live, she is more like an "object" than a living individual, the master can send her to anyone according to his wishes. May is always barefoot at home, and she often gazes at the red shoes of the women in the paintings, longing to have a beautiful pair of high heels, but the shoes represent dignity and personality, which May cannot have, becoming her fantasy of a better life.
Not only mei's life is very desolate, even the hostess is very sad, she is virtuous and virtuous, raising three children to grow up, but still have to face the difficulties of the mother-in-law, the husband runs away from the mother-in-law will say "you really have no ability, even the husband can't see it", she runs a bad business, will be accused of "even this thing is not good", but the hostess must suffer in silence, and there is no complaint.
02, the tragic cause of women lies in the absence of men, reflecting different survival values and meanings of life
The female tragedies in the film are caused by the absence of men, Mei's male protagonist is not doing his job, playing the piano and singing at home, boring entertainment, he controls the right to speak, it is always his wife who works, and he can also do the absurd behavior of rolling up money and running away, ignoring his wife and children, even so, his wife must endure this cycle of betrayal.
His son inherited his father's character, equally idle, addicted to the world of music all day, no matter anything in the family, he would only make a "um" voice to express his approval when his wife asked for instructions, in the whole family, there is no self-motivated, responsible man, but it does not affect the man's position in the family.
Men at home will be subject to women's material support and spiritual worship, they ostensibly engaged in music, painting and other elegant arts, but in fact women are not worse than men, they just lack the right to education and the right to speak. In a male-dominated society, where resources are controlled by men and women can only engage in lowly jobs, women have become accustomed to being enslaved and driven "willingly" by men.
Different positions squeeze the survival value of women, making them live in fear and insecurity, and they are unable to pursue their dreams and realize their own value. Thus, men are always like giant babies who do not grow up, enjoying the material and spiritual sustenance of women, and women become martyrs of this need.
03, the love story of an Oriental woman, a Western-style fiancée loses to the traditional Mei
This is a movie with a female protagonist, the man's mother stays in the attic every day, lights incense and eats and prays to the Buddha, and the door does not go out of the second door. There is a grandpa Tang who often comes to inquire about the grandmother, this Grandpa Tang has liked the grandmother since he was young, and after the death of the grandmother's husband, Tang once proposed to the grandmother, but was rejected. Never where the grandmother went, Grandpa Tang would always move to his father, quietly watching her from a distance, now, the grandmother did not go downstairs for 4 years, Grandpa Tang did not see her again for 4 years, but even if he did not see, looking at her back from a distance, Grandpa Tang was already satisfied, and such a poignant love attachment added a lot of romantic elements to the film.
Mei's love is more romantic, when she was young, she fell in love with Renhao, for the sake of her sweetheart, she would change into the most beautiful clothes to cook for him herself, and then bring the meal to Renhao's face, only for a short stay in his eyes. Growing up, Ren Hao has a Fiancée with a Western-style education, who behaves openly and unrestrainedly, but in Ren Hao's heart, the reserved and introverted Mei is far better than his fiancée.
There is no dialogue, eye contact, or physical contact between Mei and Renhao, but the feelings burst out in such a realm that can only be understood, and in the end Renhao chooses Mei and abandons his fiancée, which is an idealized way with oriental beauty and a romantic and aesthetic love story.
"The Taste of Green Papaya" has a strong nostalgic atmosphere, through the display of local customs and customs in Vietnam, conveying women's incomparable dependence on men, people do not fight between people, but immersed in pure attachment and spiritual conversion, thus showing women's unique beauty, innocence, kindness and tolerance, and praising their great contributions to the family and society. I believe that in the near future, women will have the same status as men in Vietnam.