The Taste of Green Papaya, the debut film of Vietnamese director Tan Anh Anh, won the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and the story, characters and scenery of this film all show the unique style of Vietnam. When it comes to Vietnam, many people have no impression of it, and in terms of film and television dramas, they only remember their simple spoof remakes, and after watching this quiet and pure movie, everyone may have a new feeling about Vietnam.
The film tells the story of Saigon, Vietnam, which took place in 1951, where Ame, a village girl, was introduced to Saigon as a maid, but later the original employer's family had to change to a new employer, and finally married the employer who was a young pianist. The film can be summarized by a "light" word, the style is quiet, the rhythm is smooth, the story throughout the story rarely conflicts and ups and downs, there is no rich line, but the performance of the characters to tell the story, go with the flow, as if a bland silhouette of a memory.
Green papaya is a common ingredient in Vietnam, with a sweet, fresh and fragrant smell, which appears several times in the film and runs through the whole story, both as a thing and a person. Ame's innocent and youthful image is the same as that of green papaya, and the first half of her life from maid to wife is as simple and beautiful as the taste of green papaya.
<h1>When he first entered the Lord's house, he secretly felt good</h1>
At the beginning of the film, 10-year-old Amei is alone in the street at night looking for her employer's home as a maid for the first time, with a young and innocent face and a slightly confused expression, and the image of a poor village girl is fully displayed. Fortunately, the first time Ah Mei left home to work as a maid, she met the friendly lord, and the housekeeper of the family, the wife, was a gentle, kind and industrious woman, who was in charge of the family's cloth shop and worried about the daily life of the family.
At the same time, due to the young death of her daughter Ah Tao, the wife added a love to Ah Mei, who was similar to her daughter's age. The old maid of the family also kindly taught her the skills of the maid, so Ame gradually got used to the new life of becoming a maid. Ah Mei was occasionally teased by her wife's two young sons, but never angry, reflecting her weak and docile character, which was the same as the traditional Vietnamese woman of the time.
Girlish feelings are always poetry. Ah Mei is curious about everything or people, green papaya and its juices, ants carrying food, frogs by the pond, old lady who never shows up, everything in the new environment attracts her. The young master's friend Ah Quan also attracted ah mei's attention, and ah mei secretly looked at the young and handsome young master, and secretly touched and observed the box he was playing with while cleaning.
At first, the plot didn't catch my eye, but then Ame volunteered to make a dish to entertain Ah Quan, and put on a beautiful dress to serve it that day. In this comparison, although it is not explicitly stated, it is obvious that Ah Mei has secretly developed a good feeling for this handsome young master.
Ame's love is both brave and pure, but also silent. She learned to guard silently from the old lady's admirer, Uncle Ah Shuang, and her personality was also docile and humble, so she never showed good feelings, except for taking the initiative to cook and change into beautiful clothes this time was a brave move.
<h1>Fate arranged, and finally bonded</h1>
The days passed uneventfully, and the relationship between Ah Mei and Ah Quan was only a friend of the maid and the master's son, but fate gave them the opportunity to contact. After exhausting the family property and still unable to save the old master's life, the family continued to decline, until one day, the wife was weak and sick, and the young master and his wife had to reduce their expenses by selling their property and laying off servants.
So Ah Mei had to go to Ah Quan's house as a maid according to the arrangement, and took the clothes and accessories prepared for Ah Tao by his wife and given to her. Ah Mei is still dutiful in the new main home, preparing delicious meals and taking care of the housework, but quietly, her hairstyle is a little careful, which shows that although she is sad to leave her wife, she is also happy to be able to take care of Ah Quan.
The old lady's admirer, Uncle Ah Shuang, has been silently accompanying the old lady in the distance for many years, and their stories affect Ah Mei's view of love, so Ah Mei does not have passionate love and possessiveness for Ah Quan, she only has a silent good feeling and protection. Ah Quan has fiancées, and they laugh freely and fight freely. I didn't see jealousy in Ah Mei's performance, only that she took good care of Ah Quan.
Ame's beauty is as as constricted and light as the green papaya, and her girlish demeanor in the bath is never displayed in front of people, it is implicitly supple. Ah Quan's fiancée, influenced by Westernization, is cheerful and enthusiastic, but it seems that Ah Quan is not willing to enter into marriage with her.
Ah Mei has always maintained the curious kindness of her youth, she wanted to try the high heels of Ah Quan's fiancée but gave up, I think she is innocent and principled. Girls are all in love with beauty, so Ah Mei secretly put on the red Audrey sent by her wife, put on accessories, smeared the lipstick dropped by Ah Quan's fiancée, and took a self-portrait in the mirror. Ah Quan suddenly returned home, so Ah Mei was ashamed, Ah Quan was amazed, and between the chases, I saw the ambiguous feelings between them bursting out.
I saw that Ah Quan did not like either a fully Westernized fiancée or a completely traditional woman, and that Ah Mei's traditional character and classical beauty contained a vibrant vitality, so Ah Quan found out and was attracted. In the end, Ame harvested the love that she had been guarding since she was young.
<h1>Happy ending, unknown future</h1>
Ah Mei is with Ah Quan. Ah Quan taught Ah Mei to read and learn, and they are harmonious and equal, not like the wife and the old man - women are humble, while men are superior. At the end of the movie, Ame sits on the couch and touches her pregnant belly to read poetry, she is no longer timid and humble, but confident and happy.
The whole story ends, which can be simply summarized as the story of a young girl who went from poverty to the first half of her life with a happy ending, which is a bland counter-attack life story. Just like the fairy tale where the prince and princess finally live happily together, the happy ending makes people feel happy.
At the same time, we may have concerns about how long such a completely different person can go? I think the movie has already told us, "No matter how it changes, it still retains the shape of the cherry tree", as long as Ah Quan still maintains an equal attitude, and Ah Mei maintains innocence and kindness and inner vitality, then no matter how it changes, the core of their original attraction to each other will remain unchanged.