Anh Hung Tran

This lovely and subtle film washes over you like a gentle tropical rain. The dialog is sparse and the beauty dense in director Anh Hung Tran’s portrait of a young servant girl in 1951 Saigon and those she serves. There is an intimacy to this film seldom captured by a camera lens. The simple beauty of nature and its effect on living can actually be viscerally felt by the viewer. We can hear the birds chirping and the sound of crickets throughout this film just as if we are there in a film that is a banquet for the senses.

Man San Lu portrays young Mui as she first comes to serve the family. She learns to cook and perform various tasks from an older servant who has been with this family for many years. Tran’s film is very much a delicious study of our surroundings, and you can almost smell the aroma from the dishes Mui prepares Young and pretty, Mui finds beauty in the world around her, and Tran’s camera captures both her delight and the joy of nature itself. Mui watches milky nectar drip onto the leaves of small trees and we see through her eyes what we too often take for granted.

Tran doesn’t limit his camera to nature, however. Mui’s Mistress (Thi Loc Troung) has lost a daughter who would now be Mui’s age. When her husband runs away, taking with him the money she has saved selling fabric in Saigon, a past tainted in sorrow is revealed. It is heartbreaking when we overhear her mother blaming her for what he has done, rather than placing the blame where it truly belongs. Mui has come to care for the Mistress and the Mistress in turn has begun to look upon Mui as the daughter she lost, hoping her oldest son will grow up and take her for his wife.

But hard times force the Mistress has to an action she doesn’t want to take. The scene that follows is filled with both kindness and sadness. Tran’s camera has created such an intimacy that the viewer is deeply affected by the action taken, knowing fully the kindness which resides in Mui’s heart.

Nature never stands still in Tran’s film, and neither does the story. Shifting forward in time ten years, beautiful Tran Nu Yen-Khe (Mui) is now in the service to a young French Conservatory student. Modern and successful, the director uses his station and values to mirror the old and new Saigon, when he must choose between a rich girlfriend or break with tradition. Joy and a final reflection on nature, both floral and human, make for a rewarding film experience.

This gentle film has a beauty you can almost touch and you will find yourself thinking about it for some time afterward. This truly great director, also responsible for The Vertical Ray of the Sun has taken a simple story with very little dialog and created an emotionally rich film like no other. It is not your typical linear story, and may not appeal to all tastes. It is, however, film as art, and one that anyone who loves the cinematic aspects of film will enjoy. A true masterpiece.… (más)

The distinct impression Vietnam director Tran Anh Hung has given us through his films is one of sensual beauty. Whereas in “The Scent of Green Papaya” the main focus was on nature, here Tran has turned his camera loose in much the same way on a Vietnamese family, and it proves a richly-flavored cuisine.

The story revolves around three beautiful sisters of various ages, all living together as a family unit. Two sisters are married and one of those has a child. Together with a younger brother, an extended and supportive family unit has formed in Hanoi. While Tran captures the beauty outside their home, he begins to focus on what lies beneath the surface, and what begins as a tiny sprinkle, becomes a steady rain of sensuality.

The outward happiness and tranquility of this extended family belies what Tran shows us, pulling back the curtain slowly to reveal deep secrets and shocking deceptions. Always present is the search for the truth regarding the romance of their parents, led by the sisters, which is shrouded in mystery.

Ravishingly beautiful Tran Nu Yen Khe portrays the single sister, Lien. She and her older brother have a flirtatious relationship that causes many on the streets of Hanoi to mistakenly believe they are a couple. Only in the final moments of this film will we come to understand that history may be repeating itself.

The lush foliage of Vietnam and the lovely city of Hanoi are wonderfully brought to life by Tran, and an excellent soundtrack enhances the unique atmosphere of another impressionistic rendering of a place and its people by a director with a unique vision. Perhaps Tran’s greatest achievement here, however, is a feeling of sensuality you can almost touch. Once again he has turned a movie into a film, and that film into art.

If art house films are not part of your diet, you may want to pass on this one, and Papaya. If you occasionally enjoy the experience however, you cannot go wrong with this Vietnamese delicacy. The Vertical Ray of the Sun is shining straight down on the human heart.… (más)

Vi befinner oss i Tokio på slutten av 1960-tallet, og det blåser en opprørsk vind over studentmiljøet også her. 20 år gamle Watanabe er imidlertid ikke opptatt av politikk. Han er en følsom ung mann som mest av alt bryr seg om kjærligheten og livets øvrige mysterier.

Da kameraten til Watanabe - Kizuki - tar livet av seg, snur det opp-ned på så mye. Kizuki og Naoko hadde et forhold, og dødsfallet går hardt inn på Naoko. Watanabe har sterke følelser for henne, men hun er åpenbart ikke klar for noe veldig forpliktende så kort tid etter tapet av Kizuki. Dessuten sliter hun med store psykiske problemer. Watanabe er likevel innstilt på å vente på henne, helt til hun er klar for ham. I mellomtiden dukker imidlertid en annen kvinne opp i Watanabes liv. Der Naoko er tung, dyster og taus, er Midori en frisk pust i livet hans. Hun bobler over av latter og glede, og synes å ta det meste med letthet. Men bare tilsynelatende, skal det snart vise seg. Og Watanabe, som er en meget seriøs, ung mann som slett ikke løper fra løfter han en gang har avgitt, kommer opp i et skikkelig dilemma ... Skal han satse på Naoko, som for tiden har opphold på en mentalinstitusjon, eller livskraftige Midori?

Jeg er veldig begeistret for Haruki Murakamis bøker, og har lenge vært meget spent på filmatiseringen av nettopp "Norwegian Wood". Det begynner å bli atskillige år siden jeg leste akkurat denne boka - en av de første jeg leste av forfatteren, og som han skrev før bøkene hans ble mer surrealistiske eller magisk realistiske. Det gjorde nok sitt til at jeg klarte å vurdere filmen på dens egne premisser. Jeg ble virkelig ikke skuffet!

I filmen er det jeg husker som vart, ømt og forsiktig vel ivaretatt! Skuespillerne er utrolig skjønne, og i den forbindelse vil jeg spesielt fremheve han som spiller Watanabe (Ken'ichi Matsuyama). Ellers vil jeg fremheve kulissene (i stor grad japansk natur), musikken og stemningene i filmen. Ikke forvent en masse action! Her er det dialogene som er viktige. Og i hvilken alder er tap av kjærlighet så til de grader sterkt og traumatisk som nettopp i slutten av tenårene og i begynnelsen av tyveårene, før man har gjort noen erfaringer med kjærligheten og skjønner at man faktisk ikke dør selv om man har kjærlighetssorg? Når ingen ringere enn den koreanske mesterregissøren Tran Ahn Hung settes på oppgaven med å regissere en slik film, så blir det kunst! Her blir det terningkast seks!… (más)