The Scent of Green Papaya (1993)
I really wish that I knew all the fancy cinema jargon so that I could describe this movie and do it justice. I am at a profound loss of words after watching it, and I think the word that comes close to conveying how I feel while and after watching it is "breathless". Yep, for a movie where pretty much nothing happens, the dialogues are minimal, and the story is relatively easy to follow, I am still breathless. And now, I will try to tell you why.
For one, the way the camera moves, the way it tells a story without resorting to words for long stretches of time, it's quite unlike anything I have ever seen. It reminded me a lot of Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000) at places. And the direction combined with the sheer EXCELLENCE of the background score made the movie an almost tangible experience (MOVE OVER 4D!) I know it'll sound weird, but watching this movie honestly soothed me, it was that good. Like, this is the vibe that I'm always after- slow, but beautiful. Not slow exactly, I'm just a fan of things that move at their own leisurely pace and do what they have to do when they have to do it. It's something that's very comforting for me, someone who's always slightly intimidated by how fast things move in this world and how easy it is to just lose yourself in the worst way possible here.
The acting was marvellous, my favourite being all the female cast here, who delivered such powerful yet subtle performances that I found it hard to tear my eyes away from them, so as not to miss even a second of their expressions and movements. I remember finding out about this movie through Tumblr, and even then, the beautiful stills of the movie captivated me, and made me want to watch it, even though I never really found out what this movie was about. And now, after watching it, all I can say is that the movie is about the preciousness of life, the act of finding beauty any and everywhere. And for that alone, this movie is definitely worth a watch.
Also this movie is part of a new thing I'm doing where I'm going to watch more and more movies with subtitles, inspired by Bong Joon-ho's iconic line about moving on from the one-inch barrier of subtitles. So far, both the movies that I've watched this year have been pretty amazing (that's an understatement, but whatevs), and so, I'm genuinely so pumped about watching more movies from around the world! Woohoo! Good things to look forward to *champagne bottle emoji*
For one, the way the camera moves, the way it tells a story without resorting to words for long stretches of time, it's quite unlike anything I have ever seen. It reminded me a lot of Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000) at places. And the direction combined with the sheer EXCELLENCE of the background score made the movie an almost tangible experience (MOVE OVER 4D!) I know it'll sound weird, but watching this movie honestly soothed me, it was that good. Like, this is the vibe that I'm always after- slow, but beautiful. Not slow exactly, I'm just a fan of things that move at their own leisurely pace and do what they have to do when they have to do it. It's something that's very comforting for me, someone who's always slightly intimidated by how fast things move in this world and how easy it is to just lose yourself in the worst way possible here.
The acting was marvellous, my favourite being all the female cast here, who delivered such powerful yet subtle performances that I found it hard to tear my eyes away from them, so as not to miss even a second of their expressions and movements. I remember finding out about this movie through Tumblr, and even then, the beautiful stills of the movie captivated me, and made me want to watch it, even though I never really found out what this movie was about. And now, after watching it, all I can say is that the movie is about the preciousness of life, the act of finding beauty any and everywhere. And for that alone, this movie is definitely worth a watch.
Also this movie is part of a new thing I'm doing where I'm going to watch more and more movies with subtitles, inspired by Bong Joon-ho's iconic line about moving on from the one-inch barrier of subtitles. So far, both the movies that I've watched this year have been pretty amazing (that's an understatement, but whatevs), and so, I'm genuinely so pumped about watching more movies from around the world! Woohoo! Good things to look forward to *champagne bottle emoji*
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