"The Scent of Green Papaya", was a very symbolic film, with little dialogue or plot. Mui, the young girl who gets sent to be a servant worker to a family in Saigon is not treated properly by some of the family members. The symbolism that is being used is Mui represents the country of Vietnam, and the family represents the French trying to colonize Vietnam.
For example in the beginning of the movie when Mui is trying to work had for the family, the youngest son comes and torments her while she is hard at work. This symbolizes the young boy as France by destroying Mui's work that represents Vietnam's culture of always working hard. In doing so France shows no respect to the Vietnamese culture.
Also the occurrence of the scene of the Papaya,or the music that plays represents the simplicity and tradition of the Vietnamese culture. This shows what the Vietnamese culture was like before the destruction by France. Other cultures were trying to force their values on to them. The Vietnamese knew this was not true to them and held strong in their beliefs. In order to convey these important messages on Vietnamese culture symbolism was places throughout the film.
"The scent of Green Papaya" was a very symbolic film, with little dialogue or plot. Mui, the youngest girl is sent to be a servant worker to a family in Saigon. Mui is not treated properly by some of the family members. The symbolism that is being used is Mui represents the country of Vietnam. The film is set up into two sections, the first part of the film represents the attempted French colonization. The second part of the film represents the American influence.
ReplyDeleteFor example in the beginning of the movie when Mui is trying to work hard to serve for the family, the youngest boy is disrespectful to her. One of these disrespectful acts included peeing in the newly planted pots she has worked hard on. This symbolizes the young boy as France destroying Mui's work, which represented Vietnam's work. In doing so, France showed no respect to the hard work of the Vietnamese culture.
Also the occurrence of noises in the film were symbolic to the attempted influence by other nations on Vietnam. Under the French influence, there was an alarm that served as a curfew call for the Vietnamese people. The second sound was the US jets flying above under the American influence. The cherry tree at the end of the film was very significant, because it was a representation of Vietnam. The cherry tree proved it could lose its cherries or be damaged, but in the end it will still be a cherry tree. Therefore, this tree symbolized who the Vietnamese people were. No matter what influence the Vietnamese culture could be under, they will always have their Vietnamese identity just as the cherry tree will always have its identity. The film proved to show how resilient and strong hearted the Vietnamese people really are.