trần anh hùng cinematography
(it's gonna be a long read; if you want the juice, skip straight to cinematography)
first impressions: my encounters with trần anh hùng's movies
back in the day, I liked looking at imdb rankings for films. my eyes grew quite familiar to foreign movies: the godfather, lord of the rings, forrest gump, etc. it's until one day that I saw a vietnamese film popping up: mùi đu đủ xanh, or the scent of the green papaya. I didn't watch it because it looked too omnious for me.
the second time was november 2022, when I was dying with college applications. my college app helper was a funny lad, and he usually gave me books by japanese authors. this leads to me inhaling a ton of japanese novels by murakami and keigo that winter and summer. at the time, I was also listening to podcasts by vietcetera, and for one podcast, the guest was a translator for books by murakami called trịnh lữ. I took this as a sign from the universe and borrow norwegian wood from my school library. upon finishing it, I'm aware that the book has a movie adaptation, and the filmmaker is vietnamese. however, as scenes from the movie and the reviews didn't really appeal to me at the time, and as I couldn't find any source to watch it, I skipped it.
the third time was in my french class in college. as usual, my french prof walked in and talked about his and our weekends. one movie that he saw last week and highly recommended us was the taste of things. I didn't care about it for a long long time, until one day I did a google search and realized that the réalisateur, or director for this movie, is not french.
he's vietnamese. and I didn't see that coming.
a few more google searches led me to realize that he was also the same man behind the scent of green papaya and norwegian wood. it was one big eureka moment for me. this man can't be the only one behind all of my favorite things. but he was, and still is. it's fascinating that he was able to make movies about 3 different cultures and manage to touch such depth. I'm used to the fake diversity that contemporary movies have, where the movie has "colors" but fails to present the character's heritage in a genuine way, and most of them end up being the american bystanders version of that culture. I was surprised to discover a real gem, and even more proud to know that he's vietnamese-born.
"why should I watch movies by trần anh hùng?"
quantitatively speaking
prizes shouldn't be the sole indicator of excellence, but it's often a good starting point.
1. they're well-acclaimed by international film festivals
his debut movie, the scent of green papaya, is the first, and to this day, still the only vietnamese movie to be nominated an academy award (oscar) for best foreign language film (it also won 1 césar award, 2 awards by cannes film festival (one for golden camera), 1 award by british film festival).
his second movie, cyclo, won the highest categories for both the film fest gent (grand prix for best film) and venice film festival (golden lion and fipresci award).
his third movie, the vertical ray of the sun, was officially selected for the cannes film festival in 2000.
the taste of thing was shortlisted for academy award, nominated for palme d'or and awarded best cinematography in cannes film festival. it was also nominated and awarded in various film festivals.
and many other prizes in his movies that I can't mention all of them here.
qualitatively speaking
accolades can be good for sifting through films; however, they can't measure evolution between movies: does the director experiment with new materials/genres? does he/she/they improve over time? in terms of storytelling? in terms of aesthetics? I always keep this in mind as I watch films.
2. they unveil the beauty of ordinary things
when I give you movie recommendations, I don't do so because they won some awards, but because I myself first of all fell in love with it: it'd touched something within me, moved, and changed me in profound ways. trần anh hùng's movies exactly that breed.
we live in a fast-moving world. now that you can do anything in an instant, there's also less thinking when you do something. in the past, when you want to contact someone far away, you have to sit down and write a solid letter, send it, then wait a few days to receive letters back. now you can just text and they can see it anywhere. I do appreciate this convenience, but good things, from wine, cheese, to amazing people, take time to ferment; and you have to decide what to invest time in it.
when was the last time that you stop to look at a blooming flower, feel the sun on your skin, or notice the different shades of the sky, or gaze at a full or waning moon? when was the last time that you smell the scents, hear the sounds, and feel the sensations of fruits and vegetables as you chop them? these things are ordinary, trivial even, but they don't happen too often in life. as paul bowles put it, how many more times will you watch the full moon rises? perhaps twenty, and yet it all seems limitless. his movies are simple yet intensely visual, auditory and sensory. his movies helps me appreciate the little things in life.
3. they help you understand what it meant, means, and will mean to be a vietnamese in the modern world
whether you're a vietnamese, an expat working in vietnam, or whatever situation your life is that makes dealing with vietnamese a staple of your daily life, I think it's worth putting time to watch his movies. by doing so, you've already put in the effort to understand vietnam as a country, our culture and people. and sometimes, as I've learned walking in holocaust museum of houston, understanding is the best gift, so that we don't let history repeat itself, and so that we know how to best live the present.
before trần anh hùng, lots of western movies about vietnam focuses on representing our country as an impoverished, war-ridden, third-world country. this probably explains why I felt so uneasy watching forrest gump, where vietnam is nothing but banana trees and some toilets. media representation matters because it show others and vietnamese what vietnam is like and what we are capable of. I've never thought vietnam could be this pretty on film.
I feel a very strong sense of pride watching and introducing movies by trần anh hùng to my friends and teachers—the same way I feel when my friends told me they like snacks I got back from vietnam, and from seeing people from different backgrounds at a vietnamese restaurant.
watching movies by trần anh hùng and rereading hosseini's the kite runner this summer helps me realize that false representation and fake diversity in arts and media will always be around. the shortest way to end this is to have good authors, writers, filmmakers, etc. that are actually vietnamese (insert your identity here); we can't rely on western authors to do that for us (think about this as women in stem but for nationalities). his movies, more of less, inspired me to be part of this generation of change.
enough talking, let's jump into his cinematography.
cinematography chronology
hyperlinked = film link (the language where a hyperlink is shows language availability)
* = incomplete version (full source missing)
C = codirector
A = adaptation
S = short film
// = alternative title
1987, S - người thiếu phụ nam xương / la femme mariée de nam xuong / the married woman of nam xuong
1991*, S - hòn vọng phu / la pierre de l'attente / stone of expectation
1993 - mùi đu đủ xanh / l'odeur de la papaye verte / the scent of green papaya (dedicated to châu a long and phan thị hồng hạnh, his mother-in-law)
1995 - xích lô / cyclo / cyclo (dedicated to his dad and serge g)
2000 - mùa hè chiều thẳng đứng / à la verticale de l'été / the vertical ray of the sun (dedicated to yên khê and lãng khê, his wife and his daughter)
2009 - và anh đến trong cơn mưa / je viens avec la pluie / I come with the rain
2010, C - bi, đừng sợ! / bi, n'aie pas peur ! / bi, don't be afraid!
2010, A - ノルウェイの森 // noruwei no mori / rừng na uy / la fôret norvegienne // la ballade de l'impossible / norwegian wood
2016 - vĩnh cửu / éternité / eternity (dedicated to cao phi and lãng khê, his children)
2023 - muôn vị nhân gian / la passion de dodin bouffant / the taste of things (dedicated to yên khê, his wife)
finding these movies is a pain in the ass, giving how far it dated back in the past. after roaming through youtube, vimeo, dailymotion, internet archive, even some russian websites, I found them all. the links above are where you can watch for free with few or no ads. I always try to include movies with engsub wherever possible so that more of you can watch it. assuming that you're not vietnamese, you can still watch 7 out of his 11 movies. if you use youtube to watch, install adblocker for a smoother experience.
trần anh hùng (his name means hero - anh hùng) is a vietnamese-born french filmmaker. he was born in đà nẵng, south vietnam in 1962. as the 1975 fall of saigon happened, he immigrated to france at age 12. in university, he planned to major in philosophy. by chance, he saw a man escaped by robert bresson, ditched philosophy, and studied film instead at the national school supérieure louis-lumière. during this time, hùng supported himself by working in the bookshop of musée d'orsay.
filmmakers that influenced his styles are bergman, bresson, kurosawa, tarkovsky and ozu. however, the filmmaker most responsible for his movie is lê lâm. he once answered interviews that "there'd be no the scent of green papaya without lê lâm." in fact, lê lâm was also the cast of trần anh hùng's first 2 short movies.
early days and vietnamese short films (1987-1991)
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| the married woman of nam xuong (1987) |
for his graduation projet from louis lumière, trần anh hùng wrote and directed a short film called la femme mariée de nam xuong. it's also in the casting of this movie that he'd meet his wife yên-khê, who's a character for all of his movies, except for movies that he codirected and his 3 latest movies (up until 2009). if you're subtle, you can see that for his initial short movies, the credits still feature her as yên-khê luguern. however, from the scent of green papaya onwards, she was shown as trần nữ yên-khê in the credits instead. following the graduation film, he also directed la pierre de l'attente. both are adapted from vietnamese folklore.
because these are trần anh hùng's beta movies, they are not great. in an interview with vietcetera, he also said that about the quality of the movie. from 2013 to 2023, he also cohosted a filmmaking and directing workshop called gặp gỡ mùa thu, or an encounter with autumn. in these workshops, he also showed the students his initial movies to show them that it's ok to make cringe movies as you start.
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| my first impression seeing his children is that "wow they look like they came straight out of his movies" both trần anh hùng's children pursue careers in film: his daughter lãng khê acted in the movie grand tour, which won the palm d'or for best director at the 2024 cannes film festival. his son cao phi helped out in the production of the taste of things. |
the vietnam trilogy (1993-2000)
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| the scent of green papaya (1993) |
here comes his classics: the scent of green papaya, cyclo, and the vertical ray of the sun. the scent of green papaya, despite looking very vietnamese, is actually shot in france. the cast was mostly amateurs. except for the old servant from vietnam, all the actors were from france (including his wife, who moved to france when she was 3). some of them had hardly any knowledge of vietnamese or spoke different dialects. in an interview, trần anh hùng described the time he first heard vietnamese in the cannes film festival as "the emotions at that time were so intense, it felt like my ancestors appeared next to me to remind me of the meaning of that moment."
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| cyclo (1995) |
cyclo and the vertical ray of the sun were respectively dedicated to the two bigs cities in vietnam: hồ chí minh city, and hà nội. cyclo is centered on the cumbersome making a living scene of post-war southern vietnam. because of its contents, it was banned in vietnam. (not an anti-communist film fyi, I think it was banned because it spoke the truth.) this movie features the hong kong movie star tony leung, the very person that played chow mo-wan in wong kar-wai's in the mood for love.
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| the vertical ray of the sun (2000) |
the vertical ray of the sun, my favorite in the vietnam trilogy, resembles a relaxed summer day in hà nội. trần anh hùng had the inspiration to make this movie thanks to his 1994 christmas holidays in the capital. this movie was shot in hà nội, hạ long bay, and lưới ngọc village, quảng ninh province. it's said that this movie partly contributes to the increase in tourism to hạ long bay, one of vietnam's unesco world heritage sites. another reason why it's extra vietnamese was because it uses music by trịnh công sơn, a vietnamese composer. the vague vietnamese title of this film also makes it more beautiful, as chiều in vietnamese can means the dimension, but it can also mean the afternoon.
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| from left to right: trần anh hùng, tony leung chiu-wai, trịnh công sơn, trần nữ yên khê |
codirecting and other movies (2009-2019)
after a 8-year sabbatical, he returned with the noir psychological thriller I come with the rain, which featured josh hartnett and elias koteas. during this time, he was also invited to be the director of norwegian wood, a movie adaptaion of the book by haruki murakami. 6 years later, he also adapted another book called l'élégance des veuves (the elegance of widows) by alice ferney into eternity. this is also trần anh hùng's first attempt to make a movie in french. eternity features audrey tatou, who was the main cast for le fabuleux destin d'amélie poulain. during this period, he also codirected some films such as bi, don't be afraid, and ròm, which are both vietnamese movies. bi, don't be afraid stars trần tiến, a renowned vietnamese musician, as grandpa.
16 nov 2024 update: it took me a long time to get it, but I come with the rain is hùng's attempt at making hong kong movies, those like wong kar-wai's in the mood for love or fallen angels. it was a trendy thing at the time and everyone thought that hong kong stuff was cool.
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| I come with the rain (2009) |
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| bi, don't be afraid! (2000) |
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| trần tiến starred as the grandpa. trần tiến is trần thu hà's (vietnam's top 4 divas) uncle. trần thu hà is the daughter of the peoples' artist trần hiếu, trần tiến's older brother. |
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| norwegian wood (2010) |
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| eternity (2016) |
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| ròm (2019) |
I consider this the experimentation period for trần anh hùng as he move away from materials that he knows very well (say, vietnamese culture and food) and experiment with new genres and cultures. although these movies aren't necessarily successful, it shows that he doesn't make movies for profit, but he embark on journeys that excite and challenge him. in an interview, he compared making movies as making gifts for the viewers. this philosophy has led him far in the filmmaking world.
the comeback (2023)
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| the taste of things (2023) |
like norweigian wood and eternity, the taste of things is also adapted from a book called the life and passion of dodin-bouffant, gourmet by marcel rouff. trần anh hùng used to compare and contrast the making of this movie and eternity in an interview with vietcetera. for eternity, it's a long book and you have to cut it down. for the taste of things, on the other hand, is a short movie and you have to stretch it. although it looks like a french movie, he said that he included subtle vietnamese easter eggs in his film, for example the scene where they prepare the chicken's feet. to do it the french way would to roast it over open coal before peeling it. however, he showed the vietnamese way of doing it, which is to peel it before you cook (dipping it in hot water). this detail was also seen in the vertical ray of the sun.
in the making of this movie, tah also learned from a 14-michelin-star chef, who worked as the movie's gastronomic director. it's thanks to pierre gagnaire and his assistant, who worked with hung in teaching the cast how to hold certain utensils that the movie was so realistic and lively.
trần anh hùng views food and love as two important elements that impact various dimensions of life of every person. these two streams can be found in almost all of his movies, from the very beginning of the scent of green papaya to the taste of things. I like to think about his debut movie as a seed, as something in the making, and the latest movie as the ripening of the seed he's sown 30 years ago. it's after watching all his movies that I can further appreciate the ripening of his philosophy as well as aesthetics and skills in filmmaking.
a guide to watching tah movies
"what movies should I watch? and in which order?"
for me personally, I started out with the scent of green papaya. watched the taste of things on my flight back to vietnam, and one by one watched all of his movies choronogically, then finish off with his two first short movies.
there're many ways to watch his movies, chronologically (including the short films) and from most popular to least popular (or the other way around), although I think this is a pretty boring way to do it. if you just want the classics, watch the vietnam trilogy and the taste of things (and perhaps norwegian wood). you can also watch his movies based on how you're feeling.
romantic/aesthetic? scent of green papaya, the taste of things, eternity
laidback? the vertical ray of the sun
exporer mode? norwegian wood, bi, don't be afraid, ròm
explorer mode but I can handle blood and extra violence? cyclo*, I come with the rain
urging to dig up someone's buried past? the married woman of nam xuong, stone of expectation
*I made the mistake of watching cyclo before bed. DON'T do that unless you want insomnia. I stayed up for an additional 1 hour to write a review for that movie.
possible games based on his quirks
in his early days, you don't find a film by tah without 1. a woman taking a shower (usually his wife), and 2. men smoking, 3. some very intensely visual scenes on processing food, and 4. the gentle touch/pat. it's almost a spiritual thing in the vietnam trilogy. maybe you can make a drinking game out of this (or star-folding if you don't like alcohol).
my ranking (best to worst)
- the vertical ray of the sun
- cyclo
- scent of green papaya (tie 3rd)
- the taste of things (tie 3rd)
- norwegian wood
- eternity (tie 5th)
- bi, don't be afraid (tie 5th)
- ròm (tie 5th)
- I come with the rain
- the married woman of nam xuong
the gifts tah gave
when I make a movie, I see it as a gift to everyone. I hope that the amount of money the audience spent to watch the movie will not be comparable to what the work gives them.
— trần anh hùng
morning routine and garden life
his vietnamese trilogy watch almost like reading nắng trong vườn (garden daylight) by thạch lam and thương nhớ mười hai (twelve months of longing). the morning light sacred and drawn so beatifully in his movies. they remind me that our people were early morning people, as that's the time where farmers wake up to go to the field and children to classes. that's changing in the modern world, but people from the elderly generation are still the safekeepers of this tradition.
I had a chance to stay in tucson for a week at a distant relative's home. the woman wakes up at 3am to go to work. as soon as she gets home, she water her plants for almost an hour. despite living in the desert, she keeps this abundance within her plants and flowers. I did not realize this significant until the uber driver told me that he'd never seen snapdragons this big. her daughter also an early riser and has one hell of a garden where she's living right now.
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| they're so big I'm not even joking |
you don't find a vietnamese household without a garden. even in my home in the city, we still have the rooftop garden. and when you go to my grandparents' home. it's not a garden within a home but a home within a garden. so much of our memories were tied to his garden. due uncontrolled urban sprawl, little people these days get to experience what it's like to grow up around trees and plants.
food
one thing that movies by trần anh hùng did help me reconcile was my relationship with food, especially in the taste of things and the vietnam trilogy. my experience with cooking has been more traumatic than encouraging. double standards, a judgemental environment, and the you have to know how to cook because you're a girl / so that you can serve your husband conversations don't help. I often walk into the kitchen with the feeling of apprehension. cooking was something that I have to do, not some thing that I get to do. in my early drafts of my college application essay, I described the kitchen as a confinement and depletion of myself, not as its extension (I didn't submit this btw it was too cringe).
however, as I study abroad and slowly decay from overly processed american food (at least from what dining halls feed me, and I can verify this because I work in a dining hall), I just have to cook or die. as I'm the only one who's eating what I cook anyways, I have the freedom to fuck around and find out: I can fuck up as many times as I want until I understand how to get better at it. it was liberating. I talk to several friends about cooking at the same time and they gave me good recommendations. thanks to those moments cooking in college, I slowly change how I see food and start thinking about it as an extension of myself.
the elephants in the room
the vietnamese woman
but I do admit that I feel uneasy watching his movies at times. I don't know if the way he portray vietnamese women in his movies was as they were, or as he saw them. the women in his movies are portrayed as submissive, which is accurate if you're talking about vietnamese women back in the day, who don't get a life outside of their household. the movie is pretty, but let's not forget the ongoing war for gender equity behind the beautiful and romanticized filmshots.
I don't know if this is double standards, but when I talk about feminism I don't want movies like barbie either. I believe it's possible, as feminism is when you can be hard or soft whenever you want to, because you understand and respect yourself and others.
censorship in vietnam
what's the similarity between cyclo and barbie? they're both banned in vietnam. that explains why trần anh hùng is not well known in vietnam, as explicit and political contents are banned. so far, the people I've talked to have not seen his movie, yet a french prof I know form high school has. an average vietnamese person is more likely to recognize movies made my trấn thành, who produce cringe laughingstock yet commercially successful movies, than trần anh hùng.
in an interview, when asked about ways to make vietnamese cinematography more successful in the future. the said that vietnam should have policies on developing the film sector. it's short, but I wholeheartedly agree with him.
epilogue
why did a chemistry student just spend 4,000 words and a solid day writing about a filmmaker, and more hours watching all his movies? should I change my major? I don't know. but I just know that his movies moved me in significant ways.
I have a wish. I hope that I can meet trần anh hùng in real life, or at least talk to him through some media to tell him that I adore his movies so much. I don't know how I will make it happen, but I hope it will happen somehow.
I also have a mission. I don't know what I will end up doing in the future. whatever I do, I hope to bring within myself this sense of national pride of my heritage. vietnamese people can make shit happen.
further reading
here's a list of stuff I hyperlinked above (except for movie list) and other sources. they're all in vietnamese. you can right click for translate to english and read on.
vietcetera interview with trịnh lữ #1, #2, #3
article on lê lâm anh trần anh hùng
vietcetera interview with trần anh hùng
interview with vnexpress #1, #2, #3
the wikipedia pages of both languages include hyperlinks to each movie, where you can read more about them. from experience, the vietnamese articles are more in-depth and not wholly translated to english. if you want the juice, go to the vietnamese article then right click to translate to english. english articles are better for viewing awards as they are more tabulated.
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