Tran Anh Hung - from 'The Scent of Green Papaya' to an excellent director at Cannes

After 30 years of surprising with "The Scent of Green Papaya", Tran Anh Hung won the Best Director award at Cannes 2023.

The director was honored at the Cannes Film Festival (France) on the evening of May 27 with The Pot au Feu , a film depicting a poetic and philosophical story about love and life through culinary culture. After three decades of winning the Caméra d'Or (Golden Camera) award at Cannes with The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), the director continued to make history at the prestigious film event.

For Tran Anh Hung, his passion for cinema was nurtured by his love for Vietnam, even though he left his homeland at a young age . Following his family to settle in France, he grew up with his parents' memories of his homeland. The director once said that even though his relatives only told him a few stories over and over again, he never got bored. Growing up, he enjoyed reading about Vietnam and learning about his homeland's culture through books.

Later, entering the filmmaking profession, the director pursued themes with strong Vietnamese characteristics. In 1987, preparing for his graduation from the prestigious École Louis-Lumière film school, he chose the short film genre with The Young Woman of Nam Xuong (La Femme Mariée de Nam Xuong), the script was inspired by Truyen Ky Man Luc . When he met Tran Nu Yen Khe - who later became his wife, her Asian beauty continued to awaken in him the desire to tell stories about Vietnam through film. He cherished a new perspective on his homeland, different from what French and American filmmakers had done many years before.

Tran Anh Hung's first mark in the profession was The Scent of Green Papaya . Premiered at Cannes, the story of Mui - a girl who worked as a servant since childhood and pianist Khuyen - conquered critics and fans with poetic frames. Right from his debut work, the director made an impression with his romantic filmmaking style. Throughout the work, Tran Anh Hung mainly used a slow tempo, portraying Mui from childhood to adolescence 10 years later.

In dramatic situations - such as the landlady whose husband took all her money, or the love triangle conflict, the director did not push it to a climax but handled it gently. In terms of reality, the film evokes many thoughts about the fate of Vietnamese women, from characters with patient and sacrificial personalities such as Mui, the landlady, and the mother-in-law.

The work also scores points for its aesthetic filmmaking style, guiding viewers to feel nature. The director describes the beauty of life around in simple things, such as the way the girl Mui opens her eyes wide to watch the milky white papaya sap drops falling on the green leaves, or enjoys looking at the seeds and ants. French animation director Benoît Philippon said that when watching Tran Anh Hung's film, the pure beauty in the work captivated him, urging this filmmaker to travel to Vietnam. After Mui du xanh , Tran Anh Hung continued to make a splash with the work Cyclo - starring Hong Kong star Tony Leung. Unlike his first film, Cyclo (1996) exploited the bare nature of the lives of poor workers, pushed into the underground world in the post-renovation period. Although reflecting the story from many angles, the director remained faithful to lyrical images.

Inheriting the style of the two previous films, Vertical Summer (2000) continues the trilogy about Vietnam, revolving around a Hanoi family of four sisters. The hidden feelings in love and married life are interwoven with aesthetic frames of natural scenery and local cuisine.

After 30 years of making films, Tran Anh Hung has maintained the viewpoint of creating art to satisfy his ego. In response to opinions that the image of Hanoi in Vertical Summer is not realistic and somewhat unfamiliar to the audience, he once affirmed that he did not describe Hanoi but recounted his feelings about this city. The footage about his homeland is based on his knowledge of Vietnamese culture, mixed with the aesthetics of someone who has lived in the West for many years. "My reality is a complex blend, through the lens of many artists that I know, I choose to contact. It is the smell, the color, the substance that I see in Vietnam," the director once said.

Although loyal to the aesthetic filmmaking style, for Tran Anh Hung, in the language of cinema, polished images need to match emotions, stories and characters. His latest work - The Pot Au Feu - proves his point of view when expressing the beauty of cuisine mixed with the beauty of love. The two main characters seem to blend together, expressing the happiness of a couple through conversations about food.

* 'The Pot Au Feu' - a poetic work by Tran Anh Hung

The main character Dodin (Benoît Magimel) and the chef Eugénie (Juliette Binoche) love each other with equality, admiration and respect for each other. Dodin is not arrogant, he understands that he is nothing without Eugénie in the kitchen. The relationship between the two characters is reminiscent of the love story of Tran Anh Hung and his " muse " - actress Tran Nu Yen Khe, who often plays the main role in his films. When receiving the award for Best Director , he dedicated his gratitude to his wife, affectionately calling her "the chef" who has been with him for more than 30 years in the profession.

Tran Anh Hung (middle) and his wife and two children attend the premiere of his film "The Pot au Feu" on May 24. Photo: Reuters

Tran Anh Hung's works do not always receive positive feedback. When The Vertical Summer Afternoon was released, many domestic critics said that the film focused on beautiful images and did not care about the content. In 2010, the work Norwegian Wood - Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of the novel by Haruki Murakami - received a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival, but received mixed reactions from viewers. Many opinions said that the director's way of cutting and editing scenes, slow pace, and disorganized plot made the film difficult to understand, especially for those who had not read the book.

For many years, Tran Anh Hung and Tran Nu Yen Khe have cherished the love of cinema with young filmmakers in Vietnam. They returned to Vietnam to teach courses within the framework of the Autumn Meeting program - an annual international cinema event .

Director Huynh Cong Nho - winner of the jury award at the Singapore Film Festival 2022 - was discovered by Tran Anh Hung for his cinematic talent. "He often imparts cinematic knowledge with a sincere, close and enthusiastic tone of a filmmaker. Studying and collaborating with him, we have the opportunity to enter a place where we can discover our own cinematic language," Cong Nho said.

The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most prestigious annual film events in the world, first held in France in 1946, in the city of Cannes. This year, the event took place from May 16 to 27, attracting filmmakers and world stars to gather on the red carpet, film screenings, and exchanges, creating a vibrant Cannes season after Covid-19.

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