Acting

Trần Nữ Yên Khê

Born March 18, 1968 · Đà Nẵng, Central Vietnam (age 58)

Tran Nu Yen Khe (born 12 March 1968) is a French-Vietnamese actress, sculptor and painter. Best known for her collaborations with her director husband Tran Anh Hung, she is a leading lady in his films, notably Scent of the Green Papaya, Cyclo and Vertical Ray of the Sun, and had briefly served as his art director and costume designer. She also owns a visual art practice with exhibitions in Paris a…

Known For

The Taste of Things

The Taste of Things · 2023

The Taste of Things

MovieRomanceDrama

Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.

Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood · 2010

MovieDramaRomance

Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.

Cyclo

MovieDramaCrime

Follows a young cyclo driver on his poverty-driven descent into criminality in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City. The boy's struggles to scratch out a living for his two sisters and grandfather in the mean streets of the city lead to petty crime on behalf of a mysterious Madame from whom he rents his cyclo.

The Scent of Green Papaya

The Scent of Green Papaya · 1993

The Scent of Green Papaya

MovieDramaRomance

1950s Saigon through the eyes of Mui, a Vietnamese servant girl. At 10 years-old, Mui leaves her village to work for an affluent, troubled family. As she comes of age, Mui finds work in the household of a pianist she has admired since childhood, and finds their relationship growing in complexity.

Eternity

Eternity · 2016

MovieDramaRomance

Valentine marries at the end of the 19th century, and love passes through her family from generation to generation.

I Come with the Rain

I Come with the Rain · 2009

I Come with the Rain

MovieThrillerMystery

Kline, a former Los Angeles police officer turned private detective, is hired by a powerful pharmaceutical conglomerate boss to investigate in Asia the disappearance of his only son, Shitao, whom he has not seen in person since the boy was ten. Now in his 30s, Shitao has gone missing in the Philippines where he had been helping in an orphanage.

The Third Wife

The Third Wife · 2019

Though only 14 years old, May is selected to be the third wife of a wealthy landowner. Her new home seems idyllic, her husband favours her, and she quickly becomes pregnant with what she is certain will be the desired male progeny. But trouble is quietly brewing: she witnesses a forbidden tryst that will spark a chain reaction of misfortunes — and stir in May urges that until now had been dormant.

The Vertical Ray of the Sun

The Vertical Ray of the Sun · 2000

The Vertical Ray of the Sun

MovieDramaRomance

Hanoi comes across almost picture-perfect in director Tran Anh Hung's beautiful, elegiac tale about the lives and loves of three Vietnamese sisters. A mood characteristic of Hung's films is set early on with the vivid sounds of birds, insects and water and the way the lighting enhances the subtle use of color. They all combine to gem-like effect here.

Filmography

Sort

The Taste of Things

The Taste of Things · 2023

The Taste of Things

MovieRomanceDrama

Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.

Costume Design

Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood · 2010

MovieDramaRomance

Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.

Production Design

Cyclo

MovieDramaCrime

Follows a young cyclo driver on his poverty-driven descent into criminality in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City. The boy's struggles to scratch out a living for his two sisters and grandfather in the mean streets of the city lead to petty crime on behalf of a mysterious Madame from whom he rents his cyclo.

Set Dresser

The Scent of Green Papaya

The Scent of Green Papaya · 1993

The Scent of Green Papaya

MovieDramaRomance

1950s Saigon through the eyes of Mui, a Vietnamese servant girl. At 10 years-old, Mui leaves her village to work for an affluent, troubled family. As she comes of age, Mui finds work in the household of a pianist she has admired since childhood, and finds their relationship growing in complexity.

Mui

Eternity

Eternity · 2016

MovieDramaRomance

Valentine marries at the end of the 19th century, and love passes through her family from generation to generation.

Art Direction

I Come with the Rain

I Come with the Rain · 2009

I Come with the Rain

MovieThrillerMystery

Kline, a former Los Angeles police officer turned private detective, is hired by a powerful pharmaceutical conglomerate boss to investigate in Asia the disappearance of his only son, Shitao, whom he has not seen in person since the boy was ten. Now in his 30s, Shitao has gone missing in the Philippines where he had been helping in an orphanage.

Lili

The Third Wife

The Third Wife · 2019

Though only 14 years old, May is selected to be the third wife of a wealthy landowner. Her new home seems idyllic, her husband favours her, and she quickly becomes pregnant with what she is certain will be the desired male progeny. But trouble is quietly brewing: she witnesses a forbidden tryst that will spark a chain reaction of misfortunes — and stir in May urges that until now had been dormant.

Art Department Assistant

The Vertical Ray of the Sun

The Vertical Ray of the Sun · 2000

The Vertical Ray of the Sun

MovieDramaRomance

Hanoi comes across almost picture-perfect in director Tran Anh Hung's beautiful, elegiac tale about the lives and loves of three Vietnamese sisters. A mood characteristic of Hung's films is set early on with the vivid sounds of birds, insects and water and the way the lighting enhances the subtle use of color. They all combine to gem-like effect here.

Lien

Between shadow and soul

Between shadow and soul · 2020

Between shadow and soul

Mây, a fourteen year-old girl is being married as the third wife to a rich landowner in the late 19th century Northern Vietnam. A black & white reworking of 'The Third Wife' with no dialogue and a newly composed score.

The Deserted Valley

The Deserted Valley · 2002

The Deserted Valley

Three teachers run together an elementary school for local Hmong children in a remote mountain village. One day, an incident turns their life upside down, revealing the secrets and feelings they have been hiding for a long time.

The Married Woman of Nam Xuong

The Married Woman of Nam Xuong · 1989

The Married Woman of Nam Xuong

The cinematic tale recounts the story of a woman whose husband has left for war. When night comes, she pretends to her child that the shadow projected on a sheet is his father. When the father returns, two years later, the child rejects him, telling him that his father only returns at night.

Lumina

Paris, in a bourgeois apartment, Lumina, an ageless Vietnamese woman, dreams of another life.

Stone of Expectation

Stone of Expectation · 1991

Stone of Expectation

Is the tale of a man and a woman, both boat people, who meet in a transit refugee camp in Indonesia. Years later, they live in Paris, married with a child. One day, the husband discovers that his wife happens to be his younger sister.

La femme