Best movies like The Scent of Green Papaya
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A little girl, Mui, went to a house as a new servant. The mother still mourns the death of her daughter, who would have been Mui's age. In her mind she treated Mui as her daughter. 10 years later Mui (now a young woman) was sent to another family, a young pianist and his wife. The musician falls in love with the peasant, he taught her literacy and they eventually married. A movie about a girl's life.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France, Vietnam
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: erotic, inspirational, retro, independent film, poetic, aesthetic, sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like The Scent of Green Papaya (1993):
Similar in 80%
Once Upon an Angel (2002)
Plot Summary:
A grief-stricken man who just lost his mother has a one night stand with a maid. What he doesn't know is that she's a virgin. He returns to his sad world of perfume business while she, unable to forget her first lover, follows him.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: humorous, serious, realistic, touching, light
Similar in 85%
A Song for Martin (2001)
Plot Summary:
Martin, conductor of a symphonic orchestra, meet Barbara, violine player and they start a relationship. Five years later Martin starts to develop loss of memory and becomes more and more confused. Finally he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and Barbara tries to help as much as possible although Martin is often angry and violent towards her.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Sweden, Germany, Denmark
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, emotional, sincere, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 81%
Brooklyn Babylon (2001)
Plot Summary:
A charismatic rapper falls in love with a young Jewish girl despite the confines of her religious background.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 335
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA, France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, crime drama, independent film, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
Clara and Me (2004)
Plot Summary:
Antoine has what every young single man could wish: a promising career, true and loyal friends, and an apartment of his own. However, he's a lonely man, until he meets Clara, a beautiful and exciting woman, and deeply falls in love with her. All his loneliness turns into joy... but then he learns something that makes it all extremely complicated.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 756
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, serious, sexy, sexual
Similar in 76%
Madame Bovary (1991)
Plot Summary:
Bored with the limited and tedious nature of provincial life in 19th-century France, the fierce and sensual Emma Bovary finds herself in calamitous debt and purses scandalous sexual liaisons with absolute abandon. However, when her volatile lifestyle catches up to her, the lives of everyone around her are endangered.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: realistic, melancholic, sexy, costume drama, intense, romantic, erotic, spiritual, art house, romantic drama
Similar in 86%
Look at Me (2004)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of human beings who know exactly what they'd do if they were somebody else, but can't handle being themselves very well, who are very simply struggling to find out who they are.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: stylized, lyrical, sincere, semi serious, humorous, talky, realistic, witty, contemplative, biting
Similar in 82%
The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Vietnam, France, Germany
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: melancholic, sincere, psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, talky, emotional, uplifting, artsy
Similar in 87%
Chopin: Desire for Love (2002)
Plot Summary:
The biography of world famous Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 794
Genere: Drama, Romance, Music
Country: Poland
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, captivating, realistic, emotional, period drama
Similar in 86%
Running on Empty (1988)
Plot Summary:
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, thought provoking, serious, political, retro, feel good, entertaining, stylized, independent film
Similar in 87%
A Heart of Stone (1992)
Plot Summary:
Beautiful violin virtuoso Camille has two obsessions: the music of Ravel, and a friend of her husband's who crafts violins. But his heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, heartbreaking, sincere, thought provoking, touching, anthology, art house, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
The Captive (2000)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of Proust's "La Prisoniere" (book five of "Remembrance of Things Past"). Set in Paris, France, it is a serious tale of a tragic and dysfunctional love.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, serious, erotic, slow cinema, aesthetic, sexual, realistic, gloomy, crying
Similar in 77%
The Accompanist (1992)
Plot Summary:
In Nazi-occupied Paris, a young accompanist named Sophie Vasseur gets a job with famed singer Irene Brice. As Irene's husband Charles, a businessman collaborating with the Nazis, wrestles with his conscience, Sophie becomes obsessed with Irene, taking on the role of maid as well as accompanist, living life vicariously through Irene's triumphs and affairs.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 982
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance, War
Country: France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 82%
Forty Shades of Blue (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visit.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, serious, erotic, offbeat, psychological, gloomy, crying
Similar in 78%
One More Kiss (1999)
Plot Summary:
When Sarah Hopson realizes her successful high-rise New York lifestyle is devoid of meaning, she packs her bags and heads for her home town in the Scottish Borders to look for Sam, her childhood sweetheart and the only man she ever loved. Sam Murray runs a restaurant. He and Sarah grew up together and Sam hoped they'd grow old together. His world fell apart the day Sarah left and now she's back, standing on his doorstep and telling his wife she'd like to spend some time with him. Written by NybergerMeister.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 750
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, crying
Similar in 76%
To Our Loves (1983)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of youth in bloom; a tale of one family's dissolution; a reflection upon the danger and the mystery in living. Sandrine Bonnaire plays Suzanne, a free spirit and the vessel for an almost Brontëan choler. She's 16, and men exist — diverse lovers, an overbearing brother, and the father portrayed by director Maurice Pialat himself in an unforgettable turn that displays the full magnitude of the cinema giant's tenderness, force-of-will, and presence of being.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: erotic, retro, anthology, art house, sensual, crying, psychological, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
The Piano (1993)
Plot Summary:
After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath and her young daughter, Flora, are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart. Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Australia, France, New Zealand
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: period piece, psychological, sexual, scenic, serious, sexy, erotic, melancholic, stylized, heartbreaking
Similar in 87%
A Slipping-Down Life (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young woman becomes obsessed with a small-time North Carolina rock singer.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, sincere, captivating, romantic, romantic drama, independent film, sentimental, offbeat, humorous
Similar in 89%
Permanent Record (1988)
Plot Summary:
David Sinclair seems to have everything going for him: he's smart, musically talented, and very successful. To top off his senior year in high school, his band is trying to get a recording session. Therefore, David's suicide leaves everyone, especially his best friend and band-mate, Chris, with a lot of questions.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: cult classic, touching, emotional, realistic, retro, sincere, serious, gloomy, crying, sentimental
Similar in 75%
Preacher's Kid (2010)
Plot Summary:
Small-town girl Angie King leaves the church and her home to pursue a dream of singing stardom. Luckett plays Angie, the daughter of a stern but loving bishop, whose attraction to the hunky star (Tank) of a traveling gospel show takes her on the road…and into romance, heartbreak and the realization that happiness may lie in the home she left behind.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 865
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, christian film, independent film
Similar in 78%
Personal Velocity (2002)
Plot Summary:
Three women's escapes from their afflicted lives. Each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: talky, stylized, intense, touching, psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, anthology, erotic
Similar in 78%
Windhorse (1998)
Plot Summary:
Clandestinely filmed on location in Chinese-ruled Tibet (several actors and crew members had their names withheld for fear of reprisal), documentarian Paul Wagner's compelling drama follows three young Tibetans faced with moral dilemmas: a rising pop star asked by her Chinese official boyfriend to sing pro-government songs; her brother, an embittered drunk; and their cousin, a Buddhist nun savagely beaten after shouting anti-Chinese slogans.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 175
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, crying
Similar in 79%
Yi Yi: A One and a Two... (2000)
Plot Summary:
Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan, Japan
Duration: 173 min
Plot tags: touching, art house, philosophical, depressing, emotional, harsh, lyrical, sentimental, realistic, poignant
Similar in 81%
Full Speed (1996)
Plot Summary:
A brief extract of four kids' lives somewhere in France. Quentin, who won a writers contest and now pays more attention to his career as an author than to his friends, beautiful Julie, his girl-friend, much more mature than she looks, falling in love with Quentin's very best friend Jimmy, who is kind of stuck in his unability of self-expression and grown up under bad social circumstances. And there is the shy boy Samir, exiled from Algeria, who lost his "brother" and only friend some time ago. Samir heavily falls in love with Quentin, but he can't handle it.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 877
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: erotic, sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, sexual, sexy, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 89%
The Last Song (2010)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, serious, teen, emotional, romantic comedy, cute, sad, sentimental, realistic
Similar in 75%
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
Plot Summary:
In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, sentimental, captivating, crying, hispanic, entertaining
Similar in 79%
The Heart of Me (2002)
Plot Summary:
Drama set in 1930s London with two sisters, Madeleine married to Rickie, and Dinah, who falls in love with him. Rickie and Dinah begin an affair which is to have repercussions throughout all their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, romantic drama, clever, erotic, romantic, spiritual, cult classic
Similar in 77%
His Secret Life (2001)
Plot Summary:
When Antonia's husband Massimo is killed in a car accident, she accidentally discovers that he has been having a same-sex affair with a produce wholesaler named Michele.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, sincere, serious, psychological, romantic, captivating, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 79%
The Painted Veil (2006)
Plot Summary:
A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 95000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China, Canada, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, scenic, captivating, heartbreaking, melancholic, costume drama, romantic, period piece, atmospheric
Similar in 88%
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Plot Summary:
A melancholy story about the love between a woman and a man who live in the same building and one day find out that their husband and wife had an affair with each other. More and more the two meet during their daily lives as they determine that they both don’t want to be lonely in their marriage.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 163000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong, France
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: art house, atmospheric, melancholic, visually stunning, artsy, contemplative, visually appealing, visual, sexy, psychological
Similar in 90%
I Am Love (2009)
Plot Summary:
Emma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day, Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend, makes her senses kindle.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sexy, stylized, meditative, intense, atmospheric, art house, sexual, visual, erotic, emotional