In 1950s Saigon, Mui, a 10 year-old peasant girl, goes to work as a servant for a merchant family. Quiet, well-mannered, and almost supernaturally observant of the most minute and beautiful details that life has to offer, she grows into a young woman who is as much a part of the somewhat dysfunctional family as the real members themselves. As the family runs out of money, she is sent to work for a family friend, a young man whom she has known since she was a child and whom she secretly loves. Beautifully photographed, the film was the winner of the Camera d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Academy Award Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film.