Vietnamese film a ‘surprise’ choice at Montreal

Film-maker Nguyen Quang Tuyen's first film, Cau Vong Khong Sac (Rainbow Without Colour), will compete in the First Films World category at the Montreal Film Festival 2015.
Film-maker Nguyen Quang Tuyen's first film, Cau Vong Khong Sac(Rainbow Without Colour), will compete in the First Films World categoryat the Montreal Film Festival 2015.

The film tells a movingstory about the romance between the biological son and an adopted one ofMrs Yen. The two men live together, and one day, they announce theirlove to their family.

Mrs Yen cannot accept it and tries to stopher sons from following a homosexual lifestyle. But her blind motherlylove drives her son to his death.

The film focuses on therelationship between parents and their children in Vietnam, whereparents always think they have done the best for their offspring.

"It is a big surprise that Rainbow Without Colour was selected by the festival organisers," Director Tuyen said.

He wrote the script after watching a documentary about homosexuals on Vietnam Television's Channel 6.

"Ittook all night to finish the draft script because I was emotional,"said Tuyen. He tried to understand more about homosexuality over thecourse of a year to develop the draft further. Following that, he tookanother year to brainstorm over the script before deciding to make thefilm.

The film was shot in 40 days in Ho Chi Minh City with aprofessional crew. "The most difficult part was casting. It took fourmonths to cast actors Thanh Tu and Vu Tuan Viet for the lead roles inthe film," Tuyen said. "Many actors refused to act in the film becausethey were afraid their reputation would be destroyed by the homosexualroles," he said.

"I'm generally satisfied with their acting in the film. They feel sympathy for the main characters."

ThanhTu is a graduate of the HCM Stage and Cinema School, while Tuan Viet isa model. The two actors lived together in the production unit's officefor two weeks before shooting began.

The film was screened last March in Viet Nam and received positive feedback from audiences and film critics.

RainbowWithout Colour was selected from amongst 2,000 films from all over theworld to be screened at the 39th Montreal Film Festival. It is one of 18shortlisted contenders for the First Films World Competition.

Tuyenmade his name with a Golden prize at the National Television Festivallast year for the television series Dau Chan Du Muc (Nomadic Footprint).

Hebegan his career as a film director with Rainbow Without Colour in2014. The film became a blockbuster, attracting reviews and thousands ofcomments from audiences on social media every day while it was beingscreened.-VNA

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