Hanoi (VNA) - Despite the participation of ‘hot’ faces like comedian Truong Giang and Miss International Queen Pageant 2018 Huong Giang, made-in-Vietnam films hitting the cinema in January and February failed to be a big draw to the audiences.
Generation gap
Films debuted in the first two months of this year (Bi mat dao Linh Xa, 30 chua phai la Tet, Gai gia lam chieu, Doi mat am duong, Tien nhieu de lam gi, and Sac dep doi tra) belonged to different categories, including comedian, romance, fantasy and horror. However, the quantity was yet to come along with quality.
The films hit the cinema at the beginning of the year, but none of them became a phenomenon like their equivalents last year. Too much content, superficial messages, compulsive and irrational scenes and ridiculous humour were their common minus point.
“Sac dep doi tra” (False Beauty), directed by Kay Nguyen, was a stark example. The movie revolves around the life of Duong (played by Huong Giang), who has an aspiration to become a transgender. The dream unexpectedly comes true when the protagonist is involved in a ring’s 'vortex' of hate. The involvement forces Duong to change his identity to survive and then join a beauty pageant.
Huong Giang’s acting in “Sac dep doi tra” does not create a convincing character. (Photo: the film crew) However, all interesting aspects of the film were yet to be conveyed completely, thus making the story illogical. Highlights like painful and risky sex reassignment surgery and the difficult journey to become familiar with the new gender identity were only demonstrated in disjointed scenes.
Apart from Huong Giang’s beauty, the film brought little emotions to its audiences.
Many movies, including “Gai gia lam chieu 3” (The Last Egg), “Sac dep doi tra” and “30 chua phai la Tet”, showed a talent gap among actors of different generations. While veteran actors such as Le Khanh, Hong Van, Kim Xuan and Huu Chau continued to showcase their professional acting, young actor like Huong Giang, Tuan Tran and Jun Vu had yet to convince movie fans due to their weak and unnatural acting skills.
Actresses Hong Van and Le Khanh in the role of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in “Gai gia lam chieu 3”. (Photo: the film crew) In addition, despite the appearance of popular names like Bao Thanh, Quoc Truong, and Duong Minh, new films like “Doi mat am duong” (Yin Yang eyes) and “Bi mat dao Linh Xa” (Secret of Linh Xa island) were not welcomed by the audiences over their old topics and messy scripts.
Vietnamese identity on the silver screen
In fact, fans have become more “choosy” toward domestic films and cannot be sold just by some popular names.
Director Nhat Trung follows a different trend to the New Year comedian films with “Con mat am duong”. (Photo: the film crew) After a fail season, film producers unveiled new projects, promising to introduce Vietnamese cultural features to the silver screen and create a new diversity for the local cinema market.
Director Ly Hai said the next season of his series “Lat mat” (Face off) will have 90 percent of its scenes filmed against the backdrop of rivers in the Mekong Delta. The season is scheduled to be screened on April 30.
Other filmmakers, meanwhile, have exploited familiar stories to create their movies.
Director Tran Vu Thuy offers fans “Cau Vang”, an adaption of various stories written by Nam Cao, while producer Ngo Thanh Van will come back with “Trang Ty”, which is adapted from the famous Vietnamese cartoon “Than dong dat Viet”./.
