Daughter makes touching film about Cong Ly's journey to overcome stroke

Cong Ly and his daughter Thuc Anh during the making of the short documentary film Co mot chong sao - Photo: Facebook Thuc Anh Nguyen

People's Artist Cong Ly is familiar with the image of Bac Dau in the program Meet at the end of the year - Tao Quan.

But to his daughter Thuc Anh, he is a very different "Bac Dau", an example for her of overcoming serious illness to live happily.

Cong Ly's daughter once thought she was abandoned.

Thuc Anh is the director and narrator of the short documentary film Co mot cung sao , whose main character is her father - actor Cong Ly. She is the daughter of the artist and his first wife.

The film was screened on the evening of May 10 within the framework of the S-Express Vietnam 2024 program, organized by the Saturday Coffee Cultural Salon in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Young director Thuc Anh, daughter of People's Artist Cong Ly, shares about the film - Photo: MI LY

At the beginning of the film, Thuc Anh presents a paradox: Most people love the role of Bac Dau, but when she was a child, she hated this role because "My father abandoned me, my parents divorced when I was one year old. I got used to living with my mother".

She felt hurt because she thought she was abandoned, and artist Cong Ly often appeared on TV but rarely visited his child.

As a child, she naively thought her father was a... prisoner because she saw Cong Ly play a prisoner in a TV drama.

When the show Meet at the Weekend was released, artist Cong Ly became more famous and his daughter learned that he was an actor.

When he started his own family (with MC Thao Van), Thuc Anh felt like she was forgotten.

During her teenage years, Thuc Anh appeared on television with her father, but at that time, the two did not understand each other very well. On television, she expressed her desire to do the same job as her father. Artist Cong Ly objected because being an actress was hard, so later she studied directing.

Later, father and daughter Cong Ly and Thuc Anh met more often. She followed her father to pubs, did homework there, went to the theater, film crew, and from there, nurtured her love for filmmaking.

"Please don't give up everything because of this incident."

At the height of his career - with the beloved role of Bac Dau and his job as deputy director of the Hanoi Drama Theater, artist Cong Ly suddenly suffered a stroke in 2021.

Amid COVID-19, he was hospitalized and faced the disease alone.

Image of artist Cong Ly through his daughter's lens - Photo: Facebook Thuc Anh Nguyen

The incident happened when Cong Ly was invited to a new role. He was very happy and went to take a shower to prepare to go on stage to receive the script, but he fell.

"Thanks to that incident, I realized I loved my dad more than I thought. I realized how much I needed him and how afraid I was of losing him" - Thuc Anh shared through the narration.

Reunited after the stroke, Thuc Anh saw her father burst into tears when he saw her. He recognized her but could not remember her name.

Although artist Cong Ly's health is gradually recovering, it is difficult for him to regain his passion for acting.

"Dad didn't say anything, but I could still feel in his eyes the fear that people would forget him quickly," Thuc Anh said.

And she decided to write her father a letter.

She wrote: "The audience misses you so much and what a great artist you are. Please don't let this incident make you give up everything. The audience needs you and we need you too."

Father and son behind the scenes of filming - Photo: Facebook Thuc Anh Nguyen

After the letter, artist Cong Ly accepted to act in a movie after a year of sick leave. For the first time, father and son sat together at a sidewalk cafe. Many viewers recognized Cong Ly and wished him a speedy recovery.

"It's a pity that I couldn't capture the moments when my father was still healthy, but I'm sure those memories will last forever in everyone's memory," she said.

She was inspired by her father, it was his great love for family, relatives and acting that helped her come back from illness.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/con-gai-lam-phim-xuc-dong-ve-hanh-trinh-cong-ly-vuot-qua-dot-quy-20240510070224368.htm