Earlier this year, right from the Tet holidays, audiences witnessed a fierce competition between Vietnamese films at the box office. This is something that only about 10 years ago, Vietnamese films never dreamed of in the always unequal competition with imported blockbusters, especially during the Tet film season.
Right in the first days of the year of the Snake, the uncompromising race at the box office was predicted with three films released on the first day of Tet including “The Four Guardians”, “Love by Mistake” and “The Billion Dollar Kiss”. In these three films, Tran Thanh directed “The Four Guardians” and produced “Love by Mistake”. Because Tran Thanh is a familiar name in films with hundreds of billions in revenue in the past two years, many people have highly appreciated his ability to be at the top of the box office again.
Director Thu Trang’s “Billion Dollar Kiss” is her first foray into the Tet film market. Thu Trang specializes in comedy films, and releases films regularly every year, but her products are often released at different times of the year, because Tet films are often a “tough” market, not only with a series of imported blockbusters but also fierce competition with heavyweight domestic films with high revenue, typically Tran Thanh’s films in recent years.
“The Billionaire Kiss” revolves around the story of Van, a girl who approaches two handsome, rich guys because she needs money to help her “bankrupt” sister. The highlight of the film is the acting of the duo Thu Trang - Tien Luat, along with the eye-catching appearance and ability to play the role of three young actors Ma Ran Do, Le Xuan Tien and rookie Doan Thien An. “The Billionaire Kiss” has everything just right, humorous enough to make people laugh, emotional enough to pull the audience’s emotions. The biggest weakness of the film is still the script when it has not built valuable situations, pushed them to a climax, and revealed loopholes in the story.
The biggest attraction of “The Billionaire Kiss” is the “blind reveal” ending: depending on the theater, the audience receives a different ending for Van’s (Thien An) choice. This has aroused great curiosity in the audience, some even went to see it again at another theater to witness the remaining ending.
The heat of “Billionaire Kiss” also comes from the echoes of the program “Brother overcoming thousands of obstacles” in which Tien Luat is one of the 33 talents participating in the program. The affection and attachment of the 33 talents is shown in always supporting and promoting each other’s products, from music to movies, even in business… “Billionaire Kiss” most clearly shows that support, when the movie song “Advance or retreat” has the strong mark of two talents Bui Cong Nam and Soobin Hoang Son in composing, producing and performing. The remaining 32 talents, in addition to going to the cinema to watch the movie, calling on the audience and their fans to support the movie, also have very sincere ways of supporting, such as Tien Dat’s coffee chain giving free milk tea to the audience who return their tickets after watching the movie.
For these reasons, “The Billionaire Kiss” has quickly become the “dark horse” in this year’s box office race, with revenue as of the morning of February 23 exceeding VND205 billion. “The Billionaire Kiss” is also the film that has won the sympathy of the audience in the series of films released during Tet.
Director Tran Thanh’s “The Four Guardians” has been noticed since the project was first announced. As a leading name in the Tet film revenue market, Tran Thanh is always predicted to earn hundreds of billions for his products. The three previous films, “Bo Gia”, “Nha Ba Nu” and “Mai”, all earned more than 400-500 billion, making Tran Thanh the first “trillionaire” director of Vietnamese cinema.
“The Four Guardians” is the first film in which Tran Thanh changed, no longer following the family and psychological genre, but returning to his forte of comedy. The cast of the film is still familiar faces, such as People's Artist Viet Anh, artists Le Giang, Uyen An, Le Duong Bao Lam, and Tran Thanh himself, but the entire crew "stepped back" to play supporting characters.
The three main characters are also three brand new characters in Tran Thanh's film: Miss Tieu Vy, after a very small guest role in "Mai", takes on a main role for the first time, with a personality quite similar to her in real life. Miss Ky Duyen, who is entering the film industry for the first time, has surprised the audience with her acting ability. Quoc Anh is the most experienced of the three young actors, with quite a few roles in both film and television, and has also received many compliments. Acting The performance of these three young actors is the highlight of the film.
As of the morning of February 23, “The Four Guardians” had surpassed the revenue of 330 billion VND. However, the film was considered a step backward for Tran Thanh, as the story was not built tightly, and some situations lacked logic. “The Four Guardians” also faced strong reactions from the audience when Tran Thanh invited a male singer who behaved inappropriately, disrespected the audience, and had a bad influence on young people to play a supporting role in the film.
The Tet film season also marked a big surprise called “Den am hon” by a completely new director in the film industry: director Hoang Nam. He is a Youtuber who specializes in exploring mysterious stories, places, and characters with spiritual significance.
“Den am hon” is Hoang Nam’s first film, starring actors Hoang Kim Ngoc, Phu Thinh, Tuan Mo…, and veteran artists such as Meritorious Artist Chieu Xuan, artist Quang Teo… “Den am hon” is a spiritual, horror film, based on the story “The Story of a Nam Xuong Girl”, and is made by a completely new name, so it has aroused the curiosity of the audience. The film has currently surpassed 104 billion VND.
However, “Den ma” is not highly appreciated for its quality, as both the script and the storytelling lack logic and are awkward. The main actor’s performance is also not up to par, and has been criticized by many audiences. And the biggest minus point is the hasty reaction of director Hoang Nam when the audience and the media gave bad reviews about his film. In order to survive for a long time and have a certain position in the film market, perhaps the director needs to be calmer and more sober in the face of both praise and criticism to draw the most valuable experiences for himself.
“The Ancestral House” is the latest film to be released during the Tet holiday. This is a film with the color and mark of Huynh Lap, skillfully combining the story of today’s youth with the worshiping customs and traditional culture of the Vietnamese people.
The film is considered to be Huynh Lap’s maturity, with the participation of singer Phuong My Chi in the female lead role. “Nha Gia Tien” also received widespread support from artists in promoting and calling on audiences to watch. After only 2 days of release, “Nha Gia Tien” has earned more than 78 billion VND, a surprising number for a relatively new name in the Tet film market like Huynh Lap.
The Tet film market is always the most lucrative market of the year, but it is also the most harsh and selective market. The audience's reaction can be clearly seen when watching the revenue of each film released during the Tet month. A product that is carefully made, respects the audience, has a good script and actors, and has highlights will certainly reap success.
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