Thought to be a "relief" dish after a Tet holiday filled with comedies and romances, Hoang Nam's "Den Am Hon" is disappointing because of its immature script and awkward acting.
In a Northern village, in the midst of chaos and war.
The quiet night was suddenly disturbed by the sound of a group of people shouting and pulling a basket towards the riverbank. A group of young men held red torches, their faces fierce, anger showing in their eyes. Inside the basket was a young woman with her mouth gagged and her hands and feet tied. People accused her of getting pregnant while her husband was away, so according to village custom, she was punished by being set adrift in the river.
A shaman tried to defend the young girl, but the villagers would not listen to her weak excuses. They coldly threw the basket and the poor woman into the cold water.
And from here, the cruel troubles of Ghost lights begin to open.
Good premise but awkward execution
Recessed light soul The film is set in a Northern village during the war. The young men in the village have gone to war, leaving behind only women, the elderly and children. Thuong (Diem Trang) takes care of her mother-in-law and young child. After her mother passes away, she lives with her son named Linh, who is now about 4 or 5 years old.
Seeing her child feeling sorry for herself, Thuong pointed to her shadow on the wall and said that it was the child's father. Until one day, Linh brought home a strange lamp. From then on, scary things happened to the mother and child and the whole village.
Story Ghost lights inspired by The Tale of Kieu , an anthology Legendary Romance by the famous scholar Nguyen Du - a unique work in the treasure trove of Vietnamese literature in the medieval and modern periods.
In Hoang Nam’s film, the names of the characters have been changed, and new horror and spiritual elements have been added to the story of the unfortunate woman. The tragedy stems from the spirit lamp, which is described as an ancient tool used by shamans to summon souls from the underworld to the living world, telling the user many secrets.
However, it also left behind many consequences. The boy Linh's conversation with the shadow accidentally summoned an angry evil spirit, wanting to return to the mortal world to take revenge. The story became more dramatic with the appearance of the shaman Lieu (Hoang Kim Ngoc) and her younger brother Huong (Tuan Mo). Seeing the ominous situation, they sought to help the villagers fight against the evil forces.
With good material, the film started smoothly when it successfully aroused the audience's curiosity about the mysterious events taking place in the village. However, revealing the brain of all the troubles too hastily made the spiritual story lose the necessary mystery. The investigation journey as well as dealing with the evil forces seemed bland, lacking special discoveries that impressed the audience.
Ghost lights Gradually, he gets lost in the fragmented storylines, from discovering the secret of the lamp of the shaman sisters Lieu, the nightmare that plagues the house of mother and daughter Thuong, to the tragedy when the husband returns, misunderstanding his son's words and suspecting his wife of betrayal...
The pieces are awkwardly connected, while the film's rhythm is chaotic, failing to reach a climax. The predictable story is driven by dialogue, and drags on even though the knots could have been easily untied. As a result, Ghost lights The ending is clumsy, failing to deal with the mess that was created in the beginning and middle of the film.
Content full of errors, immature acting
Hoang Nam "accidentally had to carry too much" when he tried to take on too many details, making the film confusing. He actually had the idea, from developing the spiritual color revolving around the image of the lamp and the shadow on the wall, to the journey of investigating the secret connected to the tragedy that seemed to be buried in the past...
However, the director struggled to turn these ingredients into a complete, attractive dish for the audience. Because the script was not solid, the film's obvious flaws made them laugh instead of being scared - the fatal weakness of a spiritual horror project.
In fact, the biggest problem of Ghost lights lies in the building and development of characters, which is the "backbone" of a film. The film has a large number of characters, but each role has a forced and unconvincing journey.
The female lead Thuong is superficially portrayed, from her daily life, personality to her psychological struggles in the face of twists and turns and incidents. The hard work and perseverance of a girl who single-handedly supports her mother-in-law and young child are not fully portrayed. Viewers only know her as a vegetable seller through the conversation between Lieu and the woman at the market, which takes place in a flash.
Thuong's daily life is even more obscure, when the character just lies around sleeping and having nightmares. There is also no convincing expression that she really misses and longs for her husband after a long time without seeing him, not knowing if he is alive or dead. When her other half returns, the conflict in the character becomes more obvious. Thuong says she misses her husband, but her attitude is indifferent, treating him like two strangers.
Also because of that, the conflicts when the two misunderstood each other made the tragedy happen forced, difficult to convince the audience. Diem Trang was immature in expressing the psychological changes of a woman who suffered many disadvantages and injustices. The young actress's expressions were stiff, not creating chemistry with her co-star, making the couple Thuong seem like two strangers meeting for the first time.
Even the emotional connection between Thuong and her son is very awkward. The care and concern of a mother for her own child, who is also her only spiritual support, is extremely superficial. A series of strange events occur but Thuong is indifferent to her child's safety, not taking any proactive action to protect the child. Then when the incident occurs, the new character frantically searches for him and cries "Come back to me, my child" meaninglessly.
Not only Thuong, the role of the husband named Dinh (Phu Thinh) also appears awkward through the screenwriter's pen. The character's emotions change rapidly, completely arranged, for example, a moment ago he slapped his wife in a fit of jealousy but immediately afterwards he regretted and felt sorry.
The psychological line is also very erratic, one moment he is crying in pain and then suddenly happy. The character's actions are even more confusing, culminating in him hugging his child... jumping into the river to find his wife.
Ghost lights also fails to promote fear and unease - an important factor in the success of a horror film. The film fails to maintain a gloomy atmosphere, diluted by the indiscriminately inserted comedy. The scare scenes are predictable, while the cast recreates fear by widening their eyes, gasping for air or screaming loudly, repeatedly.
The exorcism scene is memorable. Exhuma, While the detail of the soul leaving the body to travel to another world, connecting with the soul of the deceased inevitably reminds the audience of Insidious ... In fact, the staging is not skillful enough, causing the spiritual materials to be wasted regrettably. The rare bright spot of Ghost lights lies in the setting and costumes. The work also offers some beautiful outdoor shots, or camera angles that more or less create a visual impression.
In his first time directing a film project, what Hoang Nam has in hand is ambition and a good idea. However, to make an impression, he needs to serve dishes prepared with a solid recipe, instead of trying to decorate the exterior but the taste is bland.
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