Critic Nguyen Phong Viet: "Peach, Pho and Piano"

Sharing with The Gioi and Viet Nam newspaper, critic Nguyen Phong Viet said that in the midst of a Tet film season that is heavy on entertainment, a historical film like Dao, Pho and Piano will be a strange and interesting dish for the audience.

Critic Nguyen Phong Viet said that the film Dao, Pho and Piano is a strange flavor during this year's Tet season. (Photo: NVCC)

The movie Peach, Pho and Piano is currently the center of attention on all social networks. From the perspective of a film critic, how do you rate the popularity of this movie?

In fact, the movie Dao, Pho and Piano has been released more widely in the past two days. This is probably the time when we can most accurately assess whether the movie is hot or not, whether it touches the audience's emotions or not? In the previous days, there were many reasons to create such a phenomenon from the impact of social networks.

In the impact of social networks will create a huge crowd attraction. If talking about the success and quality of the film can not be clearly affirmed.

However, from a personal perspective, I think it's a good sign because perhaps there has never been a State film that people can talk about, wait for and hunt for tickets so busily.

The film with the theme of war and nostalgia for an invisible Hanoi is something very strange, very new, very interesting. I think the taste of Dao, Pho and Piano is a strange taste in this year's Tet season. I just hope that when the cinema systems will let everyone enjoy a delicious dish, instead of looking at it from the perspective of watching online, or "listening to others" without actually experiencing it to know what emotions that work brings.

The fact that a State-owned work has attracted such attention, is this a positive sign for historical films and State-funded cinematographic works?

From the most recent story of Southern Forest Land, then Dao, Pho and Piano in a film market that is heavily entertainment-oriented, it is clear that films about history or films with themes inspired by history will be easy to please audiences.

It is not by chance that people talk about Dat Rung Phuong Nam with mixed opinions, but that proves that public opinion is very interested and not indifferent. The story lies in whether we can make historical films or films inspired by history that are attractive or not to attract audiences. I also hope that after the most recent story of Dat Rung Phuong Nam , most recently Dao, Pho and Piano , in the near future we will have more projects including private and state projects, making films with historical themes. If those are good films, I believe the audience will not disappoint the directors or producers who work on Vietnamese history.

It must also be said that Vietnam's history has many interesting stories and many interesting topics to explore, but in the end, whether we have enough talent to turn those "ingredients" into attractive stories is the problem.

Many people wonder who are the works ordered by the State with a budget of up to tens of billions of VND produced for, when the audience - the main and only target audience of the cinema works who want to watch them - have difficulty accessing the film? Is it necessary to spread this film to more audiences?

Wider dissemination is natural because I think anyone who creates a work of art wants to reach the public. That is the psychology, the desire, the legitimate need of the creator of the work. However, from the story of “Peach, Pho and Piano”, we see a huge shortcoming: State-produced films only invest in production costs, not in promotion costs.

In today's era, if we compare a movie to a delicious dish, the important thing is how to let people know about that dish. So we need to promote, communicate, and spread it, instead of waiting for people to come and enjoy it?

We must understand that no private entity will distribute a State film for free. Therefore, the State should make adjustments to the regulations that film production requires funds for PR and Marketing, as well as clearly stipulate the profit sharing ratio with the private entity distributing the film.

In the film, actress Cao Thuy Linh plays a young lady named Huong. Huong has a wartime romance with a militia soldier named Dan (Doan Quoc Dam).

From the “fever” of this film, do you think young people are very interested in history? Do we need more films like “Peach, Pho and Piano”?

To be honest, Vietnamese history has many proud stories and periods. I believe that young Vietnamese people, although growing up in a world of rapidly developing technology, and their lives are connected through very powerful technological platforms, clearly Vietnamese history and culture are always things to be proud of, accompanied by a desire to understand more deeply... Because it is in the blood, not just a story of the times anymore. To make a historical film or one inspired by history that is supported by everyone, it is necessary to avoid imposition and forcedness; it is necessary to create naturalness, appeal, and attraction.

Looking at Korean films, they make films about history but still find them very attractive, very entertaining... They borrow historical stories to tell very real, very good messages without imposing. We have the funding to make them, have valuable "materials" from history but need talented people to make good historical films.

So, in order to promote the development of the film market as well as the entertainment industry, what "pushes" do you think are needed?

We must admit that the Vietnamese film industry is currently in private hands. The success of Tran Thanh or Ly Hai shows that they are successful because of their great personal efforts, not representing the film industry in general. If we want to move towards a strong, well-founded film industry with sustainable development, we need to invest in an entire generation, including scholarship funds and support mechanisms for talent in the film industry.

Moreover, it is time for us to change our mindset in filmmaking, especially with works funded by the state. There must be a systematic strategy from production to distribution to have successful historical films, with high revenue and touching the emotions of the audience.

Thank you!

Nguyen Phong Viet (born in 1980) is a poet, journalist, and film critic. His published poetry collections have created publishing phenomena in Vietnam, selling tens of thousands of copies, a rare thing for Vietnamese poetry in the previous decades. Famous works of poet Nguyen Phong Viet include Passing Through Memories, From Love to Love, Born to Be Lonely, etc.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nha-phe-binh-nguyen-phong-viet-dao-pho-va-piano-mon-an-la-va-thu-vi-261805.html