Meritorious Artist - director Phi Tien Son of "Peach, Pho and Piano" once had a powerful, edgy film "Net of Heaven" released in 2003.
Sky Net" is one of the rare political films of Vietnamese cinema that goes straight to the topic of corruption by senior leaders with a systematic scale, not stopping at small-scale individual cases.
When receiving the script from screenwriter Nguyen Manh Tuan, Phi Tien Son admitted that he was both surprised and deeply concerned. "This was a difficult and quite sensitive topic at that time," the director shared.
At that time, there were very few means to delve into the topic of corruption with the leadership system like the "Heaven's Net" scenario.
The "heaven's net" with a systematic perspective has opened up a new and bold approach.
The film revolves around the character Tu Le - General Director of a large bank, played by NSND Dao Ba Son.
Tu Le is not a one-sided villain, but a person with a clear awareness of their mistakes and limitations, but still caught up in the vortex of power, pressure and complex relationships, difficult to find a way out.
This psychological depth has helped "Net of Heaven" surpass the framework of ordinary political films, touching deeper layers of humanistic meaning.
The film was born during a period of strong transformation in Vietnamese cinema. Director Phi Tien Son said that the generation of directors at that time, including him and Meritorious Artist Le Hoang, People's Artist Pham Nhue Giang, all yearned to bring the screen closer to real life, turning cinema into a place for frank dialogue with social issues.
With a sensitive topic, "Sky Net" must go through a strict censorship process. When released, the film was only screened in a limited way, with almost no promotion.
However, the work still affirms its artistic value through a series of major awards: Golden Kite 2002, Best Leading Actress Mai Vang 2003, Silver Lotus and Best Screenwriter award at the 14th Vietnam Film Festival.
According to Phi Tien Son, political films require professionals not only to have skills but also to have bravery.
This is a difficult film genre, but it does not mean a lack of audience. The important thing is the storytelling and approach," he emphasized. The director hopes that in the future the boundaries between political films and entertainment films will narrow, helping Vietnamese cinema to be both widely attractive and not alienated from hot issues of life.
The selection of "Rain Net" to be screened at the 4th Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF IV) in the program "The Face of Vietnamese Cinema 40 years of Doi Moi period" is an opportunity for audiences, especially the young generation, to re-apprehend a work rich in thoughtful values. At the same time, this is also a way to recognize the journey of daring to speak, daring to innovate of Vietnamese cinema through decades.
