The movie "Cong Tu Bac Lieu" was expected to create a storm at the box office when it was released on December 6. The film brings together a famous cast, with the participation of 2 "Drunk brothers" Song Luan, Cong Duong, "billionaire beauty" Kaity Nguyen, Miss Grand Vietnam 2022 Doan Thien An, and many veteran artists such as Thanh Loc, Huu Chau...
“The Young Master of Bac Lieu” by director Ly Minh Thang was welcomed with great enthusiasm with an attractive theme as the script was adapted from the anecdotes of “burning money without hesitation”, the lavish and wealthy life of the young master of Bac Lieu in the past.
“Bac Lieu Prince” is a famous phrase, referring to the wealthy young masters, the notorious playboys of Bac Lieu. Among them, the most prominent are the anecdotes about the life of Mr. Tran Trinh Huy (1900-1974), also known as Ba Huy, who was a famous playboy in Saigon and the South in the 1930s - 1940s.
Many details in the movie “Cong Tu Bac Lieu” are inspired by anecdotes about the lavish spending, the lavish lifestyle, and the life full of money of Mr. Tran Trinh Huy (Third Young Master). With an attractive theme, many materials from anecdotes revolving around the lives of real characters, plus a famous cast, “Cong Tu Bac Lieu” is expected to dominate the box office at the end of the year, quickly reaching the hundred billion revenue mark to join the “top hundred billion movies” of Vietnamese cinema.
However, “The Prince of Bac Lieu” fell off the box office horse due to its sketchy editing and lack of depth in the script. The film was considered a superficial imitation of folk tales.
The wealth, extravagance, and wild personality of the character "Mr. Ba" (Song Luan) lies mainly in... the dialogue. The character repeatedly mentions having to buy a plane... more as an obsession than as the wildness of youth.
The anecdotes about the character "the legendary Bac Lieu prince" who burned money to cook sweet soup, buy airplanes, organize beauty contests... were superficially constructed, lacking highlights, lacking the arrangement of a skilled storyteller, to make those folk materials step onto the screen with an attractive, vivid appearance.
The film lacks the valuable extras of a cinematic work, so it is only colorful in costumes and appearance, without the necessary depth. Because the plot of the film is simple, the efforts in acting of Song Luan, Kaity Nguyen or Cong Duong are all unsuccessful.
![Canh trong phim “Cong tu Bac Lieu“. Anh: Nha san xuat](https://media-cdn-v2.laodong.vn/storage/newsportal/2024/12/17/1436544/Congtubaclieu.jpg)
Cong Duong, with his face always "looking dangerous", suddenly became redundant with his quick appearance and inconsistent psychology. Miss Doan Thien An had so little screen time that it didn't matter if her character didn't appear.
Kaity Nguyen and Song Luan tried to make their characters come alive, but the script's details weren't enough to help them have memorable roles in their careers...
The audience regretted that the anecdotes about the romantic and dissolute life of the young master of Bac Lieu were minimized in the movie. These details should have been exploited more to create a multifaceted image of a notorious playboy.
With its inherent material and theme, "Cong Tu Bac Lieu" could have become a movie that swept the box office more than it did, if it had a better, more creative script.