According to information from the film crew, Mr. Kim Jin Keun proactively reassured the audience before performing the kneeling action believed to be hoping the audience would watch "Mui pho": "Now, I will perform an action. I hope you are not too surprised or worried. This is just a way for Koreans to show respect". Then, the general director knelt down, bent down and sent a greeting in Vietnamese: "Happy New Year". This action received long applause and positive responses from the audience in the theater.
According to the explanation, kneeling is a traditional New Year's ritual in Korean culture, similar to the sebae ritual, expressing respect, humility and gratitude. Mr. Kim said that this is simply a cultural gesture, not meaning begging or showing weakness as some negative interpretations on social networks.
Witnessing that moment, director Minh Beta shared that he was "silent". The male director believes that the distributor's action not only stemmed from respecting the audience but also from the desire to spread Vietnamese cultural values through the film. According to director Minh Beta, "pho is just an excuse" for the work to talk about the lifestyle, way of thinking and the very unique family beauty of Vietnamese people.
The movie "Mui pho" is Minh Beta's first film project, which he determined from the beginning that it would not be easy to implement. However, he believes this is a movie "worth doing, even necessary to do" to contribute to honoring and maintaining the source of national culture. Looking back at the journey, the director affirmed that the crew has done their best and is proud of what they have achieved.
In addition, Minh Beta spoke out for the first time about negative rumors that he believed had affected the film. The male director said that the crew had witnessed many forms of unhealthy competition, from fabricating false information, running virtual comments to personal attacks.
He cited an unapproved image of the character Sa Sung (baby Bao Nam) hiding in a pho pot that was spread online and was confirmed to be the official poster. From there, some opinions said that the film has horror elements, even calling for a boycott. According to director Minh Beta, this is just a humorous hide-and-seek detail, completely not offensive.
The director also denied rumors that the movie was "unsold" related to the campaign to give 20,000 tickets to large families. He explained that this is a gratitude activity to bring the movie closer to the group of parents who rarely go to theaters. In fact, according to Minh Beta, when the movie premiered, the number of tickets sold was 10 times the number of gifted tickets, and many screenings were packed with audiences.
The male director said that after this campaign, a series of negative reviews were posted simultaneously on many forums, repeating similar content, causing the crew to suspect that there was staging to "sink" the film.
Before the controversies, director Minh Beta emphasized that the most important thing is still respect for the audience and respect for culture. He believes that culture is broad enough to be tolerant and also strong enough to protect itself with real values. Current difficulties, according to him, are part of the professional journey that he has anticipated.
