Vietnamese cinema struggles with film adaptations

NGỌC DỦ |

Making films adapted from famous books and stories is a potential direction for Vietnamese cinema, but besides the advantages, filmmakers are facing many huge challenges from public reactions.

Classic literary works such as "The Old Man" by Nam Cao or "The Tale of Kieu" by Nguyen Du... to best-selling books such as "Mat Biec", "Kaleidoscope", "I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass"... are resources exploited by many directors.

Obviously, making films inspired by these works easily attracts audiences, increasing brand recognition for upcoming film projects. However, this genre of films is unstable, not always successful in terms of revenue.

Vietnamese films inspired by famous works are unstable at the box office

The movie "Kaleidoscope" by Vo Thanh Hoa, shown in theaters from December 23, 2024 to January 13, 2025, has only 33 screenings left in all theaters nationwide, with a total revenue of 5.92 billion VND.

This can be considered the most controversial work in late 2024 and early 2025. “Kaleidoscope” is a film for teenagers adapted from the famous work of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh. Previously, the film had a very popular TV version. However, when bringing this work to the big screen, the project could not achieve the expected success.

Most recently, the film “Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story” adapted from the literary work of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh was released in late 2024 but did not have the expected appeal. The film only earned 45 billion VND.

Not only are there film projects adapted from famous books and stories, but classic works when adapted into films also do not have a better ending. Among them, the film Kieu by director Phi Tien Son, inspired by the work Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du, produced by Mai Thu Huyen, was released in November 2020 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of the great poet Nguyen Du and left the theater with only a few billion VND in revenue.

The film Cau Vang, adapted from the short story Lao Hac by writer Nam Cao, is a special film project - the first time a dog took on the main role in a Vietnamese film released in 2021, also suffered heavy losses with revenue of several billion VND.

In the context of Vietnamese films currently lacking good scripts, taking inspiration from famous literary works and books to make films is considered a good direction for Vietnamese filmmakers.

However, if the adaptation is not careful, it can easily cause backlash. Remember the work "Cau Vang" inspired by the story Lao Hac by writer Nam Cao, which received a strong backlash from the audience because the image of Cau Vang being poor and hungry was deeply ingrained in the audience's mind while the film crew chose a Shiba dog with a chubby appearance and not pure Vietnamese to play the role of Cau Vang...

However, there are still successful film adaptations such as “Mat Biec” which brought in revenue of 180 billion VND and was the film representing Vietnam to be submitted for the preliminary selection for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 93rd Oscars. “Dat Rung Phuong Nam” directed by Nguyen Quang Dung is also a film inspired by classic works with one of the best revenue with 140 billion VND.

Need to change the mindset of filmmaking

In the context of Vietnamese cinema still being limited in many aspects such as weak scripts, low film budget, especially with films adapted from literary works, books, stories... the boldness of directors like Vo Thanh Hoa and Trinh Dinh Le Minh in adapting a famous work has breathed new life into it, contributing to diversifying the content of films shown in theaters in the market.

However, film adaptations are not easy because they are easily compared to the original work by the audience. Even with films that already have a television version such as Dat Rung Phuong Nam, Kinh Kaleidoscope... the comparisons from the audience are even greater.

The biggest factor that makes a work successful or not is the adaptation of the film crew. Many film crews, in order to create new details for the adapted works, have added many stories, which has the opposite effect and created conflicting controversies.

The recent box office failures of “Kaleidoscope” and “Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story” are also lessons for film crews who want to pursue adaptations. That is to constantly continue to seek new approaches, learn from, and survey audience opinions.

In fact, every film market must have filmmakers who dare to think, dare to do and be bold with their direction.

NGỌC DỦ
TIN LIÊN QUAN

Minister of National Defense chaired the Conference on handover of the position of Commander of Military Region 7

|

HCMC - On July 9, General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense chaired the Conference to hand over the position of Commander of Military Region 7.

Hanoi sets out the principles for arranging commune-level cadres and civil servants

|

Hanoi - The arrangement of commune-level civil servants and public employees is carried out according to the principle of maintaining existing staff, allocating them in accordance with job positions and training levels.

Close-up of the proposed street named Hang Long

|

Hanoi - The name of Hang Long ancient town is proposed to be restored, giving the name to the road from Tran Binh Trong intersection to Yet Kieu intersection.

Noi Bai - Lao Cai Expressway is expected to be expanded to 4 lanes in September 2025

|

Lao Cai - The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) agreed to soon upgrade the Yen Bai - Lao Cai Expressway to 4 lanes.

Hundreds of dead pigs discovered floating on canals in Thanh Hoa

|

Thanh Hoa - Since the beginning of July, nearly 100 dead pigs have been thrown floating on the North Canal and related canals, causing serious environmental pollution.

Điện ảnh Việt Nam muốn vang âm trên trường quốc tế cần thay đổi cách làm

Trần Thi |

Tại hội thảo Điện ảnh Pháp và mối quan hệ với điện ảnh Việt Nam được tổ chức ngày 3.7 trong khuôn khổ Liên hoan phim châu Á Đà Nẵng lần II, PGS. TS Hoàng Cẩm Giang - Trường Đại học Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn, ĐHQGHN đã chỉ ra những điểm mà điện ảnh Việt Nam cần học hỏi qua trào lưu Làn sóng mới Pháp.

Điện ảnh Việt Nam cần những gương mặt mới

NGỌC DỦ |

Việc chọn diễn viên cho các vai trong phim, rõ ràng, chiếm gần như nửa thành công. Không phủ nhận, với những gương mặt gạo cội, họ có nhiều kinh nghiệm làm chủ cảm xúc tốt hơn các diễn viên trẻ khi hóa thân vào các nhân vật khác nhau. Tuy nhiên, việc dăm ba bữa lại thấy những gương mặt ấy xuất hiện ở nhiều bộ phim liền mạch, khán giả khó tránh khỏi nhàm chán.

Cơ hội phát triển mới cho điện ảnh Việt Nam

Anh Tuấn |

Liên hoan Phim quốc tế TPHCM (HIFF) lần thứ nhất với nhiều sự kiện đậm tính chuyên môn, mở ra cơ hội phát triển cho các nhà làm phim trẻ, với tham vọng - TPHCM thành một trung tâm điện ảnh của khu vực Đông Nam Á.

Để điện ảnh Việt Nam ngày càng đậm nét trên bản đồ thế giới

Việt Văn |

Với chiến lược công nghiệp văn hóa, trong đó có công nghiệp điện ảnh, nền điện ảnh Việt có nhiều điều kiện thuận lợi để phát triển trong thời công nghệ số, nhất là khi Luật Điện ảnh năm 2022 kế thừa có chỉnh lý, sửa đổi, bổ sung 32 điều, quy định mới 18 điều so với Luật Điện ảnh năm 2006 - tạo hành lang pháp lý thuận lợi cho ngành điện ảnh. Trong xu thế toàn cầu hóa, hội nhập quốc tế, việc tham gia và tổ chức các Liên hoan phim quốc tế, và tổ chức các Tuần phim Việt Nam tại nước ngoài, đã góp phần quảng bá hình ảnh Việt Nam ra thế giới mạnh mẽ.