What are your feelings when your second "spiritual child" directed by you debuts to the audience at the beginning of the new year - the first screening is always awaited?
- I naturally wait to be welcomed by the audience. But in the end, the important thing is that the audience must go to the theater to know. Many times I believe that I tell a good story, but if the audience does not come to the theater, they will not have the opportunity to know where the good part lies.
Why did you decide to choose the setting of the Mekong Delta, even bringing the film back to the 1960s with a nostalgic spirit instead of putting the story in a "common" space like a city?
- With this story, the context of the Mekong Delta is mandatory. It cannot take place in Saigon or the North. The story must be in the Mekong Delta - a Mekong Delta associated with the childhood of many people, belonging to the Southern cultural class very clearly.
I chose the 1960s, choosing "the past" because at that time, women often had more endurance and sacrifice. Women today, including myself, still sacrifice, still endure, but always have a limit. That limit is different from the "endurance to the end" style of the character Men. So, when choosing the context and time, I want the story to stand in its right place to convince.
A character like Men in the movie sacrificed almost his whole life. In what direction do you see this character?
- I see that Men has positive points, not just a series of events. Actually, a person's life is decades long, no one says they don't encounter events. Men is also like that: there are happy moments, happy moments with her husband, family, parents, and siblings... It's just that when making a movie, everything is wrapped up in a certain amount of time, the audience can feel "why so miserable".
But looking broadly, I believe that in real life there are still many miserable lives like that. Many times I am "looking sideways" or "looking upwards", so I don't see the unhappiness below.
Have you ever experienced such sudden upheavals in your life?
- I am lucky not to encounter continuous upheavals like Men, but everyone has upheavals. The important thing is what "eyes" we look at upheavals - negative or positive.
For example, there was a time when I went to work, was running a project, heard the news of my mother's death. At that time, I still had to try to complete the necessary things before I could run back. The tragedy came, but I chose to see it through.
Why don't you choose the premiere schedule close to Lunar New Year when the audience has more time to go to theaters but release it at the end of the solar year?
- Right from the beginning, this script was not "closed" during the Lunar New Year. When making plans for the company, each year there must be a movie release schedule according to each milestone, and it is necessary to work with the distributor very early: choosing the schedule, signing contracts, preparing communication... From the beginning, we determined that this is a movie of the end of 2025 - the beginning of 2026, not a Tet movie.
At the movie premiere, the moment you reunited with Truong Giang and Tran Thanh was noticed. Audiences have long put it on the scale, thinking that everyone is an "opponent". What do you think?
- For me, it's a normal reunion of three friends. I have an event, I invite; you come when you are free, if you are not free, then leave.
The only difference is that my two friends are too famous, so everyone focuses on looking at them, and the relationship between the three of us is also scrutinized more closely. And the essence is still colleagues - friends who come to congratulate each other, not competitors at all.
After the screening, did Tran Thanh and Truong Giang text or share anything with you?
- Yes! Both of them said I sent pictures to post and share to help my movie.
Is your family affected by rumors and negative comments on social networks?
- I am less affected because I don't live much on social networks. Mr. Luat (meaning the husband of a female artist - PV) is more affected, because he likes to browse and read.
Audiences often call you "hundred-billion-dong female director", "hundred-billion-dong star"... How do you accept those titles?
- Saying it's not funny is a lie. Only when you have achievements do people call you. I am happy because it is the recognition of the media, audiences, and colleagues in the profession for my development.
Before, I also felt pressure, but now that everyone loves calling me that, I accept it. I don't deny it.
Thank you for sharing!
