Recently, the topic "Phoenix Prison Phoenix - a difficult peak to overcome in the history of bad romance historical films" continuously climbed to the top of searches on the social network Weibo (China) for 2 days, attracting a lot of attention.
Phoenix Prison Phoenix" aired in January 2018. The film is co-produced by Global Media Company Hoa Ha Thi Thinh Beijing and Hoan Ngu Anh Thi, Vu Chinh takes on the role of general producer and screenwriter.
The film has the participation of a cast including Quan Hieu Dong, Tong Uy Long, Bach Loc, Ngo Can Ngon, Hua Khai, Trieu Lo Tu...
On July 31, producer and director Vu Chinh posted a response after "Phoenix Prison Phoenix" once again became the focus of debate.
He did not speak out to justify himself, but as a person directly involved in creation, recounting the story of his mistakes, lessons and growth process.
Yu Zheng admitted that "Phoenix Prison Phoenix" really has many problems. First is the visuals and art. Before that, he had built a reputation thanks to his characteristic color scheme, but when the audience started to feel bored, he faced a wave of fierce criticism.
Because he was too eager to create a breakthrough, Yu Zheng admitted that he chose to go in the "extreme" direction, making the overall image of the film become unbalanced. However, Yu Zheng still believes that the creative process cannot always go smoothly: "You cannot stop exploring because you are afraid of failure".
According to him, the problem of the script also stems from impatience. Vu Chinh revealed that the first draft originally written specifically for the female lead was pre-determined. However, just 1 month before the start of filming, the investor suddenly requested to change the female lead (to Quan Hieu Dong).
After failing to defend the original choice, he was too eager to save the project, so he tried to increase screen time for all characters, and at the same time hoped to quickly make all the actors famous. As a result, the story gradually went off track.
He frankly said: "If there is a mistake, then all mistakes belong to me." At the same time, Vu Chinh hoped that the public would not vent their anger on the actors, because according to him, the cast Quan Hieu Dong, Tong Uy Long, Bach Loc are all hardworking and talented faces, which has been proven through their later works.
Vu Chinh emphasized: "In life, what is scary is not failure, nor is it admitting failure." According to him, each mistake is a motivation for himself to do better in the next projects.
It was thanks to drawing lessons from "Phượng tù hoàng" that Vu Chính gained a more complete artistic style in "Diên Hi công lược", a sophisticated storytelling style in "Bên tóc mai không phải hải đường hồng", as well as continuing to create a series of works later such as "Vi hữu ám hương lai", "Mặc vũ vân gian"...
From a certain perspective, the fact that "Phoenix Prison Phoenix" was once again criticized and climbed the search top is like Vu Chinh publicly looking back at his career journey.
Vu Chinh borrowed the phrase from the I Ching: "Or jump into a deep abyss, or a dragon fly into the sky" to compare this experience, arguing that ups and downs always go hand in hand, the important thing is whether you know how to learn a lesson from it or not.
