12 movies competing for the Golden Kite Award
"The Scent of Burning Grass", "Mother's Soul", "Rebellious Hot Boy" compete with "Vietnamese film disasters" such as "Hello Miss Ba", "The Erasure Order" in the feature film category of the Kite Awards, which will take place on the evening of March 17 in Hanoi.
1. The smell of burning grass
Winning the Silver Lotus Award at the 17th Vietnam Film Festival held in Phu Yen late last year, The Scent of Burning Grass is a war-themed film directed by Huu Muoi. Set in 1971, the film revolves around the story of four university students from Hoang - Thanh - Thang - Long who decide to join the army following the general mobilization order. Their youth was buried amidst bombs, bullets, smoke and fire on the Quang Tri front...
|
The four characters Hoang - Thanh - Thang - Long in "The Scent of Burning Grass". |
This year, state-owned films only have two entries, Mui Co Chay and Tam Hon Me, but director Huu Muoi’s work is currently the strongest candidate for the Golden Kite Award for many reasons. The themes of war and history are always “safe” choices for the judges, and the positive public opinion after its screening gives Mui Co Chay a better chance of winning.
2.Hot boy rebel
The film, which explores the theme of homosexuality by director Vu Ngoc Dang, also won the Silver Lotus Award, along with many awards for acting and directing at the 17th Vietnam Film Festival. The film revolves around two main storylines, one about a young homosexual man named Khoi who comes from the countryside to Saigon to start a career and encounters many temptations, the other story is about the love between a prostitute and a silly chubby boy called Thang Cuoi...
Despite receiving mixed reviews upon its release, Rebel Hot Boy had a huge impact. The film was featured at international film festivals such as the Toronto Film Festival (Canada), the Hong Kong Gay Film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival (Germany). In a year with so many “cinematic disasters” like 2011, the fact that Rebel Hot Boy was named the winner of the Golden Kite Award is not too surprising.
3.That… or this?
Considered the “unknown” of this year’s Kite Award, That… or this is the debut work of a Vietnamese-American female director over 60 years old, Siu Pham. The film tells the story of a Vietnamese-American woman whose foreign husband retired and returned to live in a fishing village on the riverside in Vietnam. The transformation of the village when the problem of “urbanization” flooded in made everything in this peaceful riverside area become “half-fat, half-lean”…
That… or this belongs to the auteur genre with a cinematic language different from many Vietnamese films.
4.Mother's soul
Based on the idea from the short story of the same name by writer Nguyen Huy Thiep, Mother's Soul revolves around the story of a mother and daughter living in the middle of the Red River. The mother (Hong Anh) is always busy making a living and is absorbed in chasing a hopeless love. Meanwhile, the daughter (Phung Hoa Hoai Linh) is young but independent, always protecting and sheltering her best friend. The film is the contrast between the impulsive "grown-up" mother and the mature "childish" mother.
This film marks the return to cinema of female director Nhuệ Giang after a decade. She said she had cherished the idea of making Mother's Soul for 20 years but had to go through many challenges and difficulties to complete it. The story is not new, which is the factor that prevented Mother's Soul from reaching the Golden Kite. However, the performance of child actor Phùng Hoa Hoài Linh is a bright spot that promises to create surprises for the film.
5.Blood Curse
The Curse of Blood Artemis directed by Bui Thac Chuyen is about three medical students who discover an ancient wooden box containing a piece of withered wood and a charm in Professor Hoan Sinh's drawer. This is a type of wormwood made from human blood and is a secret medicine of the Sang La ethnic group. The search takes the three students to a dark house and they meet Chieu Duong, a beautiful but mysterious 16-year-old girl...
With a half commercial, half artistic style, Blood Curse has somewhat impressed the audience when it was shown on the occasion of Lunar New Year 2012. Compared to the other 11 films, this is considered a work that harmonizes all elements, from entertainment to author, from story to acting. Blood Curse also has many opportunities to compete in the categories of Director (for Bui Thac Chuyen) or Acting (for Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc).
6. Love Fee
The central character of the film is Hien Diu (Minh Hang), a beautiful girl with a strong personality and a debt collector at the bank. While looking for debtor Ly Van Giau (Huy Khanh), Diu meets handsome actor Hoang Phu. Love blossoms between Diu and Hoang Phu. However, this beautiful, romantic and extremely passionate love story still does not make Diu forget her "sacred mission" of tracking down the hateful Ly Van Giau.
Although it is a purely entertainment work, Love Fee received many compliments and positive feedback from the audience during the 2012 Lunar New Year. In addition to the Golden Kite for Best Film, Love Fee also has the opportunity to compete for awards for Best Cinematography, Best Soundtrack or Best Art Design.
7. Long Ruoi
To date, Long Ruoi is the highest-grossing film in the history of Vietnamese cinema, with over 2 million USD (over 42 billion VND) in box office revenue. In the film, Thai Hoa plays two roles - Teo, a poor country chef who comes to the city to make a living, and Long Ruoi, the most notorious mafia boss in Saigon. After a gangland settlement, Long Ruoi is left in a vegetative state and the gangsters have to find someone to replace him.
With a face that looks exactly like Long Ruoi, Teo, a simple farmer, suddenly became a "big brother" with a mansion, a car and surrounded by long-legged girls. Teo fell in love with Long Ruoi's beautiful girlfriend, Nga (Tinna Tinh). However, he did not expect that he would be the pawn being used. Although a hit, Long Ruoi was not highly appreciated in terms of cinema. At Canh Dieu this time, the film has many opportunities in the acting category.
8.Curve Dance
In the film, Vo Thanh Tam plays Le Dinh Long, a young, handsome dentist who is influenced by the modern, hurried lifestyle but is loyal to... instant noodles. Kim Phuong plays the female lead, a beautiful young actress who is passionate about belly dancing and gives viewers graceful, captivating dances. Released during the recent Lunar New Year, the revenue of Dance of Curves was quite miserable.
|
A scene from the movie "Curves". |
The film was initially advertised as a belly dancing film, but what happened on screen was very different. The Curve Dance caused quite a lot of controversy about its entertainment value and cinematic language. However, the way the film was set up was quite new and unique. The irony and social satire in the film also made the audience laugh to some extent. However, at Canh Dieu this time, the opportunity for the Curve Dance was not high.
9.
Also having a disappointing box office performance was Saigon Yo! by Vietnamese director Stephane Gauger. The film tells the story of two girls, Mai and Kim, who have two different lives and passions. Mai lives in Bac Lieu and has been passionate about silk dancing since childhood, while Kim was orphaned at a young age, lives on the streets and has a strong love for hip hop. The chance encounter not only brought a beautiful friendship to the two young girls, but also created impressive performances.
Having been highly appreciated for the film Owl and Sparrow (which won the Best Foreign Cooperation Film and Press Award at the Golden Kite Awards 2008), Stephane Gauger has disappointed many people with Saigon Yo! However, this time, his film with hip hop and youth themes has many opportunities to compete for the Acting Award (for the young actress Quynh Hoa).
10. The house in the alley
The House in the Alley by director Le Van Kiet was released on Valentine’s Day but was also submitted for the Golden Kite Award. Talking about the middle class of modern Saigon, the film depicts the tragedy of a young couple who lost their first child due to the wife’s miscarriage. Returning home after a long stay in the hospital, the wife is tormented by that great loss and begins to show strange and out-of-control behaviors…
|
Ngo Thanh Van is mysterious in "The House in the Alley". |
Receiving many criticisms about the content, story, filming... but The House in the Alley still has a chance in the acting category because both Ngo Thanh Van and Tran Bao Son are bright spots that save the film. However, in the Best Actress category, Ngo Thanh Van will have to "fight" with the strongest candidate of this award, Phung Hoa Hoai Linh, the child actor of Mother's Soul.
11.Delete command
Released in April last year, The Order to Erase is labeled as an action-martial arts film. With an investment of 600,000 USD (nearly 12 billion VND), The Order to Erase deals with current social evils such as racing, betting, gambling, drugs... through the story of a criminal group, led by drug lord Tran (Nguyen Chanh Tin). Under the command of the boss Tran are quite a few subordinates. The henchmen are ordered to "erase" a young man named Hoang...
There are many fighting scenes and intense action, but the script of The Erasure Order is loose, with many details that are too absurd and easy. The bland story combined with some comedy scenes that do not fit the content of the film also made The Erasure Order a failure. However, the film is still very confident in competing for the Golden Kite Award this time.
12. Hello Miss Ba
Although it was the highest grossing film during the 2012 Lunar New Year (over 25 billion VND), Hello Miss Ba is considered the “king of disasters” among all Vietnamese cinema disasters to date. The film is about a gentle and simple guy named Tu Lan (Hoai Linh), who fell into a well when he saw Luu (Kim Thu) bathing. Later, Luu became his wife, but since the fall, Lan has the ability to predict what has happened, is happening, and will happen to everyone around her…
Causing laughter in a popular way with a series of comedy scenes that were patched together and filmed, Hello Miss Ba was criticized quite a lot right after its release. However, the audience was still curious to go to the cinema to watch it and the film had high box office revenue. The presence of Hello Miss Ba at the Golden Kite this year promises to bring many humorous comments from the audience on the award night.
According to Express
