Hoai Linh brings tears to the audience in the movie 'Da Co Hoai Lang'

Meritorious Artist sheds his familiar comedy to portray the inner tragedy of an old Vietnamese man in the West in a film adapted from a famous play.

Da Co Hoai Lang is a project that many audiences have been looking forward to since the trailer was released at the beginning of the year. The idea of ​​adapting the film was nurtured by director Nguyen Quang Dung many years ago, when he watched the play of the same name on stage 5B Vo Van Tan. The film started filming at the end of 2015, bringing together veteran names such as Meritorious Artist Hoai Linh, Chi Tai, Meritorious Artist Thanh Hoang and a young cast such as Dinh Hieu, Will, Oanh Kieu...

Retaining most of the details in the original script, the film focuses on the feelings of many overseas Vietnamese who are homesick, along with the ideological conflicts between the old and young generations in families in foreign lands.

Mr. Tu Lanh (Hoai Linh) sold his land and house to move to New York, America to live with his children and grandchildren. In the middle of the modern city, he and Nam Trieu (Chi Tai) - his childhood friend - returned to the countryside through flashbacks. He still buried his love for his late wife. Meanwhile, his niece Tammy (Trish Le) - who lived in America since childhood - felt increasingly isolated and alienated from her grandfather in terms of lifestyle and temperament.

In this project, Hoai Linh is a notable name when taking on the main role..Many people think that Meritorious Artist is a comedian, and a familiar face on television, which can easily cause a feeling of saturation for the audience. However, director Nguyen Quang Dung said that Hoai Linh was his first choice for the role of Mr. Tu because the artist exudes the simplicity of a Southern old man, plus the advantage of having lived abroad for many years. In the film, the artist continues to promote his acting charm with the character that brought him the Mai Vang Award in 2009 in the categoryfor drama actors.

Stage comedy was applied and adapted by Hoai Linh to bring into cinema.. He showed a playful and slightly mischievous acting style in the scene where Tu Lanh explained words to his niece and her boyfriend, or the way he joked with Nam Trieu. Combining with his long-time co-star, Hoai Linh showed his ability to act comedy. The dialogues were inserted appropriately in the scenes, helping the first half of the film to lessen the heavy, sentimental feeling.

Hoai Linh's ability to immerse himself in scenes rich in inner feelings creates a highlight for the film. Before the film was released, many people questioned the comedian's often dramatic acting style, which made his roles exaggerated and dramatic. In the new film, the tragic scenes are delicately portrayed by Meritorious Artist. Audiences are easily moved when they see Mr. Tu's face contort because his granddaughter wants to call the police to arrest him, or the way the character frantically runs after the bus after escaping from the nursing home.

In the flashback scenes, viewers see Mr. Tu with a hint of sadness about being away from home. In particular, the scene where the main character performs the theme song - Da Co Hoai Lang - creates an emotional climax. Many viewers shed tears at Hoai Linh's choked voice and tearful eyes when portraying the moment Tu Lanh remembers the moment his wife passed away.

Acting alongside Hoai Linh, Chi Tai failed to create an emotional counterbalance in the heavy psychological scenes. In the tragic scene at the end of the film, the character Nam Trieu failed to portray the feeling of shock and pain. His acting also failed to give the audience a clear picture of the close relationship between Tu Lanh and Nam Trieu. They were not only friends and rivals, but also two old men lost in America, living on each other's backs with sparkling memories of their homeland.

The difference between the film version and the original play is the past scenes, performed by the trio of actors Dinh Hieu, Will, and Oanh Kieu.The love triangle is set in a rural setting: a village pond, a wedding procession on a boat, an ancient opera troupe... Interwoven between the present and the past is the contrast between the white of the cold snow and the green of the grass and leaves, and the village sky.

Throughout the film, the director's cinematic techniques are still vague. The film's storytelling mainly uses the existing stage script, according to the main character's narration. The director's rare experiment is to suggest the visualization of space with flycam shots of white snow or immense rice fields. The music through Duc Tri's hands contributes to the film's melancholy tone and somewhat creates an echo.

According to VNE