Vietnamese films are more harmonious between art and market

"Taxi - What's your name?" - a comedy film that has just been released but has attracted a large number of viewers and has a revenue of more than 20 billion VND after 5 days according to the distributor's announcement. On this occasion, director, People's Artist Nguyen Huu Phan has an article to share with readers of Hanoi Moi about the film as well as his truly serious thoughts about art films and market films which have long been two separate streams in our country.

For a long time, Vietnamese cinema has often divided movies into two categories: "Art Films" and "Market Films" (also known as "Entertainment Films"). It seems that people abroad do not distinguish like that. Actually, this division originated from the years when video technology was first introduced to Vietnam, when the whole country was bustling to make movies very quickly to make a profit with the "instant noodle" film genre.

Most of these films focused on sentimental or humorous love stories with handsome and beautiful actors or popular comedians... The "instant noodle" film genre eventually went bankrupt. Until the state allowed the private sector to participate in film activities, the number of films produced annually by both state and private establishments gradually increased (in 2015, the whole country produced nearly 40 films, of which only 6 were ordered and subsidized by the state).

It is undeniable that there are positive aspects and remarkable contributions of private film production and distribution units to the overall development of the country's cinema. However, there are still many privately produced films that show a lack of professionalism, carelessness, and even become "disasters"... causing concern for those who care about and love cinema. Many people "think" that the "instant noodle" film genre of the early 90s of the last century is "recovering" and the concepts of "Market Films" and "Art Films" still exist to defend or condemn cinema products.

However, the film distribution and screening market nationwide in the information technology era has created many positive changes in aesthetics and artistic awareness of the majority of audiences. Filmmakers (both in the art film and commercial film genres) also see the need to change their perceptions to survive and develop. The notion that art films do not need a large audience, or commercial films only need to earn high interest rates... will certainly not exist in the reality of innovation and international integration.

In 2015, Vietnamese cinema had significant changes, marking the change, blending, and complementing the strengths and weaknesses between the two art film genres and the market. Examples include "I see yellow flowers on the green grass", "You are my grandmother"... In early 2016, a new film was released to the audience, "Taxi - What is your name?", which also showed a high possibility of success when harmonizing the two factors mentioned above.

The film has a simple, clear plot, with tense and humorous details... and a surprising and touching ending, leaving many thoughts for the audience. This can be seen as another example of contributions to the journey of finding a way to blend artistic and commercial elements to attract audiences to Vietnamese films.

According to Hanoi Moi