'Ghost Lamp' is a box office hit but is embroiled in controversy. What does the director say?

Director Hoang Nam is happy that "The Ghost Lamp" has received positive feedback at the box office.

After two days in theaters, "The Ghost Lamp" surprisingly competed for the top spot at the box office with " The Billion Dollar Kiss." According to Box Office Vietnam data, on February 8th alone, the film directed by Hoang Nam is currently in first place with revenue reaching 10.4 billion VND (as of 4 PM). Meanwhile, Thu Trang's film earned 10.2 billion VND on February 8th. Despite having a total revenue of over 281 billion VND, in terms of revenue on February 8th, Tran Thanh's "The Four Conspiracies" only ranked third with 7.3 billion VND.

However, despite its box office success, " Ghost Lamp " has sparked much debate on social media. Many believe that, despite being a newcomer to the industry, Hoang Nam has created a well-made film with a novel theme. However, others argue that the film has many shortcomings in terms of content and the acting of the cast… Some netizens commented that "Ghost Lamp" is being overhyped by the media, while its quality doesn't match its revenue.

According to the director, folklore is one of the factors that makes "The Ghost Lamp" appealing to audiences.

Sharing with us, Hoang Nam - the director of "The Ghost Lamp" - expressed his happiness that his debut film has shown promising box office results. He recounted that he was initially worried because he "didn't know if people would accept my genre of film."

According to the director, this year's Lunar New Year film market is a competition between humorous films with love themes that appeal to young people. Moreover, the directors of these films are all well-known names that can guarantee box office success. Meanwhile, Hoang Nam feels that his film "has nothing but a plot and hard work." "The main actors are all new faces, and everyone is trying their best to be accepted by the audience. At this point, I breathe a sigh of relief. I believe that if the film is of quality, the audience will accept it," he shared.

Director Hoang Nam is not afraid to listen to audience feedback on the film.

Hoang Nam shared that when he ventured into filmmaking, he followed the guiding principle of creativity and focusing on Vietnamese culture. The director believes this is also one of the factors that helped "The Ghost Lamp" be well-received in theaters. He revealed: "To make this film, I spent 10 years researching the culture, supplementing my knowledge, and 3 years preparing the script."

Regarding the controversies surrounding the content or the actors' performances, Hoang Nam admitted that he "is used to conflicting opinions." For him, it's unavoidable when a film is released, but "I'm quite sensitive to the comments around me; I can distinguish between constructive criticism and negative feedback." He confided: "You have to be strong enough to accept it. I'm very grateful to those who give feedback so I can improve. This is my first project, so there are still many things that need improvement. I hope to hear more feedback so that my next product will be better. I hope the audience can distinguish between constructive criticism and malicious comments."

Hoang Nam affirmed that with a script deeply rooted in culture, he didn't expect much in terms of revenue. Instead, the director hoped that many people could empathize with him. "For me, finances aren't that important. I just need enough to live comfortably and do the things I love. If the audience gives me the chance, I will make another film project," he shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/den-am-hon-gay-sot-phong-ve-nhung-vuong-tranh-cai-dao-dien-noi-gi-185250208164421899.htm