The journey of the "Little Prince" in "Ky Nam Restaurant"

The film has a nostalgic feel. (Photo: Galaxy Studio)

The Journey of the Little Prince

As director Leon Quang Le shared, the character of translator Khang is like the Little Prince, exploring life in the old apartment building where he moved under the "protection" of his powerful uncle, like exploring a planet, and each person he meets has a mission, be it a fox, or a rose...

A young translator named Khang (Lien Binh Phat), with the help of his hidden uncle, comes to work at a famous publishing house with the task of re-translating the story “The Little Prince” by author Saint Exupéry when there is already a very famous translation by poet Bui Giang. Khang moves to live in an old apartment building, where there are many “rice-powered cameras”, there are suspicions and reservations about each other’s identity and circumstances, but when there is work, they are very close and love each other.

Living on the floor below Khang is Ky Nam (Do Thi Hai Yen), a woman who was once famous for her housework skills and had her own column on housework in the newspaper. However, due to incidents in her personal life, she retired and worked as a monthly meal-cooking service for residents in the apartment building.

Tran The Manh played the role of Su quite well.

Assisting Ky Nam is Su (Tran The Manh), a smart, sensitive mixed-race boy. Su is often bullied by the children in the apartment building because of his different appearance. Contrary to his tough, taciturn appearance, Su reveals himself to be a romantic, emotional, studious, and inquisitive boy, but finds it difficult to overcome the barriers of being a child without parents and the difficult family situation of his uncle.

There are other people in the old apartment building, each with their own fate and their own choice of life path. Mr. Hao (Le Van Than), the old man who lives next to Khang's house, makes a living by practicing traditional medicine, hiding his deep sadness in vinyl records, things that "no one buys when sold, no one takes when given away", but bring him small joys every day.

Mr. and Mrs. Bang, the group leaders, are struggling between neighborly love and the cold rules of the neighborhood. Luyen (Ngo Hong Ngoc), the neighbor girl who secretly likes Khang, but is filled with jealousy and intrigue in her heart, only through events does she understand and appreciate the value of the two words "sorry"...

Lien Binh Phat plays a young translator.

Life went on like that, Khang was like the Little Prince getting to know the planet day by day. Every day, he understood more about the people living around him, and also understood himself better. The book “The Little Prince” that he had to translate, seemed to no longer be just a book, but it became a journey of “understanding oneself, understanding others”, when his neighbors contributed to helping him understand the book better.

“The Little Prince”, as director Leon Quang Le shared, is a “bedside book”, associated with the childhood of many generations in his family. He wanted to bring the book into the film, as an experience, a philosophy of life of a time.

A beautiful and poetic Saigon in the movie

The two elements that make up the beauty of “Quan Ky Nam”, besides the story and actors, are the images and the music . This is a rare, if not the only, film in Vietnam in 2025 that was shot entirely on 35mm film. Therefore, the film retains its deep beauty and is imbued with nostalgia with a slightly old-fashioned golden tone.

Old alleys with yellow lights in the movie.

Director Leon Quang Le shared that he knew choosing 35mm film was a challenge, but only film could satisfy his visual requirements, to describe an ancient Saigon, with poetic corners and everyday corners.

The objects in the movie are carefully selected.

Director Leon Quang Le was very meticulous in choosing the items of the 90s, from the shopping basket, the pot, the record player..., to the costumes. He said that his mother was the inspiration and image for him to build the film. "My mother at that time often dressed like Ms. Ky Nam: wearing black silk pants, a buttoned shirt with a mandarin collar, and a pair of high-heeled wooden clogs," he said.

The most impressive part of the film is the appearance of poet Bui Giang. Director Leon Quang Le said that the person who plays poet Bui Giang is also a very close friend of his, who understands and knows how he would act if he were him. Therefore, although his appearance is somewhat inappropriate, he still chose the character for this reason.

Do Thi Hai Yen plays a woman with a tragic fate.

The film’s music was composed by musician Ton That An. The music mainly uses string instruments, with the bass of the cello, the melodious sound of the violin, and sometimes there are emotional guitar parts… Along with the soundtrack, the old songs that originally played from the record player are also an impressive part of the film.

“Quan Ky Nam” has a slow and somewhat melancholy rhythm, but it does not bring a feeling of boredom. In fact, there are times when just missing a frame can make the viewer surprised by the next frame because they cannot catch up.

Re-enactment of a 90s wedding in a movie. Ngo Hong Ngoc as Luyen (standing far right).

It is impossible not to mention the two main actors, Lien Binh Phat and Do Thi Hai Yen. Both have been absent from movies for a long time, and have returned in a series of movies this year. Both actors have a very cinematic beauty, Do Thi Hai Yen is especially suitable for a woman of northern origin with many hidden sorrows.

The film also has some completely new faces, but they leave an impression on the audience, such as cai luong actress Ly Kieu Hanh in the role of Mrs. Bang, the wife of the neighborhood chief, elderly actor Le Van Than in the role of Mr. Hao, Khang's next-door neighbor, Ngo Hong Ngoc in the role of Luyen, the girl who secretly likes Khang, and especially Tran The Manh in the role of Su.

“Quan Ky Nam”, as director Leon Quang Le shared, is like a dish that the film crew sent to the audience. Maybe that dish is difficult to eat for most people, maybe not to the taste of many people, but the whole crew tried to “cook” it to be the most delicious with all sincerity and care.

“Quan Ky Nam” had its world cinema debut at a series of international film festivals such as Toronto (TIFF) 2025 in the Special Presentations category, screened in the A Window on Asian Cinema section at Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) 2025, screened in the Special Presentations category at Bangkok International Film Festival and was selected to compete at the Hawaii Film Festival (HIFF) 2025.

LINH KHANH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/hanh-trinh-cua-hoang-tu-be-trong-quan-ky-nam-post927136.html