The relationship between Nguyen Nhat Anh and cinema

After 3 works: "I see yellow flowers on the green grass", "The girl from yesterday", "Mat biec", another work by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh has just been announced to be adapted to the big screen. That is the long story "Ngay xua co mot chuyen tinh" - published in 2016, reprinted more than 10 times until now. Trinh Dinh Le Minh plays the role of director for this latest adaptation.

Remembered by the audience

Producers HKFilm, CJ HK Entertainment and SATE announced on June 19 the production of the film project "Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story". This work has received many positive reviews and love from readers thanks to its gentle, romantic story but full of thoughts about love and the journey of growing up. The content of the work is about two boys named Phuc, Vinh and a girl named Mien. They have been together since childhood until adulthood, facing the challenges of fate. They start with friendship and gradually develop first love, awkwardly step into life, stumble and overcome.

Mối duyên giữa Nguyễn Nhật Ánh và điện ảnh - Ảnh 1.

The film "Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story" adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh is expected to be released in 2024. (Photo provided by the producer)

The work is not only a story about childhood and adolescence, but also reflects the love experiences of adults, from the perspective of each character instead of a single person. The producer hopes that the film will bring audiences of different ages to see their own stories in it. They remind a part of the beautiful youth and comfort the regrets and misses in each person's journey to adulthood.

"Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story" is currently looking for actors to play Phuc, Vinh and Mien. This is an equally important step in the process of adapting Nguyen Nhat Anh's work to the big screen. Because readers of this writer all have their own imaginations about the characters after enjoying and loving the work. The actors who portray them are unlikely to be 100% like in the imagination, but if they are too different and distant from the character described, they will not be able to convince the majority of the audience that they are the characters.

Therefore, the director always tries to find a new face but has a suitable appearance or certain elements that are familiar to the character that needs to be portrayed on the big screen. "The work has a very unique style of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh. In addition to subtly exploiting the emotions of marriageable age, "Ngay Xua Co Mot Tinh" also deeply exploits the choices and maturity in love. This is a very gentle but also very intense story and is probably the first work in which the writer describes the character in such a close moment in such a sensual way" - director Trinh Dinh Le Minh said.

Trinh Dinh Le Minh added that instead of feeling pressured, he is more excited about the project. He believes he will bring new feelings, atmosphere, and a truly special cinematic experience in this adaptation.

The first work of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh to be brought to the big screen was "I see yellow flowers on the green grass" directed by Victor Vu. The film created a buzz and earned more than 77 billion VND. After that, director Phan Gia Nhat Linh adapted the work "The girl from yesterday" by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh and the work earned 70 billion VND.

In 2019, director Victor Vu brought the unrequited, romantic love between Ngan and Ha Lan to the big screen. "Mat Biec" broke through the box office, earning more than 180 billion VND. Although each product adapted from the work of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh had mixed opinions, all were successful in terms of revenue and were remembered by the audience.

Extending the good relationship

Most of the films adapted from the works of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh have invested in the script, director, cast selection, and setting. Many people in the industry believe that this is an important factor contributing to the success, creating a good relationship between Nguyen Nhat Anh's works and cinema. The adaptation needs to retain the "essence" of the writer's story but still have a moderate, balanced creativity of the screenwriter and director through conveying emotions through images to the audience.

Literary works are the imagination and soaring of words, so each person has a different way of imagining, while films are images, are the currents of emotions that can be seen with the eyes and heard with the ears. Therefore, the director must convince the audience when visualizing the soaring imaginations on the pages of the book without being too strange or different, leading to disappointment for readers who love the original story. This is a big challenge for filmmakers who choose to adapt literary works to the big screen.

For the adaptation to be successful, in addition to the director's role, the film crew also had to find suitable actors and build the scene to match the space described. To find Ngan and Ha Lan, the "Mat Biec" film crew selected and screened more than 1,400 candidates from all over the country. Finally, they chose two people whose appearance matched the writer's description and also matched the majority of the work's fans' thoughts about the characters.

"Literary works in general and the works of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh in particular are a valuable treasure for filmmakers. Adapting these works has advantages in terms of brand, plot, and script, but there are also many challenges and difficulties to overcome. Filmmakers must make creative efforts to bring the audience a good film. A good work that convinces the majority will be successful in terms of revenue" - screenwriter Dong Hoa commented.

Insiders believe that with the current success, it is not surprising that producers will continue to bring Nguyen Nhat Anh's works to the big screen in the near future. Because the film is successful, the audience is interested, the producer has revenue, there is no reason not to continue to extend the good relationship between Nguyen Nhat Anh's works and cinema.

According to journalist Cat Vu, the film adaptation of Nguyen Nhat Anh's story is successful because the story wins over the audience. If they see themselves in it, they will like it and support it.

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