A rare female screenwriter in Vietnamese cinema who put her love story on film… unexpectedly became a sensation

Screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha almost quit her job because of a "difficult" editor.

Trinh Thanh Nha is a rare female screenwriter in Vietnamese cinema who is successful in both film and television.

40 years ago, she entered the film industry and immediately achieved success with her first script, Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds. This script was written based on her own story.

Screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha talks at "Cine7 - Memories of Vietnamese Films". Photo: NSX

Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds won the Best Screenplay Award at the 1988 Vietnam Film Festival. However, the journey to film was not as easy as a "fairy tale".

Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds is Trinh Thanh Nha's graduation script. The script was revised by teachers at the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema, given high marks, and introduced to Vietnam Feature Film Studio for production.

Yet when she brought it back to the company, writer Le Phuong - the editor in charge - kept making revisions. Every time he "made" Trinh Thanh Nha read her script out loud. Six revisions were six tears. By the sixth time, she thought if she didn't get it right this time, she would tear up the manuscript and quit her job. Luckily, editor Le Phuong answered with exactly one word "okay".

Now, after 40 years, screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha considers herself “lucky” to have met such a demanding editor. She realized that when she was “forced” to read the script herself, she could listen to the language she used and the images she described to see if they were appropriate.

Just change 1 detail, the whole movie goes in a different direction

Previously, the film was called Fairy Tales for 16-year-olds, but writer Le Phuong changed it because he thought that the rhythm of the word “sixteen” sounded too awkward, so he changed it to “seventeen”. However, the meaning of that change represents more maturity.

There is a saying that “breaking a buffalo’s horn at seventeen” marks a step of maturity in a person. As for “fairy tales”, it is still the same. For screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha, her love story is full of fairy tales. When she knew that she might have fallen in love, the soldier had already sacrificed himself. That means she knew her feelings when they were gone. Therefore, it is full of fantasy, so she named it Fairy Tale for 17.

Fairy tales for 17 year olds have won many prestigious awards. Photo: TL

"Fairy tales for 17 year olds" has won many prestigious awards. Photo: TL

It was thought that after going through 6 revisions of the script with writer Le Phuong, everything would go smoothly, but the journey to film of Fairy Tales for 17-year-olds did not stop there. Screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha met directly with director Xuan Son to discuss the script. She shared that the film was 80% similar to the script she wrote. However, there was only one small detail that changed the entire script, which was in the scene during the Literature class of the little girl An.

An seemed to be not concentrating in class when the teacher (played by People's Artist Hoang Cuc) called him to the board and asked: "Please analyze the poem you like the most about the image of the liberation army in anti-American poetry."

In the script, screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha was using the song Spring Song 61 but after reading it, director Xuan Son thought that perhaps it was not as heartwarming as that, the story was full of tragedy. After many discussions, director Xuan Son used the song Red Separation - the whole film went in a rather special direction.

Excerpt from the movie “Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds”. Photo: Producer

People's Artist Thanh Tu once refused to play the role of mother.

In addition to the main character, the little girl An (played by actress Le Vi), the role of Thu's mother (played by People's Artist Thanh Tu) appears throughout the film. However, few people know that she intended to refuse this role due to the huge shadow from the film Sao thang tam with the role of Ms. Nhu.

This role left a strong impression on the audience and won many prestigious awards.

Once, while walking on Co Ngu Street (Hanoi), writer Le Phuong asked People's Artist Thanh Tu to play a role in a movie, but she agreed with him that she would not play a "nonsense" role. Because at that time, People's Artist Thanh Tu had planned to study Directing and not become an actress anymore.

And then when she got the role, People's Artist Thanh Tu really liked it. From then on, she searched for ways to express the mood of Thu's mother in the film. She used the "anti-action" acting style.

For example, in the scene where she receives the news of her son’s death, Thu’s mother puts her hand on her son’s backpack. At that moment, she could have cried if she had just turned on the switch, but she had to “hold it back”. The actor did not cry but made the audience emotional, cry… that is a success.

People's Artist Thanh Tu talks at "Cine 7 - Memories of Vietnamese Films". Photo: Producer

The program "Cine7 - Memories of Vietnamese Films" with the participation of People's Artist Thanh Tu and screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha about the movie Fairy Tales for 17-year-olds will be broadcast at 9:10 p.m. on June 7 on VTV3 channel.

Fairy tales for 17-year-olds released in 1985 was like a cool breeze blowing into Vietnamese cinema with its emotional storytelling, no harsh contradictions, no conflicts, the film has two lines between reality and fiction. The dreamy love story of a young girl is set in the real context of wartime with pain and sacrifice.
The film is set in Hanoi, starting with the appearance of An, a dreamy 17-year-old girl, pursued by many “satellites”. At that time, convoys marching to battle passed through the capital, young soldiers carried letters from themselves and their comrades, asking people to send them to their relatives.
One time, An picked up a letter from a soldier named Thai to his family. While buying stamps to send the letter to the address, An met a woman who had just returned from the soldiers' place. It was a coincidence and a surprise that the letter that An picked up was from the woman's son, Mrs. Thu.
As if finding comfort, An and Mrs. Thu became close to each other. An lost her mother at a young age, and Thai's family only had her mother at home. Thai's mother encouraged her to write a letter to Thai. From here, the Hanoi schoolgirl's feelings for the soldier fighting at the front began to arise. But when the country was at peace, the miracle did not happen... Thai never returned.
Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds is the debut work of screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha and director Xuan Son. This film won the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2017.
At the 8th Vietnam Film Festival, in addition to the Golden Lotus Award for best feature film, Fairy Tales for 17-Year-Olds also won the following awards: Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Cinematography, Best Music.

According to Ha Tung Long/ Dan Viet Newspaper

Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/tac-gia-tac-pham/202506/nu-bien-kich-hiem-hoi-cua-lang-dien-anh-viet-dua-chuyen-tinh-cua-minh-len-phim-bat-ngo-gay-sot-31926a2/