I woke up after the hundred billion movies!

After 6 years of "hiding", Vu Ngoc Dang returned and made many people admire with 2 films "Bo Gia" (revenue of 420 billion VND) and "Chi chi em em 2" (revenue of 121 billion VND). He shared with Giao thong Newspaper about the new film "Con Nhót mot chong" which is in theaters, and the ups and downs as well as thoughts about the profession.

Pause because you feel old

Director Vu Ngoc Dang

Many people are curious, what did you do with that time during the 6 years of silence?

I am not a very good character, but I have a strange and fresh color, it is new compared to the country's cinema and television. For a long time after the movie "Rebellious Hotboy 1", I lost the freshness, lost the strangeness and I was defeated.

In art, people like you for something and they will easily leave you for that, when you are no longer new. My films are usually made very cheaply, even if the revenue is low, they will not lose money.

I make films very slowly, I usually write and direct my own scripts. It takes me 12-14 months to write a script, so on average it takes me 2 years to make each film.

During the 6 years, I didn't know how to make the movie a hit, at that time I felt confused. I went to see other people's movies, the movies weren't very good but the revenue was so high.

At this time, some directors appeared like Le Thanh Son with “Em chua 18” which was really a slap in the face for me. And I realized, the film needed a different way of telling the story, a new way of telling the story, not just a story about the content.

And how did you ponder to make "The Godfather" achieve a revenue of 420 billion VND?

I have been thinking about how to tell the story in my new film. But recently when working with Tran Thanh, I understood more about the factors that make a hit. Tran Thanh is very good at calculating the rhythm of the film on set. As for me, I only calculated the rhythm when editing the film. I learned this way for the films that followed.

I think I am an intelligent person, eager to learn, like new things, and always want to change.

Like the movie "Chi Chi Em Em 2" which grossed 121 billion VND, but if I could rewrite the script, I would write a clearer ending, not so ambiguous anymore, because the audience really likes everything to be clear, there must be a satisfying ending.

"I'm not bad at looking at people"

Thai Hoa and Thu Trang in the movie "Con Nhot Mot Chong"

After “Bo Gia”, Tran Thanh made the film “Nha Ba Nu” which earned a revenue of 430 billion VND. In your opinion, how should we explain this success of a very young director like Tran Thanh?

I think Thanh is a smart person, understands the audience's psychology very well, knows what the audience wants. But Thanh needs to calm down a bit.

Actually, Thanh's movies are Thanh's personality. Thanh is a talkative person, so his movies are just like him. But fortunately, Thanh's personality is true to the majority of the audience. I think Thanh is much better than that, what he couldn't do in the first two movies, he will do in the following movies.

Everyone in the profession has their weaknesses, including me. I believe that Tran Thanh will be a very special case.

Now, if anyone makes a movie with revenue that exceeds or is close to Tran Thanh's, it will shake up the Vietnamese film industry.

I'm not bad at judging people. Having worked with so many actors, I've never advised anyone to become a director. But as for Tran Thanh, I advise him to become a director, don't invite other directors to work with him, it's a waste!

What makes you appreciate Tran Thanh so much?

The script for the movie “Bo Gia” was written by Tran Thanh, and every line in the movie was also written by Tran Thanh. On set, there were parts where Thanh said “let me do this” and Thanh did it very well.

“Bo Gia” was written by Thanh, about Thanh’s family and clan. I saw that Thanh loved this film a thousand times more than I did, so it was a bit strange to have my name alone in it. I told Thanh to co-direct. If I had signed the contract from the beginning and had the same director name as Tran Thanh, I would never have done it.

Up until now, Thanh has worked with many directors, but no one has ever let Thanh stand with them or asked Thanh to be a director. I think that God has given Thanh that talent, so Thanh should use it.

Awakening to the profession after "The Godfather"

Honestly, up to this point, have you caught up with the market and audience tastes?

I’m back! After “Bo Gia”, I was incredibly confident! I was very happy with the movie “Chi Chi Em Em 2”. To be honest, Ngoc Trinh is not a name that sells tickets. The names that sell tickets in Vietnam should be Thu Trang, Tran Thanh, Truong Giang… However, “Chi Chi Em Em 2” has a higher revenue than all the movies I have ever made, not including “Bo Gia”.

After the success of “The Godfather”, I also received a few invitations to make films, although not many. But after “Chi Chi Em Em 2”, I received nearly 20 invitations, and there were days when I received 3 invitations in a row.

Perhaps after “Chi Chi Em Em 2”, people saw that Dang could still make a hit movie by himself. Maybe before that, people were still skeptical, but after the last movie, they all believed that they had awakened. After “Bo Gia”, I woke up to many things!

What do you think about Thu Trang's role as an actress and producer?

Trang is fun, cute and talented. When I agreed to direct Thu Trang, it was because I really like Thu Trang. Because Thu Trang is colorful and does everything well. Some people can only do comedy but not tragedy, but Thu Trang is great at comedy and even better at tragedy.

Actor Thai Hoa's image as the father

The movie “Con Nhót nhớt chồng” features Thai Hoa, a talented actor, a box office king. How do you see Thai Hoa’s color in your movie?

Honestly, I didn't like Thai Hoa before because he often tortured himself. When Hoa received a script, he would lose sleep and eat, waking up in the middle of the night to practice the script and dialogue. To me, when movies were fun, Thai Hoa was like torture. Later, Hoa also transmitted that torture energy to the audience.

When Thai Hoa received this script, everyone in the industry was shocked. Because from the time he received it to the time he filmed it was only half a month, Thai Hoa liked the character and the script so much that he accepted.

Usually, when Thai Hoa accepts a role, he starts to lose his appetite, lose sleep, become stressed, depressed, and all sorts of things. Even in "Con Nhót nhớt chồng", on the first day of filming, Hoa couldn't sleep.

The first day of filming Thai Hoa in the hospital, I was also very worried, I was most afraid that Thai Hoa would bring negative energy into the film, into the character and it would be over. But unexpectedly, the first scene where I saw Thai Hoa walking and sitting, I was so happy that I cried. Hoa was cheerful, cute, everyone said it was like Hoa exploded again. After this film, I was crazy about Thai Hoa, but before that I was not crazy about him!

Thank you!

Vu Ngoc Dang (born in 1974) is a male director, screenwriter and film producer. He is known for directing films such as: Long-legged girls (2004), Suddenly want to cry (2008), Beautiful every centimeter (2009) or Rebellious hot boy (2011).

Vu Ngoc Dang's first widely known film was Chuot (2001). In 2004, he released the film Nhung co gai long leng as director. The work won the Silver Lotus Award at the 14th National Film Festival, becoming the first private film to win the award in the history of this award ceremony.

In 2008, he released the TV series Suddenly Want to Cry with the participation of actors Luong Manh Hai and Tang Thanh Ha. The film received many positive responses from the audience.

Source: http://www.baogiaothong.vn/dao-dien-vu-ngoc-dang-toi-bung-tinh-sau-nhung-phim-tram-ty-d588754.html