A local director has slammed his Vietnamese peers for producing poor quality, unrealistic and boring films, claiming they are more interested in quick cash returns. 

“My nhan ke” or “Beauty trap” which grossed nearly VND60 billion, however, it was still criticised for its boring plot

Director Nguyen Quang Dung said, “It’s a failure to consider profits before artistic vision.”

Speaking with Dantri/DTiNews the director admitted that “obviously even now I’m be responsible for the money provided by a film’s backers, it’s only when I have enough money of my own that I’ll be able to make films the way I want.”

Director Charlie Nguyen said, “In the current film production context, if I bring an art film script to investors, they’ll definitely turn it down. Producers are just interested in profits. They only want to invest in scripts which give quick returns or are at least safe bets. It is an adventure to make art films in Vietnam nowadays.”

Nguyen Quang Dung recently released the film “My nhan ke” or “Beauty trap” which grossed nearly VND60 billion (USD28.5 million), however, it was still criticised for its boring plot. Charlie Nguyen’s “Bui doi cho lon” or “Chinatown” was condemned for its violent scenes.

The Vietnamese cinema industry seems to be in the doldrums, with Le Hoang and Phi Tien Son launching films that are despised. “Cat Nong” or “Hot sand” by Le Hoang and “Dam me” or “Passion” was regarded as an embarrassment for Vietnamese cinema when it was shown at the 2012 Hanoi International Film Festival.

Director Dang Nhat Minh said Vietnam was a poor country, but local directors were hunting for ‘hot’ models to star in the movies and luxury cars for their films, and seemed to forget any element of realism.

Vietnamese comedies are quickly released then forgotten about, and these kinds of films are highly unlikely to win prizes at international film festivals.

While Vietnam failed to make an impression at the 2013 Cannes Festival, Chinese Director Jia Zhangke scooped the best screenplay prize for A Touch of Sin. The Japanese film Like Father, Like Son received the Cannes jury prize. Cambodia’s The Missing Picture won a prize for the most original film by a young producer and Ilo Ilo by Singapore’s Anthony Chen received the Camera d'Or in Cannes for Best First Feature Film.