HSU students study filmmaking with Director – Producer Tran Thanh

At a talk with students of Hoa Sen University (HSU), Tran Thanh admitted that his two movies, “Dad, I’m Sorry” and “The House of No Man”, both created two distinct love and hate opinions in the audience. The artist is also not too bothered when others criticize or his film is referred to as a “toxic success”.

On the afternoon of February 25, Director – Producer Tran Thanh participated in Sunday Talk #89 at Hoa Sen University, the program was conducted by the Media Technology Administration in collaboration with partners and media channels with the topic “Decoding Vietnamese box office tastes from the phenomenon of Dad, I’m Sorry and The House of No Man”. Here, he had a sincere sharing about the success of his two films as well as his conception of the profession when entering the realm of the 7th art.

Hari Won’s husband confessed that the success of The House of No Man, with a revenue of 450 billion VND, was a miracle for the whole team. Some people really like it, but many viewers directly criticize the quality and performance of this film. “The House of No Man won big and still received a lot of criticism. Many people say my movies are toxic hits. Strange views always lead to two-way reactions. Those who like it will love it. Those who hate will hate it very much,” he added.

Tran Thanh thinks that the tastes of Vietnamese audiences are extremely unpredictable. He denied that he always made a big profit because he had a good grasp of the tastes of Vietnamese audiences. “If I had understood the tastes of the audience, I wouldn’t have been cursed so much,” he said. In contrast, Tran Thanh commented that the tastes of Vietnamese audiences are extremely difficult to understand and can change at any time. A good movie that sometimes hits theaters can still lose money. There are films that are highly appreciated by experts and critics, but no one watches them.

Therefore, when starting to make a film, Tran Thanh does research on the audience but does not put too much emphasis on taste when starting each project. He also believes that it is the filmmakers who must create the trend, not follow the “trend”, run after what the audience likes because it is all temporary. The House of No Man is also a film that Tran Thanh made, first of all because of his personal taste, because he wanted to tell that story, not “predict” that the audience would like it. “Successful people create tastes instead of following tastes,” he emphasized.

Questions from students about filmmaking such as: Tran Thanh made the film according to the audience’s tastes or just accidentally touched the emotions of the audience?; How to have a unique perspective among the many topics of filmmaking today?; Is it difficult to turn a familiar topic like family into a hit movie?; What is the secret to making the dialogue in the movie “real life” and really touch the emotions of the viewers?…

All were answered by Director – Producer Tran Thanh, helping students better visualize filmmaking. He also commended the questions and passion for filmmaking, the different personalities that HSU students showed in the talk.

Tran Thanh shared: “I would like to see a film industry develop in our country, so that we can be proud when we go out into the world. So, given what I’ve been through and achieved, I want to at least share these things with my soon-to-be colleagues. I hope and I would be happy if, later on, one of you sitting here is my colleague. Good luck!”

After “Dad, I’m Sorry” and “The House of No Man”, Tran Thanh has now embarked on his third film titled Mai. As revealed by the male artist, this will be a film with a completely different theme and style from what he has shown before.