MEDIA ECOLOGY

  

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VIETNAMESE CINEMA

1. SONG LANG ( 2018 ) : 

Director: Leon Quang Lê

Release date: 17/ 08/ 2018 

Production companies: Studio68 & The Creatv Company

Distributors:  ☆ Lotte Entertainment     ☆ GagaOOLala    

☆ Breaking Glass Studio 

Budget: ~20 billion VND 

Box office: ~5 billion VND

Modes of distribution: 

☆ Netflix ( has expired )       ☆ VieOn           ☆ MUBI

Cast: Liên Bỉnh Phát, Isaac, Minh Phượng, Tú Quyên, Kiều Trinh, Thanh Tú, Hữu Quốc, etc.

General plot : 

Set in a richly imagined 1980s Saigon, Song Lang is a gritty underworld noir hiding a tender, romantic heart. At the film's core is the unlikely bond that develops between hunky, brooding Dũng, a tough debt collector for a ruthless loan shark, and Linh Phụng, a charismatic young opera singer for a struggling company that performs cải lương, a modern form of traditional Vietnamese folk opera.

Production :  

Vietnamese filmmaker Leon Le looked for investors for a production about Cai Luong for a full year, but they all turned it down because it was too market-and commercially-oriented. He first thought Ngo Thanh Van was more commercial than creative, thus he did not give him the original script. She did, however, agree to create Song Lang exactly as written after seeing the script. Le thought that Ngo Thanh Van agreed with Studio68's direction, which incorporated elements of traditional culture, and recognized commercial potential in the movie.

The agreement of Veronica Ngo for being a producer somehow confirmed that Studio68 will be one of the production company. CréaTV is also the company that will produce the film beside Studio 68. The production of the film started in October 2017. The process taken for 32 32 non-consecutive days, most of the scenes were taken in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City. Another fact here is the lyrics of the reformed parts of the work were entirely rewritten by Leon Le and composer Hoang Song Viet; the new and old musical sections were also enhanced and harmonized with the instruments of a theater troupe in the 1980s. 

Le studied Cai Luong in great detail, looking for experienced musicians, artists, and craftspeople who shared his passion for the genre. He also gained knowledge on how to spread love to other people. The script was heavily influenced by Le's past experiences producing short films and performing in Vietnamese movies and TV shows; many of the elements were taken directly from his mind. The length of Cai Luong was carefully considered by the filmmaker to please enthusiasts without boring the general public. Song Lang acknowledged that Wong Kar Wai's style of filmmaking had an impact on her as well.

How this film was marketing :  

☆ Domestic: August 16, 2018, witnessed the premiere of Song Lang and a press conference at Lotte Cinema South Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City. August 17, 2018, saw the film's broad release in Vietnam in 2D format. Leon Le claimed that Song Lang was produced in time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Vietnamese Cai Luong art, despite filming having begun a year later than anticipated. However, there are typically less than ten people in attendance at each screening, making it a somewhat intimate cinema experience. The movie was supposed to be pulled from theaters after two weeks, but director Nguyen Hoang Diep organized an internet campaign called "Give Song lang one more week" to extend the movie's runtime. The campaign garnered support from both the musicians and the audience. There were no empty seats during the film's final nighttime showing on September 6, 2018, which marked the end of the campaign, as a large number of people attended to appreciate the work. Following its theatrical run, Song Lang made its broadcast debut on Vietnamese television on November 30, 2018, on K+ channel, and was made available on the digital film platform Clip TV on November 1, 2018.

☆ International: 

Under the worldwide title The Tap Box, Song Lang made its premiere to Japanese audiences on October 28, 2018, at the 31st Tokyo worldwide Film Festival. The piece was also submitted to the 5th Hanoi International Film Festival during this period. The film was submitted to and had its world premieres at over 50 international film festivals between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2021. Some of these festivals include the 10th Cambodia International Film Festival, 2019 Beijing International Film Festival, 2019 Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, and 12th Five Flavors Asian Film Festival. A number of film events in 2020, including the Pittsburgh Reel Q LGBT Film Festival and the Outstream Film Festival, screened Song Lang online because to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Song Lang is scheduled for release in international markets on March 21, 2019, according to reports. Rain Trail Pictures will handle the work's distribution in Japan, North America, and Southeast Asia, while IDEA Media Sales will handle other markets through film fairs. Under the title Son Ran no Hibiki, the movie made its commercial debut in Japan on February 22, 2020, and it was the second Vietnamese film to be distributed here after Third Wife (2019). In Japan, the movie's DVD edition was also made available starting on September 4, 2020. Breaking Glass Pictures distributed the movie in the US, and on September 4, 2020, it opened in virtual reality theaters. October 9, 2020 under the title Two Men, under a deal between Rain Trail Pictures and the studio. On November 11 of that year, the DVD version was made available, and it also made appearances on digital stores including iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon Prime. There are some minor differences between the Vietnamese theatrical version and the US version of the movie, although only Leon Le claims to have detected them.

 

2.  NHÀ BÀ NỮ - The House of No Man ( 2023 ) : 

Director : Tran Thanh

Release date : 11/ 01/ 2023 

General plot : 

A domineering matriarch runs her household the same way she runs her crab noodle soup stall. However, sparks are bound to fly when three generations live under one roof. Feeling suffocated under her mother's oppressive glare, Nu's youngest daughter, Nhi, decides to elope with her carefree boyfriend, but the young couple soon realize how unprepared they are. As time passes, the women of Nu's house slowly reconcile and learn about themselves and each other along the way.