Submitted for Oscar nomination, what message does "Red Rain" bring to the world?

"Red Rain" has contributed to portraying "a horrifying portrait of war." (Photo: Provided by the film crew)

“Red Rain” is the Vietnamese representative to compete in the 98th Oscar preliminary round (2026). According to statistics from the Box Office Mojo platform on October 1, the film ranked 66th in total global revenue in 2025 with 26.2 million USD, equivalent to more than 714 billion VND (statistical algorithm error).

Director of the Department of Cinema, Mr. Dang Tran Cuong added that "Red Rain" was voted by 4/5 of the total members of the Council (National Council for Film Selection to Participate in the Preliminary Round of the International Feature Film Awards - OSCARS for the 2025-2026 term).

The representative of the Department of Cinema commented that "Red Rain" has impressed with its humanistic storytelling, elaborately invested images, emotional music , convincing acting, and realistic and touching re-enactment of Vietnamese historical stories. Through that, the director has skillfully harmonized the epic spirit with a modern, close perspective, not only reaching domestic audiences but also connecting with international audiences.

According to experts, "Red Rain" is in the world 's general direction for war films: Raising voices against war.

Director-Meritorious Artist Bui Trung Hai, with his experience in making and observing this film genre for many years, commented: “In the world, war films are very diverse. According to some trends, after a long time of war, some filmmakers will want to depict more deeply the terrible losses of war. In my opinion, 'Red Rain' is also in this trend.

In addition, he also assessed that the works of Military Cinema have a good dramatic structure, paying great attention to visual effects, a prominent feature of cinema. “The greatest success of 'Red Rain' is probably the depiction of battles, which are fierce, tense, realistic, and highly expressive…. I think this is a successful continuation and development of the war film genre in Vietnam.”

Critic Nguyen Le believes that bringing "Red Rain" internationally not only demonstrates the values of the work itself, but also carries a general message about Vietnamese cinema.

“Films like 'Red Rain' will help international audiences see, first of all, that Vietnam has a cinema industry and the ability to use cinema as 'artistic artifacts' instead of the foods, costumes, and places that are now too familiar,” Nguyen Le commented.

With many years of writing for international newspapers and film news in English, this critic believes that there will be more foreign investors and big players looking for war film projects made by Vietnam.

"Although this is a genre they are familiar with, projects from Vietnamese crews are new and noteworthy elements, making them interested. From here, Vietnamese cinema can create truly unique cinematic collaborations, enough to help us go further and truly make a bigger impression," this writer commented.

After the success of “Red Rain” and before that “Tunnel” (earning over 170 billion according to Box Office Vietnam), cinema media expert An Nguyen believes that more and more Vietnamese filmmakers will try their hand at historical films. Vietnamese audiences also do not need to wait for big anniversaries like every 5 or 10 years to have a film to watch.

He also believes that after this success, many private filmmakers will be more daring in historical topics. "I know that director Charlie Nguyen is planning to make a film about intelligence officer Pham Xuan An, and director Hoang Nam has announced the project 'My Lai Baby.' These are all films worth looking forward to in the near future," he said.

Besides, there are still many interesting aspects of Vietnamese history to exploit on screen, such as the Hoa Lo Prison Break, the intelligence story, the attack on the US Embassy in 1968 or the Ben Tre Dong Khoi. These are all great materials for filmmakers”./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/duoc-gui-di-so-tuyen-oscar-mua-do-mang-ra-the-gioi-thong-diep-gi-post1066238.vnp