Sorry for Kaity Nguyen - Quang Ninh Electronic Newspaper

Besides her acting ability, Kaity Nguyen is also famous for being meticulous in choosing scripts. However, with "Cong Tu Bac Lieu ", the actress could no longer maintain that.

Since its debut on the silver screen with I'm not 18 yet (2017), Kaity Nguyen has become a prominent face of Vietnamese cinema. Besides her acting ability, the actress's quick success also comes from her carefulness in choosing projects.

Except Old Girl, Many Tricks V (2021) has a huge investment and can only be repaid if it reaches record revenue, most of the works Kaity Nguyen participated in are profitable. Notably, half of them have exceeded the hundred billion mark (not including The Prince of Bac Lieu (newly released). Besides, recent films also give the actress a suitable space to show her acting ability.

However, Kaity Nguyen could no longer maintain that in her latest work. The Prince of Bac Lieu , with its attention to setting and visuals, can be considered a powerful project. However, the film has many errors in the script, and the character that Kaity Nguyen plays is also poorly developed and bland. All of that greatly affects her performance.

Familiar role

The Prince of Bac Lieu directed by Ly Minh Thang, the face behind the box office success of Mother-in-law (2017), or most recently Blind Mage: Who died raise your hand (2019).

The film tells the story of Ba Hon (Song Luan) - the son of Councilor Linh (Thanh Loc). Mr. Linh was one of the richest landlords in the Southern Six Provinces at that time, with a huge fortune including thousands of hectares of rice fields and especially the first bank in Vietnam.

His family's wealth allowed Ba Hon to live a lavish life. Not only that, he also used his father's money to show off, in order to assert himself. Ba Hon's acts of burning money for fun were so famous that - he became a legend that is still passed down to this day.

With In the movie Cong Tu Bac Lieu , Kaity Nguyen plays Miss Sau, Ba Hon's younger sister. Miss Sau has a cheerful, playful, and carefree personality. In the family, she is the closest person to Ba Hon, accompanying him throughout the film.

It is easy to see that this is not a strange character to Kaity Nguyen; it can even be said that it has contributed to shaping the actress's image in the hearts of the majority of the audience.

In 2017, Kaity Nguyen debuted on the silver screen with the character Linh Dan in I’m not 18 yet . It seems like a role that was “tailored” for the actress, from her age, personality, to her appearance. Linh Dan is youthful, lively, and also has a rebellious personality. Similarly, Kaity Nguyen, with her urban background, also shows many similarities with Linh Dan.

That compatibility helped Kaity Nguyen leave a strong impression in her first role. Not through complicated inner struggles or conflicts, but it was the rare naturalness and sweetness that helped the actress win over the audience. I'm not 18 yet from there also broke all revenue records of Vietnamese films at that time.

Through her subsequent projects, Kaity Nguyen has made efforts to renew herself. Although she still plays the role of a young girl, still starting with innocence and vivacity, her roles have gradually increased in complexity.

Since then, Kaity Nguyen's acting skills have gradually improved. Her natural, powerful diction without being mixed with theatricality is another strong point of the young girl.

Back to When given a strong role, Kaity Nguyen performed very well within the limits allowed by the role. Under the actress's transformation, Ms. Sau exuded the aura of a rich girl, while also having the mischievousness and naivety appropriate for her age.

In the context of the acting of veteran actors such as Thanh Loc, Huu Chau or Thanh Thuy still having a theatrical feel, Song Luan although doing well in tense scenes but not graceful enough in comedy scenes, it is Kaity Nguyen's natural acting, with a cinematic feel that brings comfort to the work.

The character of Ms. Sau has many similarities with Kaity Nguyen's early career roles.

Kaity Nguyen's bland character

Besides the liveliness and naturalness that is already widely known, the performance in Blood Moon Party (2020) or Old Girl, Many Tricks V also shows that Kaity Nguyen's acting has matured a lot and she is completely capable of taking on heavier roles.

However, with In Cong Tu Bac Lieu , director Ly Minh Thang has not taken advantage of that. He placed the actress in a character that has almost no significant impact on the plot. Kaity Nguyen's acting ability accumulated over many years has not been fully exploited.

In fact, Silver Prince Lieu also had a rather promising start when she let the audience know about Ms. Sau's talent for fashion design. However, later on, that strength was completely left open. Director Ly Minh Thang did not give the audience an answer as to how far Kaity Nguyen's character would go with that talent, or what impact it would have on the decisions of the other members. The story thus became disjointed and long-winded, because there were details that appeared and disappeared in a confusing way.

It is worth mentioning that, apart from following Ba Hon to create charming interactions, Ms. Sau almost did not leave any mark on her brother's development journey. It must be known that promoting the main character is the most important task for supporting characters. However, Kaity Nguyen's role completely failed to do that.

Ms. Sau was not present in Ba Hon's important moments, did not share her brother's feelings, and did not contribute anything to mending the broken father-daughter relationship in the film. Kaity Nguyen's character also lacked deep interactions with family members, thus becoming a fragmented piece of the film, and cutting it out would not have much of an impact.

Furthermore, with her silliness and cheerfulness throughout the film, Ms. Sau is also portrayed as a monotonous and one-dimensional character. That makes viewers question the screenwriter's character development.

The role in Prince of Bac Lieu wasted Kaity Nguyen's talent.

Remember in the movie Lady Bird (2017) directed by Greta Gerwig, Julianne "Julie" (played by Beanie Feldstein) had a memorable journey even though she was just a supporting character. Besides being the lovely best friend of the female lead, she also had pain and inferiority in her life. At the end of the film, Julianne "Julie" not only succeeded in promoting the main character's development, but she also had great changes, like a second female lead.

That's how a supporting character wins over the audience. And it's clear with The Prince of Bac Lieu , Kaity Nguyen, did not have the same thing.

In fact, it would be a bit harsh to judge The Prince of Bac Lieu is a step back in Kaity Nguyen's acting career. The work has now surpassed the milestone 24 billion VND after nearly a week of release. However, with only participating in an average of only one film per year, the actress really needs a heavier role to maintain her position.

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