Tran Luc: 'I was in turmoil when my father passed away'

Tran Luc was sad because his father - Cheo artist Tran Bang - was seriously ill and passed away before he received the title of People's Artist.

The director talks about life, work, love with his father, and the occasion of receiving a State title at the age of 61.

- How did you feel when you were honored on March 6?

- In my professional philosophy, I do not work for awards, I only hope to create good works with the Tran Luc style. I have been voted for many awards by the audience, but now I have the highest title from the State. This is a certificate evaluated by experts, given to truly talented artists, recognized by society, and with a certain influence. I only regret that my father - People's Artist Tran Bang - passed away more than half a year ago, and could not share the joy with me. I want to dedicate the title to him, the person who always encouraged and motivated me.

Artist Tran Luc at the age of 61. Photo: Character provided — Artist Tran Luc at the age of 61. Photo: *Character provided*

- How have you overcome the pain of losing a loved one?

- I had two strange moments in my life, when my father and mother passed away. In 2016, when my private theater was just starting to operate, the whole family eagerly made an appointment to see the play Quan, but before we could, my mother passed away.

My father also passed away two days before I was about to perform a new play. My heart was in turmoil, and I was busy with the funeral. But we sold some tickets, rented the venue, and had to respect the audience. I played a supporting role, and when I was about to go on stage, I felt like my strength was drained, and I couldn’t perform. I sat quietly looking down at the auditorium, and suddenly felt like my father was sitting somewhere. That thought gave me more motivation. At the end of the show, when the curtain closed, I sat down in a corner, sobbing. My parents both lived long lives, my grandmother was 83, and my grandfather was 97. But for children, no matter how old their parents passed away, it was still an inconsolable pain. Until now, I still feel lost and uncertain because I lost my father.

- What memories do you remember of your father when he was alive?

- When I grew up, my only dream was to buy a spacious house and bring my parents to live with me. It was achieved more than ten years ago. But my parents are very modern, independent, and like to live alone. While I was on a business trip to Ho Chi Minh City, they secretly moved back to the old house. After my grandmother passed away, my father lived with me.

My daily routine before leaving home and returning home is to visit and chat with him. My father has the motto "To live is to be healthy and clear-headed", so he works out a lot. Every morning, he usually gets up at 4:30 and exercises for about an hour. Many days, I don't hear any music, wake up in panic, and when I ask, I find out he's sick. At home, I installed an emergency bell, but he never rings it for fear of disturbing sorry

A few months before he passed away, my father complained of blurred vision and could not read books even with a magnifying glass. He was very upset because he was a studious and avid reader. Seeing him upset, I said, "I will read to you," then recorded it. I felt sorry for my father because he was in so much pain before he passed away due to a dislocated bone. His surgery was successful, but he later contracted a hospital-acquired infection and pneumonia.

Tran Luc with his father - Cheo artist Tran Bang. Photo: Provided by the character — Tran Luc with his father - Cheo artist Tran Bang. Photo: *Provided by the character*

- How does your father influence you in work and life?

- Born into a theatrical family, the artistic blood seeped into me. I was the youngest child, and since I was little, I followed my parents to practice and perform. My house was in Mai Dich area, on one side was Cai Luong, on the other side were Tuong, Cheo, and folk songs. The children watched the uncles and aunts perform, then went out to the yard to break coconut leaves to imitate.

When I first told my parents about the Luc Team stage, they were very excited, because it was close to their Cheo art. It was a revolution, changing the way of expressing reality, moving towards space, time and conventional expression. My father could not go out, so every time I staged a new play, I often came back to show him. Last year, when he watched an excerpt of the play Doll , he really liked it, raised his finger and praised: "You are number one".

During Covid-19, my father and I stayed home together and often discussed theatre. He had some books on Cheo performance techniques, and if I didn’t understand any part, I would ask my father for his opinion.

Tran Luc reads books to his father — Tran Luc reads a book to his father in April 2023. Video : *Character provided*

- Among dozens of roles in movies and television, which roles left you with the most emotions?

- I respect every character, perhaps the more impressive memories of my career. At the age of 20, I had my first leading role in "There Comes a Love" (directed by Pham Van Khoa), then went abroad to study for eight years. In 1991, I returned home, very poor but never cared about salary, excited to work day and night. At that time, directors mainly made films about post-war themes, about the image of soldiers in everyday life. I played soldiers so much that a journalist once wrote about me: "If there is a wife in a film, the wife leaves, if there is a lover, he gets married, out of 10 films, four are at the altar." My characters are masculine, simple, living in love struggles. My difficulty is how to make each soldier have a different feature, so that I can "capture the hearts" of the audience.

In Life of a Street Singer, I played a blind soldier, acting with Thu Ha. In the scene of making a living at the market, I played the guitar, Thu Ha sang with a loudspeaker. Because there were no extras, the directors hid the camera, let the actors sing, and sell real lottery tickets. Many people even cried because "this couple is so beautiful but so miserable". When the performance ended, we quickly returned the lottery tickets we had sold, and everyone was shocked. In the movie Love Story by the River, I remember the memory of playing with Le Khanh. In the scene of a husband and wife quarreling, after five failed attempts, I asked permission to slap them for real. Khanh was surprised because of the pain, so she picked up a bowl of water and tried to throw it back. I avoided it and rushed in to hit her again. The situation was completely not in the script.

- Do you have any concerns about your career?

- I live carefree and optimistically. There was a time when I made films that lost billions of dong, but I never suffered or suffered. From 2006 to 2013, I suddenly felt bored because the TV series I produced were all about psychological love, serving housewives. So even though I invested in writing a script and asked for approval for a new series, I still stopped and decided to teach at the University of Theatre and Cinema.

Luc Team Stage and the conventional way of expression are my destination. Of course, I am sad that the Northern audience is losing the habit of enjoying plays, but that does not make me falter, wanting to create meaningful works.

I also had difficulties because during the three years of the pandemic, everything that had just been built collapsed. When I returned, I had to build a team from scratch, but that was also a way to reinvent myself.

Ha Thu

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