Fierce debate about 'Ghost Lights': Movie or screen disaster?

The film "Ghost Lamp" by director Hoang Nam caused strong controversy among the audience with three opinions: enthusiastic support, harsh criticism of artistic quality and a neutral group evaluating both advantages and disadvantages.

As of the morning of February 16, with revenue reaching more than 93 billion VND, Ghost lights ranked third in revenue among Vietnamese films released during Tet, after The Four Panthers (VND 322 billion) and Billionaire Kiss (187 billion VND).

Ghost lights inspired by fairy tales The Daughter of Nam Xuong in Nguyen Du's legendary romance. The film tells the story of Thuong (played by Diem Trang) - a wife whose husband joined the army and raised her child alone at home. Every night, she often pointed to the light bulb on the wall and told her child that it was her father's shadow. Tragedy struck when her son picked up a lamp that could summon the underworld and her husband, Dinh (Phu Thinh), returned from the war and suspected his wife of having an affair.

Appreciate the spirit of daring to think and dare to do

Many audiences were impressed by the young director who dared to invest heavily in a film project with a difficult subject. They said that in the context of Vietnamese films being more about entertainment, it is admirable that a filmmaker takes risks to pursue his artistic vision.

Audiences Nguyen Van Tien Comment: "Even though the movie is bad, the director dares to think and do things that no one has done before, dares to invest in selling his house to make a difficult movie. Most Vietnamese movies today are low-budget comedies with low investment and high profit. No one has dared to make a movie about art, spirituality or history with a big investment."

Some audience comments Ghost lights brings a new breeze to Vietnamese cinema, especially in exploiting regional contexts and cultures. Instead of familiar urban stories, the film takes viewers to wild mountain and forest landscapes and explores unique folk culture.

Audiences Ydu.Lona wrote: "Every Tet, I always eat dishes like braised pork. The movies are the same, humorous, emotional, and noisy in all kinds of ways. Now there are new dishes to change the taste a bit, the movie scenes are also different instead of just being in the city streets, making many people find it more interesting."

Audience k uro_quangg Listed in detail the advantages: "The film exploits quite closely to the work, renews the ending, does a good job in terms of horror, jumpscare ( technique to cause shock) - PV), setting, climax. The acting is quite good, exploits the character's psychology well, the characters are all placed in suitable settings, many creative scenes, interspersed with humorous elements to balance the emotions".

Poor script, weak acting and plot

Along with the praise, many viewers pointed out weaknesses in the script structure and plot development. Although based on a classic literary work, the way the story is developed is still not logical and convincing.

Audiences nick.delvin wrote: " The ghost lamp was inspired by the story The first part of "The Legend of Kieu" is okay , but the second part of the problem solving is seriously lacking in logic. The actors have some lines to say, and the male lead's acting couldn't be worse.

Audiences emperor_2011 share: "I really like going to see Vietnamese movies in theaters to support the country's cinema industry. But out of 10 movies, 7 have plots that are somehow... Movies Ghost lights +1 point for using folk materials to make the film, but -10 points because the film's content is bland and fails to highlight the folk materials.

The male lead Phu Thinh was criticized for his poor acting.

One weakness that audiences pointed out was the uneven acting and technical problems. In particular, the inconsistent local accents affected the authenticity, causing controversy about the film's context logic.

Audiences _24.bichh The film was rated 7/10 but pointed out many weaknesses: "Highly appreciated the way of exploitation, leading, script, and plot based on the story" The daughter of Nam Xuong. Don't appreciate the acting... the setting is in a region where the main actors, supporting actors, and the crowd speak a mixture of Northern, Central, and Southern dialects, the male lead can't act well.

Readers Le Tuan Anh analysis of the inconsistency in voice: "The movie does not talk about location, space, time, but watching the movie, looking at the costumes, scenery... Everyone knows the story takes place in a village in the northern mountainous region. But in that distant time, were there any Southerners who wandered there?".

Need to invest more expertise when making movies

Some audiences take a balanced approach when evaluating Ghost Lamp , looks at both its successes and its shortcomings. They analyze the setting, special effects, acting, and storytelling to give an objective assessment of the film.

Audiences mr.devllihc Comment: "From the perspective of someone who cares more about image than content, the film is extremely well done, Cao Bang is very beautiful. The effects are at a watchable level. As for the content, I only regret the climax at the end of the film, it was somehow funny."

Actor Tuan Anh plays the role of Tu Huong, creating sympathy in the film.

Audiences Luong Thanh Detailed analysis: "The film has a plus point that the Cao Bang scene is very beautiful, majestic, and poetic. The character's costumes are also invested in standard. Some details such as ghosts hiding children in bamboo bushes, not taking fire from the temple without permission, calling souls, and exorcising ghosts, the film crew put a lot of effort into conveying the folk spirit to readers. But that's all, all the remaining elements cannot be praised even if you want to praise them."

Despite mixed opinions about the main cast, the audience still recognized the bright spots in some supporting actors. They were highly appreciated for their naturalness and ability to create highlights. Readers Thanh Binh Comment: "The highlight of the film in terms of acting, in my opinion, is actor Tuan Anh playing the role of Tu Huong, the younger brother of the shaman Lieu. He acts naturally, gets into character, and in any part he makes people laugh."

Reply PV Immediately after the film was released, the director Hoang Nam expressed his thoughts on the shortcomings: "Each audience will have different feelings. I think the film still needs more effort. Among the 5 main actors, the acting is not consistent, this is easily seen on the set. I worked with them and tried my best together."

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