Local newspapers reported that after a couple of weeks after the day the movie was put on air, ‘Mai’ brought record high revenue of VND500 billion.

‘Mai’ is considered a ‘historic phenomenon’ of Vietnam’s motion picture industry as its revenue is even higher than the other films directed by Thanh, including ‘Bo gia’ (Dad, I’m Sorry) and ‘Nha ba Nu’ (The House of No Man).

Amid arguments about the factors behind the success of the movie, all critics share the same view that the film attracts audiences partly because it features the urban life.

Thanh’s other two films, which also brought high revenue, are also stories about urban life.

‘Bo gia’ tells the story about a father, who works as a taxi driver, and about conflicts, emotional contradictions, love and compassion between him and his son at an awkward age. 

‘Nha ba Nu’ tells the story about a family of a woman earning her living by selling banh bun canh (a Vietnamese dish). In ‘Mai’, the main role is a woman working as a massage therapist, who is ashamed and struggles to overcome difficulties.

The stories are about relations among members of families and the lives of young people in cities.

Three years ago, Thanh directed a series of dramas aired on YouTube, named ‘hem cut’ (Blind alley) and it related the story about tenants living in a boarding house in a small alley of a residential quarter.

The drama was a combination of scenes about what happened within a narrow space of a row of rent rooms. Everyday lives of people with tragic and humorous situations in the same neighborhood were reflected in the drama. The space of the rented rooms with a small alley in the middle was the place where everyday activities occurred.

Ngo Ngoc Trai, a critic, commented that ordinary urban life is the main material of the films directed by Tran Thanh. It is understandable why Thanh chooses this theme for his film: HCM City, where he lives and works, can provide a lot of material and inspiration for films.

His films mostly show relations among youth and between youth and their parents. Tran Thanh himself is a young man, and the actors in the films are also young.

Thanh, who participates in many TV shows and works with young people, collected interesting things which he used as materials and turned them into the highlights for the films. 

However, middle-aged viewers who watched many movies, European, American, Japanese and South Korean, also find some shortcomings of Thanh-directed films. Most of the scenes in his films have simple backgrounds.

The shots were in the spaces of a family, within a house, a small alley, or at stations. They use practical spaces and are less costly than scenes which must be erected with the support of technical equipment, or scenes which need a high number of actors.

Thanh doesn’t attempt to attract audiences with epic scenes or exciting storylines and unexpected dramatic situations. The most attractive features of the films are just conversations about philosophy about love and relations among youth.

This explains why Thanh’s films have become a ‘screen phenomenon’.

Young residents account for a large proportion of the city’s population. They are people either born in the city, or are migrants from villages. And they are the audiences bringing success to the films. 

According to Trai, the success of Thanh’s films is not only attributed to the sharp increase in number of young urbanites, but also the strong rise of the middle-class in HCM City and throughout the country.

The youth lead lives which are quite different from the lives of their parents and grandparents. HCM City is an economic and cultural center of the country, and Thanh’s talent has been developing in this rich cultural environment.

Ngo Ngoc Trai