VietNamNet Bridge – Director Luu Trong Ninh, 61, has created dozens of films and TV series on different themes – romance, history and war. Among them, Ben Khong Chong (Wharf of Widows) was selected to be shown at the Berlin Film Festival in 2001. Ninh has remade the film and turned the old story into a television serial. He tells Minh Thu about the new series.

Director Luu Trong Ninh.

Did the success of the film Wharf of Widows encourage you to make the TV serial Thương Nho O Ai (Who Stole My Heart)?

The success was just a reason for me to make the story longer.

Would you tell us about the serial?

Like the film Wharf of Widows, the serial is based on a well-known novel of the same name by author Dương Huong, which won the Viet Nam Writers’ Association Award in 1991.

It tells the story of the rural village of Dong. This was a time when the North hurried to build up the countryside while supporting the southern battlefield. The film takes audiences back to the old days of peaceful northern villages and women waiting for their men to return from battle. The war takes the village’s healthy strong men far away, leaving behind their women waiting at the village’s wharf.

Severely injured after fighting in the battle of Dien Bien Phu, Nguyen Van longed to return to his home village. However, he struggled with stifling family customs and the hundreds-year-old village habits, rumours and public opinions. Meanwhile, the beautiful girl Hanh – daughter of Van’s ex-girlfriend comes into his life and brings rare moments of happiness. It is about the people’s desire to love and to be loved.

The 34-episode drama will be aired on VTV3 from November 4.

What makes the serial different from the film you made before?

I wrote a new script for the serial based on the novel by Duong Huong. I created more characters to portray the image of women in the post-war period who desire happiness.

I always seek perfection. I write the screenplays for most of the films I make, including Khat Vong Thang Long (Thang Long Aspiration), the film brought me the Golden Kite award in 2011 for best director.

The serial, produced by the Viet Nam Television Film Centre (VFC), is receiving the biggest investment ever.

Thanks to modern techniques, we were able to recreate the most beautiful village on screen, which has been lost due to the war and urbanisation.

We travelled to 18 villages in the north to find the context for the film. Each corner of the village, like the temple, wharf, water wells, rice fields and houses were designed to be accurate. For example, we combined a mountainous scene of Trang An Complex in the northern province of Ninh Binh with old roofs from Thay Pagoda on the outskirts of Ha Noi to make a beautiful scene of the rural area. Viewers won’t be able to tell the shots are from different places.

Another strong point of the serial that makes it different from all others is the traditional music. Audiences can enjoy poetic and romantic scenes of cheo (traditional operetta), folk singing, lullabies and ca tru (ceremonial singing) in which actors and actresses perform by themselves.

You took the role of Van in the film version. What do you think of Lâm Vissay’s acting in the soap opera Thuong Nho O Ai?

I played Van just because I couldn’t find a suitable actor at that time. Van has been my only role during my 30-year career.

Lam is a familiar face to both cinema and television audiences, having regularly played the role of villains. This is the first time he takes the role of a hero. I didn’t share my experience in acting with Lam. I wanted him to feel and sympathise with the character. I encouraged him to express the character in his own way.

I am satisfied with his acting. Of course the audience’s response is most important.

You often select new faces for your works. Many of them shine in your films such as Ho Ngoc Ha and Tang Thanh Ha. How did you cast actors and actresses for this serial?

The serial also stars many new faces, who haven’t acted before. You may be surprised but I completely chose the cast by feeling. Sometimes when I introduce actors to the film crew, they don’t believe my choices.

Whenever I choose actors from a casting call, I often make the wrong decision.

For example, one day after starting the serial Thuong Nho O Ai, I suddenly realised that the actress I chose from the auditions was not suitable. I stopped the film crew and searched for another one.

Thanh Huong is now well-known for her acting in Nguoi Phan Xu (The Arbitrator) but when I chose her for the role of ca tru (ceremonial singing) singer Nuong in this serial, I didn’t know who she was because Thuong Nho O Ai was filmed before Nguoi Phan Xu.

I just saw that she’s willing to take the role. I asked her to learn ca tru. After three months training with veteran singer Bach Van, Huong can sing and beat the castanets professionally. I totally felt secure when giving her the role.

Would you tell us about your new project?

It’s time for me to complete the wishes of my father, poet Luu Trong Lu. Before passing away, he told me to make a film of Kieu based on the masterpiece Kieu’s Tale of Nguyen Du.

I finished the screenplay and found an investor to give me financial support. The shooting will begin in June next year. I expect that it will be released nationwide by the end of next year. 

VNS