‘Nha ba Nu’ (The House of No Man), a movie produced by Tran Thanh, hit the screen nationwide on the first day of the New Year of the Cat. After 22 days, it is still dominating the box office with revenue amounting to VND 434 billion. It has set a new record with the highest revenue in history of a Vietnamese film.

Analysts say that ‘Nha ba Nu’ has helped restore audiences’ confidence after a gloomy year for the cinema industry. The success has fueled expectations for an industry that brings big profits and gives producers and directors an opportunity to introduce their products in 2023.

Also, the success of the movie once again shows the appeal of movies with plots about families. This kind of psychological film remains a top priority for the majority of audiences.

Besides ‘Nha ba Nu’, other films with record high revenue also include ‘Bo gia’ (Dad, I’m sorry – VND427 billion), ‘Cua lai vo bau’ (Win my baby back – VND 192 billion), Tiec trang mau (Blood moon party – VND 175 billion), Gai gia lam chieu 3 (Camellia Sister 3 – VND 165 billion) and Lat mat series (Face off – VND500 billion)

The profitable films are entertainingly simple and have understandable scenarios and expressions. The common characteristic is the fresh atmosphere and relaxing comedic style which fit the tastes of all audiences.

Charlie Nguyen, a well-known director, told VietNamNet that there is no specific formula that can bring revenue of hundreds of billions of dong to movies. However, films still need to have certain characteristics to attract viewers.

First of all, the film plot needs to be attractive enough. A cinema product needs to satisfy the taste of the majority of people. Directors and producers need to accurately assess the market and analyze audience’ tastes. Also, they need to run effective media campaigns to disseminate films.

They need to have a good method of telling their stories. The responsibility is by the production team, especially directors.

“You need to solve questions to be able to touch audiences. Once you can persuade them, your products will create an echo,” he said.

According to Le Hong Lam, a movie critic, the common feature of ‘Nha ba Nu’ and other profitable movies is that they all use common materials from contemporary life.

“‘Bo gia’ and ‘Nha ba Nu’ gained commercial success because they have universal topics, with bold townsfolk characteristics. They also have a healing philosophy close to modern Vietnamese,” he said.

The content for the films concerns the lives of Vietnamese families. The topic is very familiar to Vietnamese, but there are abundant materials to be exploited. The conflicts among generations, between parents and children, are typical stories for many Vietnamese families. 

Tran Thanh, the producer and director of the two films, observes life and captures interesting moments, and then uses them to conquer audiences’ hearts.

Meanwhile, Ly Hai, a famous producer and director, has gained impressive achievements with the ‘Face off’ series. He doesn’t try to relate complicated stories, but chooses simple plots and satisfies the audiences’ entertainment demand with action scenes and conversations. 

Tran Thanh and Ly Hai’s films show that the most important thing is the capability of creating a link between the stories on screen and audiences’ experience. If this can be done well, it would be easy to lure people to cinemas.

According to Thai Duong from Lotte Cinema, there is another reason which decides whether a film is successful – distribution time. If Vietnamese movies don’t have to compete directly with foreign films, especially Hollywood blockbusters, they will have more opportunities.

Tet holiday is believed to be the best time in a year for film distribution. ‘Nha ba Nu’ and ‘Cua lai vo bau’ hit the screen at that time. Meanwhile, ‘Bo gia’ was aired at the time when cinemas reopened after Covid-19 period, when the demand was high.

Meanwhile, ‘Thanh Soi’ by Ngo Thanh Van failed because it was launched at the wrong time, one week after the launch of Avatar 2.

Tuan Chieu