Phillip Noyce, director of “The Quiet American,” has been back in Vietnam since October 16 for the first Vietnam International Film Festival, eight years after he first came here to direct the film.
He spoke to Tuoi Tre about Vietnamese films.
What’s your overview of the Vietnamese movie industry?
I am not an expert because I have just seen some Vietnamese films at the VNIFF, which wrapped up on October 21 in Hanoi. However, the biggest difference that I see here is your cities now have more cinemas than eight years ago when I came to Vietnam to make “The Quiet American.”
In the past, there were few cinemas and people’s incomes were lower. But today many people are willing to spend money to buy cinema tickets. That’s progress.
Some days ago I watched “Floating Lives.” It is a very impressive film. I also know that the film did good sales in the first two days of public screening at the VNIFF. It has been promoted efficiently. I think it’ a model for Vietnamese cinema in future.
VNIFF got several international cinema experts and the quality of films screened at the festival was also quite good. I think later film festivals in Vietnam will become bigger. And when your movies make more money at the box office, more people will send their films to your festivals and distribute them here.
Many Vietnamese films have competed at international film festivals but have not won any awards. What should Vietnamese cinema do to be internationally recognized and attract foreign audiences?
The best solution is to have more cinemas. They are the best cinema schools for Vietnamese filmmakers. Vietnam switched to a market economy long ago but the development of a market economy for cinema is still lagging behind.
However, Vietnam has several international-standard cinemas. So, local filmmakers will learn a lot when their films are screened at the cinemas because they will have a chance to interact with audiences.
It is also the formula for success for major movie industries around the world. It is also a dance party between filmmakers, directors, actors with audiences.
But the dance party can only be successful if the audiences are happy to pay for their tickets. If they think films are worth their money, they will keep on visiting cinemas and then, of course, the dance parties will take place often.
Thus, I believe Vietnamese filmmakers will soon mature.
What do you think about Vietnamese audiences?
They are as good as any cinema fans across the world.
They want entertainment and they want to watch interesting films that are worth their money. They are ready to bring their families and friends to the cinema if they know there is a good film. When the “Floating Lives” was screened in Hanoi, I witnessed many people happily spending money to buy tickets. One woman I met paid VND300,000 (US$15) to buy a ticket in the black market [official price around VND40,000].
You used to make big films, which one of them is your favorite?
My favorite film is not a big film but a small one named “Rabbit-proof fence” that I directed in Australia. The film is about three little colored Australian girls who are separated from their families and have to travel 2,400 kilometers to return home.
Before I made it, many people told me I would not be able to find a producer, draw audiences, or take it to the international market. But I proved them wrong.
You have produced many action films and also scored big successes with psychological films. Which categories do you prefer?
In Hollywood, it is easier to make action films like “Salt” because you can easily get back your money. However, I don’t worry about that.
I have switched to making small films, from action to psychological… For me, all categories of film are similar and personally, I like different categories of film. Recently, I have also been interested in cartoons like “How to train your dragon.”
How do you maintain the balance between your art, audience tastes, and producers’ expectations?
In reality, there’s no conflict because I serve audiences. I think cinema exists just for audiences. I am just an entertainer like an acrobat in a traveling circus in the old days. When I was a child, two traveling circuses often came to my hometown to perform. One came by train and the other by road.
When the circus train arrived, I went out to watch the train and dreamed of getting onboard. Frankly, I am now on my own train and traveling to many places with it to perform and leave.
The only way for me to survive is to keep my audiences entertained. And, if they are happy I am happy.
Workshop on profit making with films Besides the students, there were also some Vietnamese directors and actors. At the workshop, Noyce spoke about filmmaking techniques and showed clips from his films. The students had to take part in various activities, including doing a review of a Vietnamese book they had read and explaining why it is movie material. (By Phuong Thuy)Phillip Noyce held a workshop on film directing for students of the Ho Chi Minh City College of Stage Art and Films at Lan Anh Village in District 2 on October 25 and 26. |
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