What's happening to prime time Vietnamese movies?

The plot is confusing, the script is at a dead end.

Every year, dozens of TV series air in prime time. However, recently, the quantity of TV series does not match the quality. Many works gather famous, veteran actors but the content is difficult to understand, causing frustration for the audience.

MovieIn-laws in a narrow alleydirected by Trinh Le Phong, has only 21 episodes - quite short for a TV series often seen on national television. The film revolves around a familiar family theme, interwoven with humorous elements. However, the plot of the film was criticized by the audience as being repetitive and unattractive.

Weak in-law relationship from the script building stage

Mr. Phuc (Meritorious Artist Chi Trung) and Mr. Khoi (People's Artist Trong Trinh) were classmates and had a grudge in the past. Mr. Khoi was considered an enemy by Mr. Phuc because he accidentally drank a glass of orange juice that his girlfriend made just for him. Mr. Phuc took revenge by pouring the juice on Mr. Khoi's face.

This is a very petty conflict, even somewhat immature and childish. Later, the two people's children fall in love with each other, and the hatred of the past is rekindled. Throughout the 21 episodesIn-laws in a narrow alleyThere are many scenes that are considered absurd, such as the daughter-in-law hiding from her mother-in-law in the closet, the in-laws arguing, fighting, and mocking each other. These trivial situations drown out the emotions of the two main characters played by Viet Hoa and Trong Lan.

People's Artist Le Khanh's name cannot save the contentWhere dreams come true

Where dreams come truejust ended at the end of July also left a big question mark for viewers. In the first episodes, Phuong (Viet Hoa) and Gia An (Lanh Thanh) did not like each other, then gradually developed feelings for each other. After a while, Gia An made his ex-lover Mai Anh (Minh Thu) pregnant. Mai Anh naturally became the female lead, while Phuong became close to her old classmate, also an employee at Gia An's company.

At the end of the film, Gia An promises to take care of Mai Anh for the sake of their child. It is unclear whether Phuong and her old classmate become lovers or just friends and colleagues. Gia An's company continuously reaps revenue despite the limited capacity of its leader. The film's theme has a plus point when it explores a new aspect - the lives of the elderly. However, the film's plot still follows a rut when it delves into generational conflicts, with the director flirting with his female subordinate.

Father's giftThe film was expected to have a healing message, but in the end, the meaning of the film remained ambiguous. The plot of the film also did not show the close relationship between family members.

In addition to films that end quickly, some works are long-winded with confusing situations that leave the audience dizzy.My family is suddenly happyis typical of long and bad Vietnamese movie scripts. A detail like losing a ring or dividing assets lasts for several episodes but does not contribute anything to the movie's message.

In the first episodes, the film is interesting because of its youthful dialogue and humorous elements. After a long and tedious middle part, with unnecessary details, the tragedy of miscarriage and cancer is crammed into the final episodes.

My family is suddenly happy controversial

It is easy to see that family-themed films still attract Vietnamese audiences. However, viewers are also frustrated with the complicated plots such as jealousy, misunderstandings, conflicts between sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law... Films about professions such as police, prosecutors... lack rigor and logic, leading to the situation of "the elephant's head and the mouse's tail".

"Inexperienced" screenwriter?

Screenwriter Do Thi Thanh Huong believes that it is not wrong to hold the audience's attention with tragic details, but if overused, the film will lose its initial appeal.

"The tragedies are created very fake, very forced. The audience finds fake pain and boring incurable diseases and loses interest in TV dramas. The skill of a good screenwriter must be demonstrated in the ability to handle the plot of the film in a way that is very real, very painful but not fake, not considered abusive," said screenwriter Thanh Huong.

Screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha believes that stringing together a script to ensure an engaging and logical flow requires a good editor. She asserts that the lack of good editors is a problem in feature films in general and television in particular.

"Researching materials, understanding human psychology, and story unity are all important steps in the creative process. Incomplete execution or not knowing how to express them will make the story not attractive enough," screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha explained.

Need a breath of fresh air from the script to the film crew

Screenwriter Trinh Thanh Nha also pointed out that some screenwriters, and sometimes even directors, are weak in understanding real life and do not have enough understanding of social psychology, which makes the scripts written in the scripts still have holes and lack of logic. With adapted scripts, bought from abroad, arbitrary additions can break the overall, tightness of the original script. This is easily seen in long-running TV series.

The journey for Vietnamese films to conquer audiences is even more difficult when Korean, Chinese, and Thai TV dramas are so diverse and available on online platforms. Vietnamese audiences do not hesitate to pay for platforms to watch films from other countries.