National Cinema Center website crashed due to sudden increase in ticket bookings for "Peach, Pho and Piano"

"Peach, Pho and Piano" is one of two state films included in the pilot distribution and dissemination plan for a number of films produced using the state budget issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The remaining film is "Miss Hong Ha".

Currently, the National Cinema Center is the only location in the country showing these two films.

"Peach, Pho and Piano": An Unprecedented Phenomenon

Mr. Vu Duc Tung called the fact that audiences booked tickets to see the movie "Dao, Pho and Piano" - a state-run movie - causing the website of the National Cinema Center to crash "an unprecedented phenomenon".

As of noon on February 18, the center's website was still not back up and running.

According to plan, the two films will be officially released on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

From the first to the third day of Tet, the unit arranges the number of screenings normally. On average, each screening has an audience covering 1/3 to 1/2 of the theater.

"However, compared to 'Hong Ha Nu Si', in the past few days, the movie 'Dao, Pho and Piano' has been unusually popular.

According to the media department's report, many audiences called on the center to open more screenings," Mr. Tung informed.

The acting director of the center added that at 1 a.m. on February 18, the media department, technical department, and board of directors had to meet to discuss opening more screenings.

According to preliminary statistics on the morning of February 18, the theater welcomed nearly 400 audiences to watch "Peach, Pho and Piano".

"Initially, the theater only opened three screenings, but due to high audience demand, the theater has now increased to 11 screenings. On February 19, it will open 15 screenings," Mr. Tung added. "With state-owned films, the theater will show them until there are no more audiences, at least a month."

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Vu Duc Tung also shared: "Since noon on February 17, all tickets for the movie 'Peach, Pho and Piano' on Monday and Tuesday next week (ie February 19 and 20) have been sold out. Some viewers shared that this is the first time they have accepted to sit in the front row to watch a movie."

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From February 10 to now, "Peach, Pho and Piano" has sold 5,162 tickets, earning nearly 300 million VND. Meanwhile, "Hong Ha Nu Si" has sold 699 tickets, earning 41.2 million VND. The number of tickets for "Peach, Pho and Piano" will increase in the coming days.

Mr. Vu Duc Tung, Acting Director of the National Cinema Center

Positive signal

Talking about the balance between two hot movies at the moment ("Mai" - private movie and "Dao, pho and piano"-(State-owned films), the representative of the National Cinema Center said that there should be no comparison because each film genre has different characteristics and tasks.

Mr. Tung said that Tran Thanh's movie "Mai" has had a large audience since the second day of Tet. From 20 screenings, the theater had to increase to 30, now 50 screenings but still cannot meet the audience's demand.

"The public reaction and initial results from the film 'Peach, Pho and Piano' are a positive sign.

I think if a state-owned film has quality, a script that fits the trend, and content that touches the audience's emotions, it is completely possible to be released in theaters," said acting director Vu Duc Tung.

When asked whether or not the Cinema Department forced the Cinema Center to increase the screenings of "Peach, Pho and Piano" as some netizens said, Mr. Vu Duc Tung denied: "The Center is not pressured by anything. The Department assigned the Center to take the initiative in planning the entire thing. There is no such thing as the Department forcing the Center to increase the screenings of state films. When there is an audience, we will serve whether it is a commercial film or a state film."

He also added that in addition to feature films, the center also hopes to show cartoons ordered by the State to young audiences.

The film "Peach, Pho and Piano" (director and screenwriter Phi Tien Son) was inspired by the 60-day and night war in late 1946 and early 1947 between the army and people of Hanoi.

In the final battles before our army withdrew from Hanoi in 1947 to the war zone, preparing for a long-term resistance war, some people still chose to stay in the barracks.

They, with or without names, together tell a tragic yet romantic story about the "soul of Hanoi" in the midst of fire and smoke.

The film won the Silver Lotus at the 23rd Vietnam Film Festival held in Da Lat last November.

On some movie groups, "Peach, Pho and Piano" is receiving great attention.

Besides the comments praising "a rare film about historical themes at this time", "tragic", "touching", "should be widely distributed"..., there are also many opinions saying "the film is still too dramatic", "the setting is realistic but the big scenes should be more spectacular", "bad female lead"...

"The film is not perfect but brings a very different spring in Hanoi", "state-owned films should be supported", one opinion expressed.