'The Race' goes nowhere in Vietnam

ALMOST TWO WEEKS after hitting screens nationwide, the heavily promoted “Duong Dua” (“The Race”) has been declared a flop, following in the footsteps of many other recent Vietnamese releases that have failed to win audiences’ hearts.
Released on the weekend of July 26, the movie has already been dropped by major cinema chains such as Megastar and Galaxy in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
Advertised as an exciting action-crime thirller, “The Race” is about a retired jockey who borrows money to make a living in the city and support his sick father. He soon falls into a gambling spiral and makes an enemy of a local den owner.
The lack of interest in “The Race” comes as a huge disappointment to the newly established studio, Blue Production, which bankrolled the feature and the reasons for the film’s failure are now under scrutiny.
“As contracted with the distributor, the film was shown for two weeks,” says a representative from the August Cinema in Hanoi.
“Whether we extend the contract depends on the number of people who go to see the film. A release may stay on screens for one or two weeks, or it may remain for three months if audience interest is high. The maximum number of people attending screenings of ‘The Race’ has been fewer than 30.”
“The Race” is the seventh Vietnamese film to hit local screens this summer. Although it was well-covered by local mass media, the film failed to receive the positive critical reception afforded to such other recent releases as “Lo Lem Sai Gon” (“Saigon Cinderella”), the 3D “Biet Chet Lien” (“How the Hell Should I Know?”), and “Cat Nong” (“Hot Sand”), which was shown at the opening ceremony of the International Film Festival in Hanoi last year.
“How the Hell Should I Know?” earned the highest turnover of the group, with 7.2 billion dong (Bt10.6 million). Costing 12 billion dong, “The Race” earned around 850 million dong on its opening weekend. These figures are much lower compared with foreign films like “Despicable Me 2”, which was still raking in the cash after a month on local screens.
“The Race” failed to create box-office magic partly because of the “heavy” nature of the material, according to the film’s assistant director Nguyen Thanh Son on his personal webpage. “It is serious and is not really targeted at an audience of under 20s, who are the main customers of cinemas.”
According to the culture ministry's Cinematography Department, Vietnam produced 17 films in 2011 and imported 106. The following year the number of locally produced films remained the same while imports reached 134. The statistics also revealed that foreign movies in the country saw profits from $2 million (Bt620 million) in 2000 to $47 million in 2012. Foreign investment in the sector has also increased, especially in cinema chains.
“Obviously, investment into and earnings from the movie industry has increased significantly year by year,” says Ngo Phuong Lan, head of the department. “It proves that Vietnam has the potential for cinematography to develop. However, we have not done enough to take full advantage of these developments to reinvest into and support the locally made films.”
Vu Minh Chien, manager of Platinum Cinemas, said turnover from “The Race” had fallen far short of expectations.
“Audiences have expressed a general view that despite the hype, the film is not so impressive. Now we have to wait for the bumper crop of Vietnamese movies to arrive in Lunar New Year or other holidays like National Day, when Hollywood does not release its hits and blockbusters.”
Cinemas are now pinning their hopes for this year on the forthcoming “Lua Phat” (“Once Upon a Time in Vietnam”). The film is described as an “Eastern western” featuring motorbike-riding kung fu monks and large-scale battles. Dustin Nguyen directed the film and also penned the script.