Victor Vu
| Victor Vu | |
|---|---|
| File:Director Victor Vu headshot.jpg | |
| Born | November 25, 1975 North Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Director, producer, writer |
| Years active | 1997 - present |
Victor Vu (born November 25, 1975) is a Vietnamese American film director and screenwriter. Vu has won Vietnamese awards and commercial success while also embroiled in plagiarism and dishonesty scandals. Along with critical acclaims, news media and public opinion have also accused him of plagiarism when similarities to foreign films come to light; in particular, Vietnamese regulators found Vu's film Inferno to have copied Hollywood's 1991 film Shattered. This resulted in Inferno's disqualification from Vietnam's Golden Kite Awards.
Life and career
Born and raised in Southern California, Vu earned his BA in film production from Loyola Marymount University. He has directed Passport to Love, Battle of the Brides, Blood letter,[1] Spirits – Oan Hon,[2] First Morning, Inferno – Giao Lo Dinh Menh, Scandal (2012).[3] and Vengeful Heart (2014) (Vietnamese: Quả Tim Máu). His social drama Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass, co-funded by Vietnam's Cinema Department, is based on Nguyen Nhat Anh's best-selling novel.[4][5]
Vu was investigated— in Vietnam's first such case—by Vietnamese cinema regulators for plagiarism, after the Vietnamese news media and public accused his film Inferno of being a copy of Wolfgang Petersen's film Shattered.[6] A televised news report in Vietnam claimed that Inferno was up to 90% similar to the Hollywood film Shattered.[7]
Vu's press conference to counter accusations of plagiarism- Vu held a press conference in Vietnam to deny plagiarizing the movie Shattered but it was perceived in Vietnam as a dishonest whitewashing attempt. In his press conference Vu acknowledged the similarities but claimed he has never heard of Shattered and explained that the similarities are due to "what's called the creative pocess." Vu explained that he uses "exactly the Hollywood method and the Hitchcock method" and because all Hollywood films follow the same mold, it's inevitable that if he uses the Hollywood method his film has no choice but be similar from A to Z to other Hollywood films by coincidence, although the film idea was his. Vietnamese news media at Vu's press conference made public their recording of Vu's press conference.[8][9]
Facing rising public and news media criticism, officials of the Vietnamese Cinema Administration and Vietnamese Cinema Association opened the first ever official plagiarism investigation in Vietnamese cinema. They met on March 4, 2011 to watch Vu's film and compare it with Shattered. Afterwards, they decided to eliminate the film from the Golden Kite Awards, saying that Inferno is too similar to the 1991 Hollywood film.[10][11]
As well as controversy, Vu also garnered critical and box office success.[12][13][14][15][16][4] At the 2012 Golden Kite Awards, Vu's period action film, Blood Letter, won Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound, however on Vietnamese social media there were also accusations this film copied from various Korean and Chinese films.[17] In the same year, Victor Vu's thriller Scandal (2012) received the Film Critics Award for Best Film and the Golden Kite for Best Supporting Actress.[18][19] Vu's romantic comedy Passport to Love won Audience Choice and Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 Golden Kite Awards.[20] At the 18th National Film Festival, Scandal (2012) received the Golden Lotus Award for Best Feature Film, Best Director (Victor Vu) and Best Actress, while Blood letter took home the Silver Lotus Award.[21][22][23]
Filmography
- First Morning (2003)
- Spirits – Oan Hon (2004)
- Passport to Love (2009)
- Inferno – Giao Lo Dinh Menh (2010)
- Battle of the Brides (2011)
- Blood letter (2012)
- Scandal (2012)
- Battle of the Brides 2 (2013)
- Vengeful Heart (2014)
- Scandal 2: Hao Quang Tro Lai (The Comeback) (2014)
- Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass (2015)
References
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External links
- Victor Vu at the Internet Movie Database
