BELOVED AUTHOR: A scene from Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình (Love Upon A Time), a film based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Nguyễn Nhật Ánh from HCM City. — Photo courtesy of HK Film

HCM CITY — The Vietnamese film Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình (Love Upon A Time) has earned more than VNĐ26 billion (US$1.02 million) in ticket sales on the first days of this month, reported Box Office Vietnam. 

The movie is based on the famous novel of the same name by Nguyễn Nhật Ánh, winner of the Southeast Asian Writers Award presented by the Thai royal family in 2010. 

It is a project by private HK Film in co-operation with its partners in HCM City. It features young artists Ngọc Xuân, Avin Lu and Đỗ Nhật Hoàng in lead roles. 

The show was among the three top hits in its first five days beginning on November 1, including the American superhero film Venom: The Last Dance and the Vietnamese comedy Cô Dâu Hào Môn (The Bride).

The book Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình was published by Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House in 2016 and became a bestseller. 

It tells a love story. Southern culture and lifestyle in the 1980s-90s are also featured through the life of the main characters. 

Director Trịnh Đình Lê Minh was interested in filming Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình because it was written by his idol, writer Ánh, who has a series of nine books adapted for the cinema.

“We have invested both money and human resources in our film to meet the demands of Ánh’s fans,” said director Trịnh Đình Lê Minh in an interview with local media at the film launching ceremony in HCM City last year.  

The casting last year attracted several thousand young people under 25 in Hà Nội and HCM City, who were also Ánh’s fans. 

HIT MOVIE: The poster for Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình (Love Upon A Time), a film on love by young director Trịnh Đình Lê Minh. The film earned VNĐ26 billion (US$1.02 million) in ticket sales in five days beginning on November 1. — Photo courtesy of HK Film

Ngày Xưa Có Một Chuyện Tình is one of Ánh’s more than 90 novels and collections of short stories. The writer is known for his simple style and accurate depiction of children’s minds.

In 2015, his novel Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh (Yellow Flowers on Green Grass) was adapted to become a film of the same name by Vietnamese-American director Victor Vũ. The film portrays the lives of children in a poor rural area.

The film won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Feature Film and Best Director at the 19th biennial Việt Nam Film Festival in 2015.

It also won the Best Film Award at the Silk Road International Film Festival in Fujian Province, China.

The film was distributed abroad by Fortissimo Films Hong Kong. In Việt Nam, the film earned around VNĐ80 billion ($3.59 million) in ticket sales. 

Another novel called Mắt Biếc (Dreamy Eyes) was adapted and became a blockbuster by Vietnamese-American director Victor Vũ in 2019. 

The film earned a record VNĐ50 billion ($2.1 million) in the first three days of its release in December 2019 and was listed among the industry’s top 10 blockbusters with more than VNĐ127 billion ($5.5 million) at the box office. 

It won the top prize of Golden Lotus for a Feature Film at Việt Nam Film Festival in 2020. 

The two films, Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh and Mắt Biếc, were sent to compete in the Best Foreign Language Film Category at the Oscar awards ceremony in 2017 and 2021 by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. — VNS