During more than two decades of returning to Vietnam to contribute to the country's cinema, director Victor Vu has left an indelible mark in the hearts of audiences with his unique storytelling style and creative scripts. His vast film portfolio is not only diverse in genre, but also reaps countless resounding successes, conquering record heights in box office revenue. Films such as "The Great Bride War", "Bloody Heart", "Blue Eyes" and most recently "Guardian Angel", "The Last Wife", each film has its own unique features, enriching the color palette of Vietnamese cinema.
However, "Detective Kien" emerged as a new and promising mark in the career of this talented overseas Vietnamese director. The film marks Victor Vu's return to the detective horror genre - the film genre that made his name and created a big buzz for him in his previous works.
Victor Vu returns to his forte with "Detective Kien: The Headless Case"
In the endless creative flow of talented director Victor Vu, the project "Detective Kien" was nurtured before the release of "The Last Wife". However, it was the love and enthusiastic support that the audience gave to the character Kien that became a strong source of motivation, fueling the filmmaker's passion. However, Victor Vu still modestly shared that he did not dare to consider the detective genre as his forte. Instead, he expressed a deep passion for detective films, especially the unique combination of historical elements, spiritual mysteries and difficult cases - three artistic pieces that he always felt were full of inspiration and potential to exploit.
The majestic and poetic setting of Cao Bang and Tuyen Quang was chosen by Victor Vu as the place to "conceive" the mysterious footage of Detective Kien. The story opens when Kien, a diligent official under the authority of the judge, receives an urgent letter for help from Ms. Hai Man (played by Dinh Ngoc Diep). In the letter, Ms. Hai Man sadly reports the mysterious disappearance of her beautiful niece named Nga (Minh Anh). Kien immediately sets out to find the village where Ms. Hai Man lives, carrying the responsibility of finding out the truth of the matter.
The film marking Victor Vu's 20 years of artistic activity also promises to open a new direction in his career.
Cruel fate has cast a shadow over Nga's life since childhood. Since childhood, she has suffered many hardships. As an adult, Nga has a secret and troubled love affair with Thac (Quoc Anh), a boy from a wealthy family. However, ironically, Thac has an engagement with Tuyet (Anh Pham), a girl from a noble family. In this mysterious case of Nga's disappearance, all those involved seem to be under suspicion, creating a network of secrets and hidden motives.
Detective Kien leaves his mark as a court official who respects the law, is rational but at the same time compassionate and chivalrous.
The motif of searching for the culprit in a closed group of people, where anyone could be a suspect, is reminiscent of the classic detective style of the "queen of detective stories" Agatha Christie and her legendary detective character Hercule Poirot. "Detective Kien" possesses similar qualities. He is not afraid to put himself in danger, approaching and interrogating each person involved in the case: from the suffering Hai Man, Mr. Vinh - Nga's austere father, the infatuated Thac, the resentful Tuyet, Mr. Ho Dac - Thac's powerful father, the couple Quan Liem - Mrs. Vuong (Tuyet's parents), Mr. Tinh - the most reclusive and mysterious character in the village, to Dong - the servant who was falsely accused of stealing, living in isolation and full of suspicion, and Mui - Mrs. Vuong's quiet maid. Each meeting, each testimony reveals a small piece in the complex picture of the case.
With the "case within a case" narrative, the audience follows the two main characters as they search for Nga's whereabouts and find answers to a local tragedy 30 years ago.
Not simply a dramatic and detective journey, Detective Kien also adheres to the spiritual element that director Victor Vu always pursues. This element becomes even more mysterious, suitable for the feudal social context full of beliefs. The spiritual element covers the story with a magical mist, leading the audience into a world that is both creepy and real, where rumors and supernatural phenomena can hide terrifying secrets.
In particular, the image of the "ghosts" in the film is clearly and horribly portrayed, reminiscent of the image of scary demons in American horror films. The creepy, haunting and sometimes disgusting nature of the audience can be compared to the dark and surprising atmosphere in the early Conan comics, where the murder cases always contained unpredictable horror elements.
The director guides the audience by giving hints, stimulating them to speculate with detective Kien.
The unexpected situations intertwined between reality and the past, thrilling but also with many humorous details... have created a spicy and moderately restrained feast that Victor Vu brings to the audience.
The plot of the film is fast, with many unexpected and concise changes, limiting the unnecessary long scenes that Victor Vu often gets stuck in in some recent films. The length of the film and the story is just enough to attract the audience's attention for more than 2 hours of watching the film.
The interesting details in the movie make it impossible for the audience to take their eyes off the movie.
One of the remarkable and dedicated efforts of director Victor Vu, who has always been a pioneer in bringing the majestic and poetic beauty of his homeland into cinematographic films, is the meticulous construction of new and beautiful natural settings. Ancient villages and peaceful wharves have been vividly recreated in Cao Bang and Tuyen Quang. This meticulous investment not only brings a realistic space to the story, but also a journey to explore and honor Vietnam's famous landscapes on the big screen.
The film crew's investment in setting and costumes is commendable.
To create a realistic and colorful ancient world, the film's costume team has done a huge amount of work. More than 1,000 costumes, from the main characters' costumes to the extras' costumes, were all tailored and dyed entirely by hand. In addition, the ceramic collection appearing in the film was also carefully invested with 1,000 diverse products, contributing to the delicate reproduction of the cultural and material life of the era's context. In particular, the restoration of the scenery in an ancient village over 200 years old, hidden in the highlands, to turn this place into a setting suitable for the mysterious storyline also required a lot of effort from the entire film crew. This effort was well rewarded when the frames appeared full of magic, attraction and drama, contributing significantly to creating a unique atmosphere for the film.
The corpses and ghosts in the film are made up vividly, combined with just enough "jumpscare" elements to instill fear.
The cast of "Detective Kien: The Headless Case" are all experienced and enthusiastic faces, ready to "roll up" with the film crew during more than a month of challenging filming. Working conditions in the high mountains with rugged terrain, low temperatures and many poor living conditions did not reduce the dedication of the artists. The impressive performances of People's Artist My Uyen, Meritorious Artist Xuan Trang, Quoc Huy, Dinh Ngoc Diep, Anh Pham, Tin Nguyen... contributed significantly to the success of the film.
This is truly an important milestone for Vietnamese cinema, opening up new potential for historical detective films in the future.
However, looking at it as a whole, "Detective Kien: The Headless Case" still has some limitations. The plot is sometimes considered quite predictable, and the acting of some actors, despite being given a lot of screen time, has not really convinced a part of the audience. Besides, Detective Kien's five-day crime-solving journey in searching for Nga is sometimes commented as a bit long-winded. However, the film is still considered a bold and encouraging first experiment of director Victor Vu with the potential ancient detective genre.
