Years active 1997 - present Name Victor Vu | Role Film director | |
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Born November 25, 1975 (age 48) ( 1975-11-25 ) North Hollywood, California, U.S. Occupation Director, producer, writer Awards Vietnamese Golden Kite Award for Best Feature Film Nominations Vietnamese Golden Kite Award for Best Foreign Collaboration Feature Film Movies Yellow Flowers on the Green, Blood Letter, Vengeful Heart, Battle of the Brides, Scandal Similar People Ngoc Diep, Van Trang, Phuong Nha, Thai Hoa, Binh Minh | ||
Vietnam movies fight vietnamese american film director victor vu plagiarism with english subtitles
Victor Vu is a Vietnamese American film director and screenwriter who gained awards and commercial success in Vietnam while also engaged in plagiarism and dishonest cover up attempt. Along with critical acclaims, news media and public opinion have also accused Vu of plagiarism. In Vietnam's landmark first official plagiarism investigation, 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. Vu called a press conference to try misinform Vietnamese public that in Hollywood, such identical similarities are the obligatory result of using Hollywood filmmaking method.
Contents
- Vietnam movies fight vietnamese american film director victor vu plagiarism with english subtitles
- Vietnam television exposes director victor vu s ripoff led to vietnamese movies 1st plagiarism case
- Life and career
- Filmography
- References
Vietnam television exposes director victor vu s ripoff led to vietnamese movies 1st plagiarism case
Life and career
Born (born November 25, 1975) 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, Spirits – Oan Hon, First Morning, Inferno – Giao Lo Dinh Menh, Scandal (2012). and Vengeful Heart (2014) (Vietnamese: Quả Tim Máu). His social drama Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass is based on Nguyen Nhat Anh's best-selling novel.
Vu was investigated— in Vietnam's first official plagiarism investigation —by Vietnamese cinema regulators, after the Vietnamese news media and public accused his film Inferno of being a copy of Wolfgang Petersen's film Shattered. A televised news report in Vietnam claimed that Inferno was up to 90% similar to the Hollywood film Shattered.
Vu's press conference to explain away accusations of plagiarism- Vu held a now-infamous 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 process." 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. Vietnamese news media made public their recording of Vu's press conference.
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.
The extent of Vu's copying and public scandal propelled a candid public debate. Radar Van Hoa, a Vietnamese newsmagazine television program aired a bold episode which called attention to Victor Vu's plagiarism as symptomatic of a larger problem in Vietnamese cinema. Movie critic Dr Vu Ngoc Thanh said in the broadcast the extent of copying in Vu's Inferno "never happened before in the history of world cinema" and said his analysis is "it's the unavoidable result of unethical filmmaking, and reflects a lack of moral among some modern Vietnamese filmmakers including overseas Vietnamese." The news program said it hoped Vietnam's first official plagiarism investigation and expulsion of Vu's film would serve as timely warning to filmmakers to be more ethical.
As well as controversy, Vu also garnered critical and box office success. 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. 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. Vu's romantic comedy Passport to Love won Audience Choice and Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 Golden Kite Awards. 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.