Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story: Received 1 star storm because of lack of climax, long and boring

The movie adapted from Nguyen Nhat Anh's novel - Once upon a time there was a love story is the center of attention of cinema fans. Although it has beautiful, poetic images, the plot is considered problematic because it is too long-winded.

Once Upon a Time There Was a Love Story is a movie adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh, which was a huge hit when it was released in 2016. Therefore, the project has attracted attention since its announcement, promising to create similar success to I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass (2015), Blue Eyes (2019).

Unfortunately, the work did not create an explosive effect when it was released. The storytelling style is still familiar and somewhat formulaic, similar to previous films adapted from Nguyen Nhat Anh's stories.

The film takes viewers back to Central Vietnam in the 1980s and 1990s, following the trio of characters Mien (Ngoc Xuan), Vinh (Avin Lu), and Phuc (Do Nhat Hoang) from childhood to adulthood.

When they first met, Vinh "skinny" and Phuc "shrimp tail" quickly "got along", gradually becoming inseparable best friends. Vinh had special feelings for his classmate Mien (Ngoc Xuan), often standing up to protect her whenever she was bullied.

In high school, Phuc encouraged his best friend to confess his feelings to Mien, not knowing that her heart was only directed towards him. Over time, life pushed the trio into difficult crossroads and choices, from which they realized the true value of love.

The project marks the return of director Trinh Dinh Le Minh - who made Dear Mom, I'm Going (2019) and Invisible Evidence (2020). In the previous work, the filmmaker tried his hand at the thriller and crime psychology genre. This time, he chose a slow narrative style and aesthetic filming techniques to increase the romance of the story.

The director interweaves the past and present, sometimes letting all three characters express their feelings, creating a multi-dimensional perspective. The film's art is carefully crafted, and the setting is well utilized to create many beautiful frames. Most of the scenes filmed in Phu Yen exude the peaceful, rustic atmosphere of the countryside with ripe rice fields, sunset, riverbanks, streams...

The director also calculated many camera angles, from wide angle to flycam to capture the beauty of the Central region. The poetic images combined with gentle music serve as the background for the story, helping the characters become closer.

However, this technique is still abused, making the film lack emphasis. In the first half, the director's narration is a bit long-winded, and the script has some unnatural dialogues. At the end, when the film reaches its climax, the director is still loyal to the slow narration, which somewhat reduces the drama.

Basically, the love triangle in the film is quite simple, with few unexpected developments. Although many details have been omitted from the original, the film still feels lengthy with a duration of up to 135 minutes. In addition, the director also used two sensitive scenes that were not too long or shocking, but still made the work labeled T16 (forbidden to audiences under 16 years old) when released in theaters.

In her first film role, Ngoc Xuan left a good impression with her innocent face and gentle beauty. Playing the role of Mien, the actress successfully portrayed the image of a gentle, hard-working girl in a poor village, facing many adversities and prejudices.

Meanwhile, Do Nhat Hoang impressed with his masculine and strong appearance. He showed that Phuc is a character with many feelings, both hateful and pitiful. In the first half of the film, Do Nhat Hoang was favored more than Avin Lu, but towards the end, the stars of Em and Trinh stood out more.

Avin Lu has made more efforts to score points with the audience compared to his previous roles, bringing the image of a "skinny" Vinh who is in love, his eyes always filled with many emotions. However, this image is still familiar, reminiscent of the character Ngan played by Tran Nghia in Mat Biec (2019).

The actors work well together in front of the camera, creating a beautiful friendship with many pure moments. However, the love story between Mien and Phuc is not really convincing, not creating the necessary sadness and torment.

The characters' personalities and psychological developments are still monotonous, causing the actors' performances to lack diversity. Furthermore, the appearance of Do Nhat Hoang and Avin Lu is still a bit old, not suitable for high school students, which is also a factor that causes them to lose points.

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