LookAtVietnam Bridge - Although he is currently the director of a high profile communications company, Nguyen Thanh Son was trained in literature and communication and is known for his strict criticism of literature and film, especially a prolific period between 2001 and 2003.

After being absent from the critics’ circle for some time, Son decided to get back into what he had been trained to do. He spoke about his views of current literature and film.

What do you think about the current market of translated books?

There are many readable books there, but I care more about Vietnamese literature.

What would you say about contemporary Vietnamese literature?

Books are currently written quickly and on the surface but it is rare to find anything that readers find enjoyable to read. I think the reason is that our literature is facing a crisis of identity. Writers don’t know who they are and where they are going or what they want to do, and they don’t have faith.

But we have authors who have been best-sellers recently such as Nguyen Ngoc Tu and Phan Thi Vang Anh. What do you think about them?

Nguyen Ngoc Tu is better because she is honest about her perception of life. But strictly speaking, it is not enough.

Phan Thi Vang Anh is a sensitive writer and she has good sense of literary art. However, she hasn’t given readers a "shock". It is difficult to say that she is in some way a literary leader.

What do you think about young writers who have been trying to express themselves in so-called innovative ways?

If they don’t have a true love for life, innovation is just wasted rhetoric.

Last year, you were one of the investors in the film Trai Tim Be Bong (Little Heart). As a film critic, do you want to spur change?

When I decided to invest in producing Little Heart, I thought I would make a contribution to changing the way films in Viet Nam were made. But it was just a hallucination. People have different ways of thinking.

What do you want to change?

There are a lot of things. The most important is the mediocrity of story narration by film makers. Cinematography is attractive for its diversity in telling stories. The shorter a time span is provided for each story the more challenges director and scriptwriter have. Spontaneous expression in a motion picture is easier to produce than in literature but Vietnamese filmmakers have yet to exploit this advantage of their medium. They are framed in an old model of telling stories in strict chronological order. Nobody is bothered to try something different.

Why didn’t you write anything about it as you did for Ao Lua Ha Dong (Silk Dress)?

When Silk Dress was released it received strong feedback, both negative and positive, from the public and media that inspiredme to write. However, Little Heart didn’t have the same sorts of things. Honestly, I wasn’t being professional. I often write when I am provoked and I was irritated by different ideas.

At the same time, I am honest about my opinions when I write reviews even though I understand the authors may not end up liking me very much. In my review of the hit book Co Hoi Cua Chua (Opportunity of God), I was clear about my criticism though the author is my friend.

As a migrant from the north, what difference in critical life have you found in the south?

In Ha Noi, critics discuss literature and their profession anytime and everywhere, even when they have coffee in the morning.

I don’t know if it’s that I haven’t integrated, but I am more conservative in talking about the matter when I am here.

I think northern critics are more argumentative, always discussing back and forth, while critics of the south have a more relaxed attitude, a more "monarchist" sensibility.

(Source: VNS)