Tran Anh Hung
{{short description|Vietnamese-French filmmaker}}
{{family name hatnote|Trần|Hung (Hùng)|Tran|lang=Vietnamese}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Tran Anh Hung "International Competition Jury" at Opening Ceremony of the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (22453104525) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Trần Anh Hùng at the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival in 2015
| name = Trần Anh Hùng
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1962|12|23}}
| birth_place = Da Nang, South Vietnam
| death_place =
| death_date =
| citizenship = French
| spouse = Trần Nữ Yên Khê{{cite web|url= https://variety.com/2023/film/news/tran-anh-hung-tokyo-film-festival-masterclass-taste-of-things-1235767364/ |title= Tran Anh Hung Cooks Up Tokyo Film Festival Masterclass With ‘The Taste of Things’ |first= Mark |last= Schilling |work= Variety |date= October 24, 2023 |access-date= December 8, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130222231/https://variety.com/2023/film/news/tran-anh-hung-tokyo-film-festival-masterclass-taste-of-things-1235767364/ |url-status=live}}
{{cite web|url= https://screenanarchy.com/2012/01/adapting-norwegian-wood-tran-anh-hung-interview.html |title= Adapting Murakami's NORWEGIAN WOOD: Tran Anh Hung Interview |first= Dustin |last= Chang |work= Screen Anarchy |date= January 2, 2012 |access-date= December 8, 2023 |archive-date= December 8, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231208004534/https://screenanarchy.com/2012/01/adapting-norwegian-wood-tran-anh-hung-interview.html |url-status=live}}
| children = 2
| occupation = Film director, screenwriter
| years_active = 1989–present
}}
Trần Anh Hùng (English: Anh Hung Tran), born December 23, 1962){{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/anh_hung_tran |title= Tran Anh Hung |work= Rotten Tomatoes |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130220624/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/anh_hung_tran |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.ficfa.com/films/la-passion-de-dodin-bouffant |title= La Passion De Dodin Bouffant |language=fr |work= Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130224122/https://www.ficfa.com/films/la-passion-de-dodin-bouffant |url-status=live}} is a Vietnamese-French filmmaker.{{cite web|url= https://www.voilah.sg/french-guest-at-the-singapore-writers-festival-2018/ |title= French Guests at the Singapore Writers Festival 2018 |work= Voilah! France Singapore Festival | date=November 2, 2018 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130220839/https://www.voilah.sg/french-guest-at-the-singapore-writers-festival-2018/ |url-status=live}}
Early life and education
Hung was born in Da Nang, South Vietnam.{{cite web|url= https://filmtalk.org/2016/08/29/tran-anh-hung-for-me-the-most-important-thing-about-a-movie-is-the-language-of-cinema/ |title= Tran Anh Hung: “For me, the most important thing about a movie is the language of cinema” |work= Film Talk |date= August 29, 2016 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204009/https://filmtalk.org/2016/08/29/tran-anh-hung-for-me-the-most-important-thing-about-a-movie-is-the-language-of-cinema/ |url-status=live}}
{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/03/tran-anh-hung-norwegian-wood |title= Tran Anh Hung enters Norwegian Wood – and emerges to tell the tale |first= Nosheen |last= Iqbal |work= The Guardian |date= March 3, 2011 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130102450/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/03/tran-anh-hung-norwegian-wood |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://en.dangcongsan.vn/daily-hot-news/vietnam-wins-four-bronze-medals-at-asia-pacific-physics-olympiad-604626.html |title= Vietnam wins four bronze medals at Asia-Pacific Physics Olympiad |work= Communist Party of Vietnam |date= May 28, 2023 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130210401/https://en.dangcongsan.vn/daily-hot-news/vietnam-wins-four-bronze-medals-at-asia-pacific-physics-olympiad-604626.html |url-status=live}}
{{cite web|url= https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/lifestyle/20161124/vietnamese-french-film-director-on-family-life-in-france/9699.html |title= Vietnamese-French film director on family, life in France |author= Tuoi Tre News |work= Tuổi Trẻ |date= November 24, 2016 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130210353/https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/lifestyle/20161124/vietnamese-french-film-director-on-family-life-in-france/9699.html |url-status=live}}
{{cite web|url= https://www.vietnam.vn/en/tran-anh-hung-cung-vo-va-2-con-ve-viet-nam-sau-khi-gianh-giai-tai-cannes/ |title= Tran Anh Hung with his wife and 2 children returned to Vietnam after winning the award at Cannes |author= Dan Tri Newspaper |work= Authority of Foreign Information Service |date= July 6, 2023 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130211206/https://www.vietnam.vn/en/tran-anh-hung-cung-vo-va-2-con-ve-viet-nam-sau-khi-gianh-giai-tai-cannes/ |url-status=live}} Following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, he immigrated to France at age 12.{{cite web|url= https://variety.com/2023/biz/awards/anatomy-of-a-fall-the-taste-of-things-award-winners-1235702611/ |title= ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and ‘The Taste of Things’ Put Neon and IFC Back in Oscar Hunt with French Twist |first= Clayton |last= Davis |work= Variety |date= September 4, 2023 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130192756/https://variety.com/2023/biz/awards/anatomy-of-a-fall-the-taste-of-things-award-winners-1235702611/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1300593/rewind-film-cyclo-directed-tran-anh-hung |title= Rewind, film: 'Cyclo' directed by Tran Anh Hung |first= James |last= Porteous |work= South China Morning Post |date= September 1, 2013 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130192803/https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1300593/rewind-film-cyclo-directed-tran-anh-hung |url-status=live}}
Hung majored in philosophy at a university in France. By chance, he saw Robert Bresson's film A Man Escaped and decided to study film instead. He went on to study photography at the National School Supérieure Louis-Lumière,{{cite web|url= https://bombmagazine.org/articles/tran-anh-hung/ |title= BOMB Magazine {{!}} Tran Anh Hung |author= Lawrence Chua |work= Bomb |date= January 1, 1994 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130224727/https://bombmagazine.org/articles/tran-anh-hung/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jul-06-ca-19055-story.html |title= He’s Not a Reporter, He’s an Interpreter |first= Scarlet |last=Cheng |work= Los Angeles Times |date= July 6, 2001 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130192901/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jul-06-ca-19055-story.html |url-status=live}} which trains cinematographers and supported himself by working in the Musée d'Orsay bookshop.{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/01/movies/film-darkness-camouflaged-by-hanoi-s-seductive-sun.html |title= FILM; Darkness Camouflaged By Hanoi's Seductive Sun |first= Laura |last= Winters |work= The New York Times |date= July 1, 2001 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130193004/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/01/movies/film-darkness-camouflaged-by-hanoi-s-seductive-sun.html |url-status=live}}
Film career
Hung has been at the forefront of a wave of acclaimed overseas Vietnamese cinema over the past two decades. His films have received international fame and acclaim, and his first three features were varied meditations on life in his home country of Vietnam.{{cite web|url= https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2078384/vietnamese-filmmaker-tran-anh-hung-why-language-doesnt-matter-and |title= Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Anh Hung on why language doesn’t matter, and Terrence Malick’s ‘stupid’ films |first= Edmund |last= Lee |work= South China Morning Post |date= March 13, 2017 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204531/https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2078384/vietnamese-filmmaker-tran-anh-hung-why-language-doesnt-matter-and |url-status=live}}
Hung's Oscar-nominated debut (for Best foreign film) was The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), which also won two top prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web|url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-scent-of-green-papaya-1994 |title= The Scent Of Green Papaya |first= Roger |last= Ebert |work= Roger Ebert |date= March 11, 1994 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204511/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-scent-of-green-papaya-1994 |url-status=live}} His follow-up Cyclo (1995, which featured Hong Kong movie star Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/11/arts/golden-lions-awarded-at-venice-festival.html |title= Golden Lions Awarded at Venice Festival |author= The Associated Press |work= The New York Times |date= September 11, 1995 |access-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-date= November 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231130052008/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/11/arts/golden-lions-awarded-at-venice-festival.html |url-status=live}} The Vertical Ray of the Sun, released in 2000, was the third film in his "Vietnam trilogy."{{cite web|url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-vertical-ray-of-the-sun-2001 |title= The Vertical Ray Of The Sun |first= Roger |last= Ebert |work= Roger Ebert |date= March 11, 1994 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204522/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-vertical-ray-of-the-sun-2001 |url-status=live}}
After a sabbatical, Hung returned with the noir psychological thriller I Come with the Rain (2009), which featured a star-studded international cast including Josh Hartnett and Elias Koteas.{{cite web|url= https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2017/09/27/films/crafted-sensuality-director-tran-anh-hung/ |title= The crafted sensuality of director Tran Anh Hung |url-access=subscription |first= Kaori |last= Shoji |work= The Japan Times |publisher= |date= September 27, 2017 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204524/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2017/09/27/films/crafted-sensuality-director-tran-anh-hung/ |url-status=live}}
Hung directed Norwegian Wood,{{cite web|url= https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/murakamis-norwegian-wood-transformed-to-film/ |title= Murakami’s ‘Norwegian Wood’ transformed to film |first= Colleen |last= Barry |work= The Seattle Times |date= September 2, 2010 |access-date= December 4, 2023 |archive-date= December 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231204120221/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/murakamis-norwegian-wood-transformed-to-film/ |url-status=live}} an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel of the same name, which was released in Japan in December 2010.{{cite web|url= https://www.screendaily.com/tran-to-adapt-norwegian-wood-for-asmik-ace-fuji-tv/4040092.article |title= Tran to adapt Norwegian Wood for Asmik Ace, Fuji TV |first= Jason |last= Gray |work= Screen International |date= July 31, 2008 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004211013/https://www.screendaily.com/tran-to-adapt-norwegian-wood-for-asmik-ace-fuji-tv/4040092.article |url-status=live}}
Films on Vietnam
In France, Hung studied at the prestigious film school, Louis Lumière. For his graduation project in 1987 he wrote and directed a short film La femme mariée de Nam Xuong, inspired by an old Vietnamese folk tale (Truyền kỳ mạn lục).
Following this Hung made another short film, La pierre de l'attente (1989), before launching the feature film The Scent of Green Papaya (1993). The Scent of Green Papaya was acclaimed for its style and its beautiful images of Vietnamese life.{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thescentofgreenpapayanrhinson_b009d3.htm |title=
'The Scent of Green Papaya' (NR) |first= Hal |last= Hinson |work= The Washington Post |date= February 18, 1994 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204641/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thescentofgreenpapayanrhinson_b009d3.htm |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/11/movies/review-film-vision-of-a-vietnam-as-yet-unscarred.html |title= Review/Film; Vision of a Vietnam as Yet Unscarred |first= Janet |last= Maslin |work= The New York Times |date= October 11, 1993 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204535/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/11/movies/review-film-vision-of-a-vietnam-as-yet-unscarred.html |url-status=live}} To date, the film is the only representative of Vietnamese cinema to be nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The success of Papaya helped Hung gain funding for the next film, Cyclo. The film tells stories of poor people living in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), and was filmed on location there. Cyclo won the Golden Lion at 52nd Venice International Film Festival, and at the age of 33, Hung was one of the youngest filmmakers to be thus honored there.
Having depicted life in Ho Chi Minh City, Hung turned his attention to Hanoi in The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000). The main characters of the film are three sisters who idolize their parents' family life, before the truth is revealed after the mother's death.
Influences and style of film-making
Hung's films are made to rebuild the image of Vietnam that he lost when immigrating to France, and to provide the audience with another point of view on Vietnam when this topic has been long dominated by French and American cinema. The stories are based on Hung's knowledge about Vietnamese culture and (in the second and third films) his first-hand experience gained from trips to the country.{{cite book |last= Tarr |first= Carrie |date= 2004 |title= Tran Anh Hung as diasporic filmmaker |publisher= In: Robson, Kathryn and Yee, Jennifer, (eds.) France and "Indochina": cultural representations |url= https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/5940/ |url-status= live |location= Maryland, U.S. |format= Lexington Books |isbn= 0739108409 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204529/https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/5940/ |archive-date= October 4, 2023}}
Hung is strongly influenced by French cinema and from some European and Japanese filmmakers, namely Bergman, Bresson, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky and Ozu.
Hung's style of filmmaking is expressed through the claim: "Art is the truth wearing a mask".{{cite web|url= https://www.talawas.org/talaDB/showFile.php?res=1418&rb=0204 |title= Nghệ thuật là sự thật được đeo mặt nạ |language=vi |author= Lâm Phố |website= talawas.org |date= May 19, 2004 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004211611/https://www.talawas.org/talaDB/showFile.php?res=1418&rb=0204 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= https://viez.vn/dao-dien-tran-anh-hung-nghe-thuat-la-su-that-mang-chiec-mat-na-iIgve5Zgr4jF.html |title= Đạo Diễn Trần Anh Hùng: “Nghệ Thuật Là Sự Thật Mang Chiếc Mặt Nạ” |language=vi |website= viez.vn |date= April 20, 2023 |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004223916/https://viez.vn/dao-dien-tran-anh-hung-nghe-thuat-la-su-that-mang-chiec-mat-na-iIgve5Zgr4jF.html |url-status=live}}
He denies the conventional story-telling style and pursues making films with a new language: "to challenge the audiences' feelings, making them enjoy the films not with the critical reasoning but the language of the body".
As a banner of Vietnamese films, Hung, a French-Vietnamese director, shattered the stereotypical images of poverty and backwardness depicted in prior American and French films with his unique camera images, showing the audience a Vietnam where tenderness and cruelty coexist. In Vietnam, Hung's most famous "trilogy"—The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), Cyclo (1995), and The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000)—expresses feelings for his country.{{cite web|url= http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/tran/tran.html |title= Anh Hung Tran |author= Gary W. Tooze |website= dvdbeaver.com |access-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-date= October 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231004204842/http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/tran/tran.html |url-status=live}}
Filmography
Accolades
See also
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0870843|name=Trần Anh Hùng}}
{{Tran Anh Hung}}
{{Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Anh Hung}}
Category:French film directors
Category:Vietnamese film directors
Category:20th-century French screenwriters
Category:21st-century French screenwriters
Category:French male screenwriters
Category:Vietnamese screenwriters
Category:Vietnamese emigrants to France
Category:Directors of Caméra d'Or winners
Category:Directors of Golden Lion winners
Category:Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners