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Victor Vu

{{Short description|Vietnamese-American film director (born 1975)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Victor Vu

| image = Victor Vu in June 2014.png

| caption = Victor Vu in 2014

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1975|11|25}}

| birth_place = North Hollywood, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Loyola Marymount University (BA)

| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|producer|writer}}

| yearsactive = 1997–present

| spouse =

}}

Victor Vu ({{Langx|vi|Vũ Quốc Việt}}; born November 25, 1975) is a Vietnamese-American film director, writer and producer. 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. He also directed the 2019 hit film, Mắt Biếc, which won many awards and brought him back to the spotlight.

Life and career

Born 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 (Sword of the Assassin),{{cite web|url=http://laapff.festpro.com/films/detail/blood_letter_wu_xia_2012 |title=BLOOD LETTER - 2012 LA Asian Pacific Film Festival |date=May 12, 2012 |access-date=16 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806213937/http://laapff.festpro.com/films/detail/blood_letter_wu_xia_2012 |archive-date=August 6, 2012 }} Spirits – Oan Hon,{{cite web |url=http://www1.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=11264|title=Spirits of Vietnamese culture|date=May 21, 2004|access-date=16 November 2012}} First Morning, Inferno – Giao Lo Dinh Menh, Scandal (2012).,{{cite web |url=http://twitchfilm.com/2012/08/trailer-for-victor-vus-slick-vietnamese-thriller-scandal.html|title=Trailer For Victor Vu's Slick Vietnamese Thriller SCANDAL|work=TwitchFilm |date=Aug 26, 2012|access-date=16 Nov 2012 |last1=Brown |first1=Todd }} Vengeful Heart (2014) (Vietnamese: Quả Tim Máu), social drama Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass based on Nguyen Nhat Anh's best-selling novel {{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/asia/yellow-flowers-picked-by-fortissimo-1201489462/|title=Cannes:Vietnam's Yellow Flowers picked by Fortissimo |date=March 6, 2015 |access-date=6 May 2015}} was Vietnam’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards but was not nominated.{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/asia/vietnam-yellow-flowers-for-oscars-foreign-language-1201862682/|title=Vietnam Selects 'Yellow Flowers' For Oscars Contention|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=2016-09-16|work=Variety|access-date=2018-02-03|language=en-US}}

Vietnam's first plagiarism investigation

Vu was investigated— in Vietnam's first official plagiarism investigation —by Vietnamese cinema regulators. After initial rave reviews and acclaims, Vietnamese news media and public began to discover Vu's film Inferno bore striking similarities to Wolfgang Petersen's 1991 film Shattered.{{cite web |url=http://www.talkvietnam.com/2012/10/vietnam-looks-into-first-film-plagiarism-case|title=Vietnam looks into first film plagiarism case |work=Talk Vietnam |date=October 26, 2012 |access-date=October 26, 2012}} A televised news report in Vietnam claimed that Inferno was up to 90% similar to the Hollywood film Shattered.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgkl0ANAoxY|title=Vietnam Television exposes director Victor Vu |website=YouTube |date=June 21, 2014 |access-date=June 21, 2014}}

Vu's press conference about the accusations of plagiarism- Vu held a press conference in Vietnam denying plagiarizing the movie Shattered. 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 different directors applying the same Hollywood mold to an idea will have to end up having films with A to Z similarities. Hence since Vu used the "Hollywood Thriller" mold, his film had no choice but be similar from A to Z to Hollywood thriller Shattered by coincidence, and trying to avoid similarities would be extremely difficult. Vietnamese news media made public their recording of Vu's press conference.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K5OgErA6kg|title=Victor Vu press conference on plagiarism charges |website=YouTube |date=May 17, 2012 |access-date=May 17, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.talkvietnam.com/2012/10/similarities-with-hollywood-flick-a-coincidence-director|title=Similarities with Hollywood flick a 'coincidence': director |work=Talk Vietnam |date=October 26, 2012 |access-date=October 26, 2012}}

Facing public uproar 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.{{cite web |url=http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/art-entertainment/5331/-inferno--removed-from-golden-kite-award-s-nomination.html|title="Inferno" removed from Golden Kite Award's nomination |date=March 7, 2011 |access-date=March 7, 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Culture_Art/2011/3/90218|title=Film suspected of plagiarism dropped from national award |date=March 7, 2011 |access-date=March 7, 2011}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFQG686wQYY|title=Vietnam Television News:Unethical filmmaking bred film director Victor Vu's movie plagiarism scandal |website=YouTube |date=Feb 16, 2015 |access-date=Feb 16, 2015}}

As well as controversy, Vu also garnered critical and box office success.{{cite web |url=http://dtinews.vn/en/news/023/17249/vietnam-s-arts-and-entertainment-has--stealing--problem.html|title=Vietnam's arts and entertainment has 'stealing' problem|date=September 28, 2011|access-date=September 28, 2011}}{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/asia/yellow-flowers-picked-by-fortissimo-1201489462/|title=Cannes:Vietnam's Yellow Flowers picked by Fortissimo |date=May 6, 2015 |access-date=6 May 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://en.baomoi.com/Info/Knockoff-Inferno-loses-right-to-attend-Award/4/117900.epi|title=Knockoff "Inferno" loses right to attend Award |date=March 7, 2011 |access-date=March 7, 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-fortissimo-films-distribute-vietnams-794052|title=Cannes:Fortissimo Films to Distribute Vietnam's Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=May 7, 2015 |access-date=May 7, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/arts-culture/muchhyped-vietnamese-kids-film-to-seek-distribution-at-cannes-43245.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629093505/http://www.thanhniennews.com/arts-culture/muchhyped-vietnamese-kids-film-to-seek-distribution-at-cannes-43245.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |title=Much hyped Vietnamese kids film to seek distribution at Cannes |date=May 14, 2015 |access-date=May 14, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.screendaily.com/screenasia/cannes-fortissimo-takes-victor-vus-yellow-flowers/5087380.article|title=Fortissimo adds Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass to Cannes slate |date=May 6, 2015 |access-date=6 May 2015}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqcKaKp5IRY|title="Sword of the Assassin"/"Blood Letter": exposed for plagiarism |website=YouTube |date=Jun 7, 2013 |access-date=Jun 7, 2013}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://en.vietnamplus.vn/Home/Golden-Kite-Awards-Blood-letter-wins-best-film/20133/32334.vnplus|title=Golden Kite Awards: Blood letter wins best film |date=March 10, 2013 |access-date=10 March 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://english.vov.vn/CultureSports/Golden-Kite-winners-awarded/256066.vov|title=Golden Kite Winners Awarded |date=March 10, 2013 |access-date=10 March 2013}} Vu's romantic comedy Passport to Love won Audience Choice and Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 Golden Kite Awards.{{cite web |url=http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/travel/culture/3429/|title=No gold for feature film at Golden Kite Award |date=March 3, 2009 |access-date=3 March 2009}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/art-entertainment/87047/top-filmmakers-lauded-at-vn-film-festival.html|title=Top filmmakers lauded at VN Film Festival |date=October 17, 2013 |access-date=January 12, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Culture_Art/2013/10/106603/|title=Vietnam Film Festival honors artists of Vietnamese Cinema |date=October 17, 2013 |access-date=January 12, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://en.vietnamplus.vn/Home/And-the-winners-of-Golden-Lotus-Awards-are/201310/40416.vnplus|title=And the winners of the Golden Lotus Awards are ... |date=October 17, 2013 |access-date=January 12, 2015}}

Filmography

{{update|date=September 2018}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|id=0904192|name=Victor Vu}}

{{Victor Vu}}

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Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors of Vietnamese descent

Category:Vietnamese film directors

Category:American people of Vietnamese descent

Category:People from North Hollywood, Los Angeles

Category:Film directors from Los Angeles