* Note: This article contains spoilers.
Bran is a Vietnamese film that is attracting attention in theaters. In just the first three days of its release, the film quickly raked in more than 48 billion VND, becoming the Vietnamese horror film with the highest opening this year, surpassing Ghost (40 billion).
The film's script is inspired by the famous fairy tale Tam Cam, retold from a horror and creepy perspective. However, the content is still controversial with many overly creative details, breaking the original. Among them, there is a scene where the character Tam (Rima Thanh Vy) bathes in a pond, revealing part of her body, but it is not done delicately.
Why did Tam have to 'take off'?
As the name suggests, the content Bran The book does not focus on Tam's fate but instead explores Cam's story more deeply, thereby intensifying the tragedy of Tam and Cam's family life.
The film revolves around the family of Mr. Hai Hoang (Quoc Cuong) who has a daughter named Tam (Rima Thanh Vy). After his wife passed away, Hai Hoang took a second wife (Thuy Diem) and gave birth to the youngest daughter Cam (Lam Thanh My). Unfortunately, Cam has a deformed face so she is treated badly by both her father and mother, only Tam loves her even though they do not have the same biological mother.
Rima Thanh Vy's image as Tam.
The script inserts elements of demons and sacrificial rituals to increase the horror and at the same time arouse curiosity in the audience. The tragedy of Tam – Cam is associated with a thousand-year-old contract between the family and a supernatural evil force named Bach Lao (Meritorious Artist Hanh Thuy). In exchange for wealth, every ten years they must sacrifice a virgin for the evil spirit to practice the art of immortality.
Despite the many changes in the plot, Tam remains an important character in the film. Initially, she appears as a gentle older sister who loves her deformed younger sister.
Basically, the character's personality and psychology are no different from the original. Tam is still a kind and innocent girl, never thinking badly of others. She also puts her family first, obeys her parents and is always there to comfort and protect her younger sister.
The 18+ scene of Tam begins when the film reaches its climax. That is when Bach Lao appears, causing a series of horrifying deaths in the village, and at the same time causing Tam to “blacken”.
In the scene, Tam bathes in a lotus pond, stands up and reveals her blood-stained body. The scene is not too long but shocking enough because the actress also “shows off” her bare chest.
According to the crew's intention, at this time, Tam's body was taken over by Bach Lao, so she happily washed her body under the water. The character sank into the lotus pond with hatred and a thousand-year curse, then rose from the water as if she had just “molted”, starting her journey to spread terror.
Bathing in a lotus pond after being possessed by a demon.
Unnecessary footage
In fact, Tam's 18+ scene was unnecessary. Because before that, the character had her soul taken over and committed many cruel and barbaric acts such as planning to kill her sister, murdering the palace maid, feeding Cam to her stepmother…
Tam has long since ceased to be a gentle girl and has become an evil, bloodthirsty spirit. Therefore, the director's staging is still heavily interpretive. The filmmaker is only explaining a content that the audience already understood.
Tam's semi-nude scene no longer plays a pivotal role in marking the character's emotional and psychological transformation. This segment can be completely cut without affecting the film's content too much.
When shown in theaters, Bran quickly became a hot topic of discussion on many forums. The 18+ scene of Tam also left many viewers with many thoughts, most of whom thought that the crew was trying to attract viewers, helping the film increase its popularity.
Until now, Tam has always been associated with the image of innocence, going through many hardships but still maintaining a pure heart. Only the ending has left many controversies for many generations, when Tam has too cruel actions towards Cam's mother and daughter.
Before the horror film version, the story of Tam Cam had been retold many times.
Bran was introduced by the producer as a horror version of the fairy tale that has been familiar to many generations of audiences. Therefore, it is understandable that the script has many additions and changes compared to the original.
However, the limitation of the screenwriters is that they have not mastered their writing skills, and are still caught up in creating and adding new details, making the overall story long-winded and loose.
Not only Tam character, horror movie Bran There are also many changes that make viewers “forget” the original. For example, Cam is now gentle and has a dreamy love story with a boy named Bom (Tran Doan), Tam’s father has a secret deal with the devil…
Even though Tam's sensitive scenes were cut, the film will still be rated T18 because there are many other scenes that are bloody and creepy, not suitable for young audiences.
If the 18+ scene is a promotional trick, the crew is very successful. Because, since its release, Bran continuously holds the top position in revenue rankings.
Up to now, the film has grossed more than 60 billion VND according to statistics. Box Office Vietnam. The project is likely to soon surpass the 100 billion VND mark this week, joining the ranks of the most popular Vietnamese films this year.
