Director’s notebook · Vietnam
How a thermos and a cup of noodles became the unlikely leads in an Acecook Modern campaign.
By Roni Kleiner
Recently, Thach Thao shared something I hadn’t seen in a while: a reel looking back at the Acecook Modern films we made together in Vietnam. She called it, roughly, the goofiest job of her agency career. Coming from Thao, who was right there with me figuring out how to make a romance between a thermos and a noodle cup work, that made me smile.
Play the romance straight
Phích is a thermos filled with hot water. Ly is a cup of instant noodles, waiting for that hot water to cook them. It was a silly premise with a surprisingly good reason for the two of them to be together. The fun for me as a director was taking their relationship seriously enough for the joke to work. Once you start thinking about how they look at each other, how close they get and when to hold a beat, you’re directing a couple.
The product demonstration is also a lovers’ quarrel.
In the second film, Ly suspects Phích is only with her so he has somewhere to pour his hot water. That’s the joke I still love: the product demonstration is also a lovers’ quarrel. We played it as a real relationship, and let the audience hear the double meaning for themselves.
In the second film I framed them like a couple on a date: candlelight, wine glasses, then one of them calls the other selfish. You’re watching a lovers’ quarrel until you remember that one of them is a cup of instant noodles.
We could spend a whole review talking about a whistle or the exact pose of a kiss. Small things, but they were how the characters became a couple.
Back to Vietnam
I kept coming back to Vietnam to make more of these films. I remember sitting down with Thao on those trips and working the ideas through together. That’s the part I miss: getting in a room with people who know their audience, trying things together and finding out just how far we can take a slightly ridiculous idea.
A third musical film brought in singing and dancing cups. But the first two are still my favourites, and the heart of this story: the joke lives entirely in how much Phích and Ly need each other.
Still remembered
Years later, Kstudy Vietnam posted a look back at the series. Their reel has reached 3 million views. What gets me is that people in Vietnam still remember Phích and Ly. I was proud of the films when we made them, and I’m proud they still make people laugh. Thanks, Thao, and everyone who helped make them. I’d love to come back and do it again.