Johnny Tri Nguyen (R) in a scene from his upcoming action flick Bay rong (Clash).

Vietnamese American stuntman-turned-star Johnny Tri Nguyen is sweating hard for his new action flick Bay rong (Clash), which is being shot over six weeks and should hit local cinemas in time for Christmas.

Johnny sees major differences between “Clash” and “The Rebel.”

Unlike the earlier film, which is set in the 1930s in the days of French colonial rule, “Clash” has a modern setting.

“‘The Rebel’ combines traditional and modern martial arts while ‘Clash’ only uses modern martial arts. But that doesn’t mean ‘Clash’ will be any less captivating,” Johnny said.

He sees the action in “Clash” as very different from the more balletic, performance-style martial arts of “The Rebel.”

“The fight sequences are very modern. A lot of kickboxing, ground fighting, street fighting, very raw, very realistic.”

“The Rebel” won several national prizes including the most prestigious: a Golden Kite at the Vietnam National Film Festival earlier this year. It also won the judges’ award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Los Angeles.

After screening in Vietnam, “The Rebel” was sold to the US.

It also began showing in Chinese and Indian theaters in April last year, and pirated disks are available in China, India and Thailand.

“When we were shooting ‘The Rebel,’ I thought it would only be screened locally. I’m elated by its reception abroad, and it encourages me to try even harder with ‘Clash,’” said Johnny.

“I’ve heard comments that films produced by overseas Vietnamese don’t truthfully reflect the lifestyles and culture of Vietnam. That’s true to an extent, so I’m working with local director Le Thanh Son to make ‘Clash.’ We see eye-to-eye on most things.”

Johnny thinks martial arts films made in Vietnam have a long way to go to catch up with the action films coming out of the US, Hong Kong, China and Thailand.

“But that doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of making good martial arts flicks. ‘The Rebel’ is a good example.”

“To make original Vietnamese action, martial art films, we have to incorporate Vietnamese culture and manifest it in the characters’ actions, behavior and martial arts positions. Vovinam is far different from Taekwondo, Aikido or boxing. That’s culture.”

Johnny is well aware of the handicaps endured by Vietnamese film makers.

They don’t have enough funding and technology to make films in the American style, and they cannot imitate Chinese and Hong Kong films if they want to make an impression.

Johnny recalled an encounter with a seasoned professional. “I rubbed shoulders with Thai star Tony Jaa, whom they are calling the next Bruce Lee or Jet Li, in the 2006 martial arts film Tom Yum Goong.”

“Tony is a gifted, successful actor who knows how to showcase Thai culture, particularly traditional Thai martial arts such as Muay Thai in combination with Kung Fu and Aikido.”

His time as a stuntman taught Johnny a lot about making action flicks. He doubled for Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe in “Spider Man” movies, and played minor roles in American, Hong Kong and Thai films.

A good martial arts, action movie has a long list of ingredients, according to Johnny.

“I’ve watched many foreign films that have a lot of exciting fight scenes, but the audiences can’t figure out what the films are about.”

In his view, a martial arts movie needs a decent plot and not much attention paid to the characters’ personalities and foibles. Without breathtaking fight scenes or a fascinating plot, a film will fall down flat on its face.

Lack of funding has prevented Johnny from making wuxia films (a type of historical costume drama with plenty of chivalry), but he will make them someday when the money is there.

“Vietnam’s history abounds in fascinating stories that could be made into good films, but local filmmakers have made little use of them.”

“I don’t think much about winning or losing. I just give my best in every film,” said Johnny, who knows full well that a film’s success or otherwise is subject to the vagaries of the audience.

Reported by Do Tuan