'Tunnel' - an underground epic

The film is set after the Cedar Falls raid in 1967 - a US military campaign to destroy the Southern Liberation Army base. The film opens with a one-shot depicting the devastated land of Binh An Dong, Cu Chi, and the burnt forests. Female soldier Ba Huong (played by Ho Thu Anh) dives into the river to find her comrades, but only finds corpses among the water hyacinth.

The tragic scene takes viewers into the story of a 21-man guerrilla group, led by Bay Theo (Thai Hoa). Following orders from their superiors, they stay in Cu Chi to guard the medical equipment and medicine for the field hospital.

However, only Bay Theo knew that their real mission was to protect the area for Hai Thung's (Hoang Minh Triet) strategic intelligence group to transmit top secret documents by radio. This responsibility put the guerrilla team in a life-or-death situation when the US army located them and launched a major campaign to attack the tunnels.

Character design of Bay Theo (played by Thai Hoa). Photo: Thanh Huyen

With a duration of 128 minutes, director Bui Thac Chuyen did not set out to sketch the entire picture of the tunnels, but only recreated small sections with each individual identity. He did not spend much time introducing the portraits and circumstances of the guerrilla team. No matter where they came from or what age they were, they shared the same ideal: Ready to take up arms to protect the Fatherland.

Many scenes of daily life in the base are depicted in a calm film, without focusing on the tragic. Many details only flash across the screen, but are enough for viewers to imagine the miserable days of the soldiers underground. They carefully save each bowl of dirty water to cook, their eyes filled with joy when the meal has a piece of fish. The female soldiers are happy to receive a gift of a comb sawn from a bomb shell. They can only remember their comrades in silence, the portraits are the ID cards of the deceased.

Director Trinh Dinh Le Minh - a viewer of the film - commented that the work exploits well small details of everyday life, with a combination of humor and emotion.

Tunnel does not follow a specific story or revolve around a main character, like the structure of most movies. Instead, each role is built with a distinctive personality, creating a colorful character system. Ba Huong is a brave, tough soldier but still gentle enough to be a support for the younger members of the team. Tu Dap (played by Quang Tuan) represents soldiers who like to dig deep and research military weapons. The character is modeled after the Hero of the Armed Forces To Van Duc - who contributed to the manufacture of landmines in the war in Cu Chi.

The film's emotional line is led with a gentle rhythm, just enough for the audience to feel the romance. The love story of Ba Huong - Tu Dap eases the suffocating situations. The work has many meaningful frames, conveying the human condition during wartime.

Among the characters, Captain Bay Theo stands out with his rationality, decisiveness, and somewhat rough personality, through Thai Hoa's acting. Although he has few lines, he leaves an impression with his natural, clear accent and intonation. Many of Bay Theo's words evoke gentle yet profound laughter, when advising the young soldiers about the survival situation. In a scene where he learns of his comrade's sacrifice, the character does not cry, but his eyes look directly and deeply into the lens, depicting the pain.

The art design for the set was a crew effort. Most of the scenes take place underground, filming in tight spaces is a big challenge. Previously , Almost no unit had ever filmed the war in Cu Chi, so Bui Thac Chuyen's crew had to stage most of the interior scenes (underground).

The biggest difficulty for the film crew was that the real tunnel had a small diameter, making it impossible to place cameras, so the crew had to design a 250-meter-long model. On screen, the director recreated the tunnel with three floors according to each separate function: The first two floors were guarded by the guerrillas to protect the last floor - where the intelligence team was monitoring radio waves. For scenes where bombs exploded above ground and the underground tunnel was subjected to vibrations, the crew built a large platform, placed the model on top, and then used a machine to create vibrations at the appropriate frequency. In the scene where the ground was destroyed, the crew used explosives to create about 50 bomb craters.

The film also has many large-scale scenes showing the scale of the battle, such as the scenes of tanks, armored vehicles, and helicopters sweeping the area. The director repeatedly used contrasting shooting techniques to highlight the difference in strength between the guerrillas and the American soldiers. Towards the end, the film's pace became more intense when the American army infiltrated the tunnel, forcing each soldier into a "thousand-pound hanging by a thread" situation.

Wartime sounds are recreated in detail with the sounds of planes, tanks, falling bombs, and exploding bullets, contributing to the fierce atmosphere. Soundtrack - with the theme song Sun in the dark (Composed by Hua Kim Tuyen) - evokes emotional silences. Director pays tribute to Cai Luong through vọng cổ Qin Qiong cries for you (played by Vien Chau), resounds with the voice of Ut Kho, a member of the squad (played by Hang Lamoon).

A scene depicting the attack on the Cu Chi tunnels. Photo: Thanh Huyen

Because it does not focus on specific characters, the work is not dramatic enough to push the emotions of the majority of viewers to a climax. Bui Thac Chuyen said this was his intention because the work was filmed in a documentary style, recreating slices of life, instead of exploiting details that make the audience cry.

"For me, the Cu Chi tunnels are the 'main face' of the film, while the surrounding characters represent the people of this land. They fought heroically and fell silently, many of them did not even leave any trace, only their names," he said. After two days of early screening, the work attracted attention at the box office, earning 15 billion VND, before hitting theaters (April 4).

Cu Chi Tunnels (Cu Chi District) is a famous revolutionary historical site. About 70 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City center, the tunnels have a tunnel system of more than 200 km long, a solid base of the Military Region Party Committee, Saigon - Gia Dinh Command, contributing to the cause of national reunification.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/dia-dao-khuc-trang-ca-duoi-long-dat-3351631.html