Director Charlie Nguyen is working on a redux (edited for better quality) for the martial arts-war film Bloodline Hero.
Director Charlie Nguyen at the exchange about Heroic Blood at Cinephile at the end of April, after which he started working on the redux for the film - Photo: BTC
Why not try looking back at the film series about patriotism and the heroic blood of the Vietnamese people.
In the past, it was a revolutionary war film genre produced by the State for propaganda purposes, bringing many valuable cinematic works, some of which became masterpieces, valuable heritages of the young cinema industry.
Now, we need to look to private companies with production resources to make more spectacular, eye-catching, and commercially viable films and then show them to the world.
Heroic blood in movies
Recently, The Heroic Bloodline was called to be released again in theaters with the support of a part of the audience. Director Charlie Nguyen and main actor Johnny Tri Nguyen started working on the redux, a journey that according to Charlie Nguyen will also be very long and have many stages.
Released 17 years ago, Heroic Bloodline had limitations in filming and filmmaking techniques of that period, but he wanted to complete this work because of the audience's anticipation.
To complete it, he needed to edit the shots that were shot in 35mm before, and had to wait until the film was developed to check it. There were no conditions to re-shoot, so the film had scenes that were not sharp.
Now, AI technology helps him fix all the errors of the previous film version.
Recently, the film also returned to cinema lovers through a number of screenings within the framework of film events such as the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (HIFF) in April, the Cinephile exchange in Ho Chi Minh City at the end of April and the Tourism - Cinema and Sports program: Proud of Vietnamese identity in Binh Dinh (held in August).
Director Charlie Nguyen attended all these screenings and interacted with the audience.
What makes him most hopeful is that under the call to re-screen Heroic Blood , many viewers commented that they... haven't seen the movie.
That shows that the movie is still new to a large audience and is worth the effort to make a redux with really good quality.
Bloodline Hero is a film from the past but the quality of martial arts and filmmaking meets international standards and is still quite modern when viewed in Vietnam today. And in the future, Vietnamese filmmakers also really want to continue this meaningful film series.
"I know there are many films and projects that have been and are being developed to promote national spirit. I hope those projects will receive the conditions to go into production," Charlie Nguyen told Tuoi Tre.
17 years have passed, Heroic Blood still retains its value as an international standard action film with the patriotic spirit of the Vietnamese people - Photo: DPCC - Vieon
Going further back in time, films about patriotism are important "legacies" of Vietnamese cinema.
When choosing the cover for the reprint of the book 101 Best Vietnamese Films (published by The Gioi Publishing House in June 2024), journalist and film critic Le Hong Lam considered the options and finally chose the image of "deep eyes like an autumn lake" of Ms. Duyen (Le Van) in Bao gio cho den thang muoi (1984) by director Dang Nhat Minh - a film considered a masterpiece of Vietnamese cinema.
After 40 years, the film remains a monument, recognized not only domestically but also internationally.
The eyes of "Miss Duyen" Le Van in When October Comes, a masterpiece of Vietnamese cinema
It is a film that fully reflects the beauty of the Vietnamese people, the sacred "heroic bloodline" but also the simple and ordinary life of the Vietnamese people - from the soldier on the fiery battlefield to the wife who misses him with all her heart in the poor village in the rear.
That blood always flows red in both wartime and peacetime, making viewers love their country and humanity more. In war, not only those who go to battle but also those who stay at home are heroes.
The movie poster Dao, Pho and Piano is constantly shared on film groups - Photo: DPCC
Today, looking at how young people can push public opinion about the movie Dao, Pho and Piano into a big movie fever, starting from a video comment on TikTok by a young person, we can see that the audience's demand to watch movies about revolutionary war and patriotism is still very "boiling".
The film is set in Hanoi in the last days of 1946 and the Lunar New Year of 1947 amid falling bombs and stray bullets, with a suicide soldier and a Hanoi girl who is weak but also has "heroic blood", carrying the spirit of "Determined to die for the Fatherland".
When the suicide soldier was crushed to death by an enemy tank, his wife - a young lady from Hanoi - took her husband's place on the suicide mission.
When she hugged the three-pronged bomb and rushed into the tank, she was wearing a white ao dai, a piece of which flew up when her body turned to ashes.
The image is somewhat reminiscent of the movie Ao Lua Ha Dong , when Ms. Dan (Truong Ngoc Anh) frantically turned over each mat covering the bodies after the school bombing, and cried when she saw her daughter's body in a white ao dai.
It is the ao dai that her daughters take turns wearing to school, associated with the hardships, difficulties but also the warmth and love of her family.
The film is full of sorrow, but in the end, what remains is the pure and tolerant soul of Vietnamese women in particular, and Vietnamese people in general, amidst the fire of war. And what remains is the question "Is peace beautiful, Dad?" of an innocent child.
"In times of chaos, people die many times, but live only once" - the saying of the hunchback father (Quoc Khanh) in Ao Lua Ha Dong also speaks to the indomitable will to live of the Vietnamese people.
Cinematic heritage, patriotic heritage
From the 1960s to the 2010s, Vietnamese cinema has continuously produced patriotic films of lasting value.
They are Chi Tu Hau, Noi Gio, Latitude 17 Days and Nights, Em Be Ha Noi, Sao Thang Tam, Sai Gon Special Forces, Bao Gio Cho Den Thang Muoc, Tuoi Tho Dua Violent, Hanoi in Winter of 1946, Hanoi 12 Days and Nights, Nga Ba Dong Loc, Ao Lua Ha Dong, Dong Mau Anh Hung, Muoi Coc Chay, Nguoi Viet Huyen...
In recent years, state-made films for propaganda purposes are no longer widely distributed and are mostly shown in limited numbers at state-owned theaters and film festivals. Only Dao, Pho and Piano are popular and are shown in commercial theaters due to audience demand. This is quite unfortunate because those films also contain the filmmakers' passion but are destined to be shelved.
Most recently, Giai Phong Film Studio wanted to campaign to show Childhood Moon - a film about Uncle Ho's childhood - in commercial theaters but there has not been a decision from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The scene of the boy Con taking care of his mother in her last days in Childhood Moon - Photo: DPCC
With the main character being the young boy Nguyen Sinh Cung, who was intelligent, active, and patriotic, and with touching content imbued with maternal love, the film is very suitable to be shown to Vietnamese people of all ages and possibly to international friends.
And so, the cinema about the patriotism of a country is the journey of patriotism and struggle of that country and people. It is not by chance that young audiences also sympathize with war films with stories about a distant time.
They not only see the sacrifices of their fathers and ancestors in it, but also see the patriotic and heroic blood flowing in their veins being nurtured and encouraged. They also wish that bloodline to be passed on to future generations.
A typical figure of Vietnamese cinema is director - People's Artist Dang Nhat Minh.
Last July, during a discussion about his writing style at the second Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF), journalist Dinh Trong Tuan, former editor-in-chief of The Gioi Dien Anh magazine, recognized the value of Dang Nhat Minh's cinema as "human identity in the flow of national history".
He believes that if we string together Dang Nhat Minh's cinematic works chronologically, we will see a flow of Vietnamese revolutionary history.
Mr. Tuan wrote: "Director Dang Nhat Minh has successfully built and portrayed a series of characters, vividly describing each human condition associated with each historical period. That is the image of Ho Chi Minh in the film Hanoi in the winter of 1946 ; that is the character of Mr. Hoa, Ms. Thuy in the film Guava Season;
That is Ms. Dang Thuy Tram in the movie Dung Dot; that is Ms. Nguyet, Mr. Thu in the movie Co Gai Tren Song ; that is Ms. Duyen, teacher Khang in the movie Bao Gio Cho Den Thang Muoi; that is Ms. Ngu, em Nham in the movie Thuong Nho Dong Que ; that is journalist Vu, teacher Thanh in the movie Thi Thon Tam Tay... ".
Besides patriotism and nobility, Dang Nhat Minh's films always have brave, strong, profound and moving critical elements about Vietnamese society, history and people.
And after all, the courage of the artist - filmmaker when delving into difficult topics also shows that he has "heroic blood" in him, passed down from his father - professor, doctor Dang Van Ngu, a talented and virtuous man who sacrificed himself on the battlefield while researching malaria.
Charlie - Johnny's Dream of Bloodline Hero 2
Sharing with Tuoi Tre, Charlie Nguyen said he has a dream of making Heroic Bloodline part 2 after completing part 1. Part 2 will not continue part 1. Johnny Tri Nguyen, his younger brother, will definitely participate in the main role of "White Swallow of Ca Mau" or martial artist Nguyen Chanh Minh - a real character and the grandfather of the two brothers. Currently, the story of Heroic Bloodline is being developed by the two brothers, no third person has participated, but members of their company have also given their opinions. Charlie Nguyen said that the difficulty with war and patriotic films is that the budget is often very high. "If there were no such barrier, many film projects about national spirit and patriotism would have been produced. People are developing but do not have enough conditions to produce, opportunities are still very rare. But from the filmmaker's perspective, I see that they think a lot," he said. With Heroic Blood 2, he wanted to wait for a big enough budget to do exactly what he wanted, even though it was risky for investors.Tuoitre.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doi-dong-phim-ve-long-yeu-nuoc-dong-mau-anh-hung-cua-nguoi-viet-nam-20240829110001686.htm
Comment (0)