Cinema of Vietnam


The cinema of Vietnam originates in the 1920s and has largely been shaped by wars that have been fought in the country from the 1940s to the 1970s. The better known Vietnamese language-films include Cyclo, The Scent of Green Papaya and Vertical Ray of the Sun, all by French-trained Việt Kiều director Tran Anh Hung. In recent years, as Vietnam's film industry has modernized and moved beyond government-backed propaganda films, contemporary Vietnamese filmmakers have gained a wider audience with films such as Buffalo Boy, Bar Girls and The White Silk Dress.

History

Early films

In the 1920s, a group of Vietnamese intellectuals formed the Huong Ky Film Company in Hanoi. It produced documentaries on the funeral of Emperor Khải Định and the enthronement of Bảo Đại. There was also the silent feature, Một đồng kẽm tậu được ngựa.
The first sound films were produced from 1937 to 1940, with Trọn với tình, Khúc khải hoàn and Toét sợ ma by the Asia Film Group studio in Hanoi with the participation of artist Tám Danh. The Vietnam Film Group, led by Trần Tấn Giàu produced Một buổi chiều trên sông Cửu Long and Thầy Pháp râu đỏ.
Two other films, Cánh đồng ma and Trận phong ba, were made in 1937 and 1938 in Hong Kong with Vietnamese actors and dialogue, but both were financial failures.
The government's Ministry of Information and Propaganda formed a film department around 1945 and documented battles in the First Indochina War in the documentaries Trận Mộc Hóa in 1948, Trận Đông Khê in 1950 Chiến thắng Tây Bắc in 1952, Việt Nam trên đường thắng lợi in 1953 and Dien Bien Phu.

The war years

With the end of the First Indochina War and the creation of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, there were two Vietnamese film industries, with the Hanoi industry focusing on documentary and drama films and Saigon on war or comedy films.
Hanoi's Vietnam Film Studio was established in 1956 and the Hanoi Film School opened in 1959. The first feature film produced in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was a nationalistic work directed by Nguyễn Hồng Nghị, Chung một giòng sông. There was even an animated feature, Đáng đời Thằng Cáo in 1960.
Documentaries and feature films from Hanoi attracted attention at film festivals in Eastern Europe at the time. The documentary Nước về Bắc Hưng Hải won the Golden Award at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, and the 1963 feature by Phạm Kỳ Nam, Chị Tư Hậu won the Silver Award at Moscow. It starred lead actress Trà Giang.
But mostly the Hanoi-based industry focused on documenting the Vietnam War. Between 1965 and 1973, 463 newsreels, 307 documentaries and 141 scientific films were produced, in contrast to just 36 feature films and 27 cartoons. Films during this period include the documentaries Du kích Củ Chi in 1967 and Lũy thép Vĩnh Linh in 1970, which included footage from battles. Other films, such as Đường ra phía trước in 1969 and Những người săn thú trên núi Dak-sao in 1971 were docudramas.
Feature films from this time include Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, Đường về quê mẹ , Truyện vợ chồng Anh Lực in 1971, and Em bé Hà Nội in 1975.
Saigon produced numerous documentary and public information films, as well as feature films. The most well known feature film of the late 1950s was Chúng Tôi Muốn Sống, a realistic depiction of the bloody land reform campaign in North Vietnam under Communist-dominated Vietminh. Some mid-1960s black-and-white features dealt with war themes, with actors such as Đoàn Châu Mậu and La Thoại Tân. Some later popular color features revolved around the theme of family or personal tragedy in a war-torn society, such as Người Tình Không Chân Dung starring Kiều Chinh, Xa Lộ Không Đèn starring Thanh Nga, Chiếc Bóng Bên Đường starring Kim Cương and Thành Được. Comedy movies were usually released around Tết, the Vietnamese New Year; most notable was Triệu Phú Bất Đắc Dĩ starring the well-loved comedian Thanh Việt.
Joseph Mankiewicz's adaptation of Graham Greene's The Quiet American was filmed in and around Saigon in 1957. American actor Marshall Thompson directed and starred in A Yank in Vietnam, or Year of the Tiger in 1964.

Reunification

After Reunification of North Vietnam and South Vietnam, studios in the former South Vietnam turned to making Socialist Realism films. Vietnamese feature film output increased and by 1978 the number of feature films made each year was boosted from around three annually during the war years to 20.
Films from the years following the war focused on heroic efforts in the revolution, human suffering created by the war and social problems of post-war reconstruction. Films from this time include Mùa gió chướng in 1978 and Cánh đồng hoang in 1979.

Contemporary cinema

The shift to a market economy in 1986 dealt a blow to Vietnamese filmmaking, which struggled to compete with video and television. The number of films produced in Vietnam has dropped off sharply since 1987.
Still, a number of filmmakers continued to produce film that would be seen on the arthouse circuit. These include Trần Văn Thủy's Hà Nội trong mắt ai? and Chuyện tử tế and Trần Anh Trà's Người công giáo huyện Thống Nhất, Trần Vũ's Anh và em, Đặng Nhật Minh's Bao gio cho den thang muoi, Đặng Nhật Minh's Cô gái trên sông, Nguyển Khắc Lợi's Tướng về hưu and Đặng Nhật Minh's Mùa ổi.
Tony Bui's Ba mùa won prizes at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998. Trần Văn Thủy's Tiếng vĩ cầm ở Mỹ Lai won Best Short Film prize at the 43rd Asia Pacific Film Festival in 1999. Đời cát by Nguyễn Thanh won best picture at the same festival the following year. Bùi Thạc Chuyên's Cuốc xe đêm won third prize in the short film category at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.
Better known, however, are European productions in Vietnam, such as The Lover and Indochine, as well as films by Việt Kiều directors Tran Anh Hung and Tony Bui. Tran's first feature, The Scent of the Green Papaya won the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993 and was the first Vietnamese film nominated for an Oscar in 1994. His other films include Xích lô and Mùa hè chiều thẳng đứng in 2000. Another European co-production, Mùa len trâu by Nguyễn Võ Nghiêm Minh, has won numerous awards at film festivals, including the Chicago International Film Festival in 2004.
In recent years, Vietnamese filmmakers have moved in more commercial directions to try and regain audiences lost to television and DVDs. One of the most successful films of recent years at the Vietnamese box office has been Phi Tiến Sơn's Lưới trời, a film about corruption that closely mirrors the trial of Ho Chi Minh City gangster Nam Cam.
An even bigger film was 2002's Lê Hoàng's Gai nhay, which depicted Ho Chi Minh City's titillating and seedy nightlife while also warning of the dangers of HIV and AIDS. Featuring the first government-approved topless scene, it spawned a sequel, Lọ lem hè phố in 2004. Another film along these lines is Nữ tướng cướp. There are also romantic comedies, such as Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit in 2006 and Khi dan ong co bau from 2004.
Việt Linh has made several critically acclaimed films.
In 2007, Muoi, the first horror film in Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon also became the first rated film with an under-16 ban.