The Immortal (2018 film)


The Immortal is a 2018 Vietnamese film directed by Victor Vu. The twelfth feature film by Vu, it tells the story of a man who has lived across three centuries after making himself immortal through dark magic. US premiered at the 11th Viet Film Fest in 2019 and won the Award for Best Cinematography for a Feature film.

Synopsis

The film opens with scene An constantly sleepwalking, every time she wakes up she is in a distant place. Looking for solutions to these strange dreams, and at the same time finding a way to save the daughter whose cancer is dying everyday, An discovers the life of the immortal man and the dark secrets.
From a gentle young man who is having a beautiful love affair with a beautiful peach named Lien, Hung is assassinated and lost everything. On the day of his return, Hung yearns to regain everything that was once his own. Ambition and hatred led Hung to seek magic - charms, to fight death and to make those who harm him pay the price. However, "the more magical the spell, the more terrible the price must pay", and the price that Hung has to pay is to become a slave of his own destiny.

Cast

Reviews were mixed. One reviewer stated "the greatest value of the Immortal lies in the effort to pave the way, not the quality. From here, other directors can be more confident to exploit the unfamiliar fantasy genre. When a good movie comes out, one can recall that the Immortal started it all." but criticized "a messy script about details, lack of genre orientation, follows the overly and extremely weak formula in character building."
Another review stated that overall, Immortal is "a very worth watching Vietnamese work, especially for those who are fans of Victor Vu", praising "elaborately invested cinematographic work, novel storylines and ghosts... Although there is an incomplete ending, which can make many viewers disappointed and bewildered"

Awards and nominations