Cinema of Vietnam
Encyclopedia
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. 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, The white silk dress
, Muoi and Journey from the Fall
.
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 (A Penny for a Horse).
The first sound films were produced from 1937 to 1940, with Trọn với tình (True to Love), Khúc khải hoàn (The Song of Triumph) and Toét sợ ma (Toét's Scared of Ghosts) 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 (An Evening on the Mekong River) and Thầy Pháp râu đỏ (The Red-Bearded Sorcerer).
Two other films, Cánh đồng ma (The Ghost Field) and Trận phong ba (The Storm), were made in 1937 and '38 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 (Mộc Hóa Battle) in 1948, Trận Đông Khê (Đông Khê Battle) in 1950 Chiến thắng Tây Bắc (North West Victory) in 1952, Việt Nam trên đường thắng lợi (Việt Nam on the Road to Victory) in 1953 and Dien Bien Phu (1954).
and South Vietnam
, there were two Vietnamese film industries, with the Hanoi industry focusing on propaganda films and Saigon producing mostly war-themed 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 Dòng sông (Together on the Same River). There was even an animated feature, Đáng đời Thằng cáo (A Just Punishment for the Fox) 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 (Water Returns to Bắc Hưng Hải) won the Golden Award at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, and the 1963 feature by Phạm Kỳ Nam, Chị Tư Hậu (Sister 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 (Củ Chi Guerillas) in 1967 and Lũy thép Vĩnh Linh (Vĩnh Linh Steel Rampart) in 1970, which included footage from battles. Other films, such as Đường ra phía trước (The Road to the Front) in 1969 and Những người săn thú trên núi Dak-sao (Hunters on Dak-sao Mountain) in 1971 were docu-dramas.
Feature films from this time include Nguyễn Văn Trỗi (1966), Đường về quê mẹ (Road Back to Mother), Truyện vợ chồng Anh Lực (The Story of Anh Lực and his Wife) in 1971, and Em bé Hà Nội (Young Girl from Hanoi) in 1974.
Saigon produced numerous documentary and public information film
s, as well as feature films. The most well known feature film of the late 1950s was Chúng Tôi Muốn Sống(We Want To Live), 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(Faceless Love) starring Kiều Chinh
, Xa Lộ Không Đèn(Dark Highway) starring Thanh Nga, Chiếc Bóng Bên Đường(Roadside Shadow) 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(The Reluctant Millionaire) 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.
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 (Season of the Whirlwind) in 1978 and Cánh đồng hoang (The Wild Field) in 1979.
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? (Hanoi Through Whose Eyes?, 1983) and Chuyện tử tế (Story of Good Behavior, 1987) and Trần Anh Trà's Người công giáo huyện Thống Nhất (A Catholic in Thống Nhất District, 1985), Trần Vũ's Anh và em (Siblings, 1986), Ðặng Nhật Minh's Cô gái trên sông (Girl on the River, 1987), Nguyển Khắc Lợi's Tướng về hưu (The Retired General) and Ðặng Nhật Minh's Mùa ổi (Guava Season, 2001).
Tony Bui's Ba mùa (Three Seasons
, 1998) won prizes at the Sundance Film Festival
in 1998. Trần Văn Thủy's Tiếng vĩ cầm ở Mỹ Lai (The Sound of the Violin at My Lai) won Best Short Film prize at the 43rd Asia Pacific Film Festival
in 1999. Đời cát (Sandy Life) by Nguyễn Thanh won best picture at the same festival the following year. Bùi Thạc Chuyên's Cuốc xe đêm (Night Cyclo Trip) 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 (Cyclo
, 1995) and Mùa hè chiều thẳng đứng (Vertical Ray of the Sun) in 2000. Another European co-production, Mùa len trâu (The Buffalo Boy
) 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 (Heaven's Net), 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 (Bar Girls), 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 (Street Cinderella) in 2004. Another film along these lines is Nữ tướng cướp
(Gangsta Girls). There are also comedy-romance films, such as Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit
(Truong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body) in 2006 Khi dan ong co bau
(When Men Get Pregnant) from 2004.
Việt Linh has made several critically acclaimed films.
In 2007, Muoi (Muoi: the Legend of a Portrait), the first horror film
in Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon (collaborated by Korea
n producers) also became the first rated film with an under-16 ban.
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
films include Cyclo
Cyclo (film)
Cyclo is a 1995 film by Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung . It stars Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Trần Nữ Yên Khê. Le Van Loc plays a young cyclo driver who is forced into working for a gang after his cycle is stolen. Soon, his sister also comes under the influence of the gang and becomes...
, The Scent of Green Papaya
The Scent of Green Papaya
The Scent of Green Papaya is a Vietnamese-language film produced in France by Lazennec Production, and directed by Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung....
and Vertical Ray of the Sun, all by French-trained Việt Kiều director Tran Anh Hung
Tran Anh Hung
Trần Anh Hùng is a French film director of Vietnamese ancestry.He was born in Đà Nẵng, Central Vietnam, and emigrated to France when he was 12 following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975....
. 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, The white silk dress
The White Silk Dress
The White Silk Dress is an acclaimed 2007 Vietnamese war-drama epic directed by Luu Huynh with starring Truong Ngoc Anh and Nguyen Quoc Khanh...
, Muoi and Journey from the Fall
Journey from the Fall
Journey from the Fall is a 2006 independent film by writer/director/editor Ham Tran, about the Vietnamese reeducation camp and boat people experience following the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. This drama was released on March 23, 2007, by ImaginAsian to sold-out screenings...
.
Early films
In the 1920s, a group of VietnameseVietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
intellectuals formed the Huong Ky Film Company in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
. It produced documentaries on the funeral of Emperor Khải Định and the enthronement of Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
. There was also the silent feature, Một đồng kẽm tậu được ngựa (A Penny for a Horse).
The first sound films were produced from 1937 to 1940, with Trọn với tình (True to Love), Khúc khải hoàn (The Song of Triumph) and Toét sợ ma (Toét's Scared of Ghosts) 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 (An Evening on the Mekong River) and Thầy Pháp râu đỏ (The Red-Bearded Sorcerer).
Two other films, Cánh đồng ma (The Ghost Field) and Trận phong ba (The Storm), were made in 1937 and '38 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
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
in the documentaries Trận Mộc Hóa (Mộc Hóa Battle) in 1948, Trận Đông Khê (Đông Khê Battle) in 1950 Chiến thắng Tây Bắc (North West Victory) in 1952, Việt Nam trên đường thắng lợi (Việt Nam on the Road to Victory) in 1953 and Dien Bien Phu (1954).
The war years
With the end of the First Indochina War and the creation of North VietnamNorth Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
and South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
, there were two Vietnamese film industries, with the Hanoi industry focusing on propaganda films and Saigon producing mostly war-themed 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 Dòng sông (Together on the Same River). There was even an animated feature, Đáng đời Thằng cáo (A Just Punishment for the Fox) in 1960.
Documentaries and feature films from Hanoi attracted attention at film festivals in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
at the time. The documentary Nước về Bắc Hưng Hải (Water Returns to Bắc Hưng Hải) won the Golden Award at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, and the 1963 feature by Phạm Kỳ Nam, Chị Tư Hậu (Sister Tư Hậu) won the Silver Award at Moscow. It starred lead actress Trà Giang
Trà Giang
Trà Giang is a Vietnamese actress. Her most famous film is 17th Parallel, Days and Nights , Vietnamese title : Vĩ tuyến 17, ngày và đêm.- External links :...
.
But mostly the Hanoi-based industry focused on documenting the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. 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 (Củ Chi Guerillas) in 1967 and Lũy thép Vĩnh Linh (Vĩnh Linh Steel Rampart) in 1970, which included footage from battles. Other films, such as Đường ra phía trước (The Road to the Front) in 1969 and Những người săn thú trên núi Dak-sao (Hunters on Dak-sao Mountain) in 1971 were docu-dramas.
Feature films from this time include Nguyễn Văn Trỗi (1966), Đường về quê mẹ (Road Back to Mother), Truyện vợ chồng Anh Lực (The Story of Anh Lực and his Wife) in 1971, and Em bé Hà Nội (Young Girl from Hanoi) in 1974.
Saigon produced numerous documentary and public information film
Public information film
Public Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...
s, as well as feature films. The most well known feature film of the late 1950s was Chúng Tôi Muốn Sống(We Want To Live), 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(Faceless Love) starring Kiều Chinh
Kieu Chinh
Kieu Chinh is a Vietnamese American actress best known for her role in The Joy Luck Club...
, Xa Lộ Không Đèn(Dark Highway) starring Thanh Nga, Chiếc Bóng Bên Đường(Roadside Shadow) starring Kim Cương and Thành Được. Comedy movies were usually released around Tết
Tet
Tet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on...
, the Vietnamese New Year; most notable was Triệu Phú Bất Đắc Dĩ(The Reluctant Millionaire) starring the well loved comedian Thanh Việt.
Joseph Mankiewicz's adaptation of Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's The Quiet American
The Quiet American
The Quiet American is an anti-war novel by British author Graham Greene, first published in United Kingdom in 1955 and in the United States in 1956. It was adapted into films in 1958 and 2002. The book draws on Greene's experiences as a war correspondent for The Times and Le Figaro in French...
was filmed in and around Saigon in 1957. American actor Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
directed and starred in A Yank in Vietnam, or Year of the Tiger in 1964.
Reunification
After Reunification of North VietnamNorth Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
and South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
, studios in the former South Vietnam turned to making Socialist Realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
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 (Season of the Whirlwind) in 1978 and Cánh đồng hoang (The Wild Field) in 1979.
Contemporary cinema
The shift to a market economyEconomy of Vietnam
The economy of Vietnam is a developing planned-market economy. Since the mid-1980s, through the "Đổi Mới" reform period, Vietnam has made a shift from a highly-centralized planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy which use both directive and indicative planning . Over that period, the...
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
Tran Van Thuy
Trần Văn Thủy is an acclaimed Vietnamese documentary film director. He has directed over 20 short documentary films.His work has often proven controversial; his 1987 film The Story of Kindness or How to Behave, which dealt with the legacy of the Vietnam War and the suffering of the Vietnamese and...
's Hà Nội trong mắt ai? (Hanoi Through Whose Eyes?, 1983) and Chuyện tử tế (Story of Good Behavior, 1987) and Trần Anh Trà's Người công giáo huyện Thống Nhất (A Catholic in Thống Nhất District, 1985), Trần Vũ's Anh và em (Siblings, 1986), Ðặng Nhật Minh's Cô gái trên sông (Girl on the River, 1987), Nguyển Khắc Lợi's Tướng về hưu (The Retired General) and Ðặng Nhật Minh's Mùa ổi (Guava Season, 2001).
Tony Bui's Ba mùa (Three Seasons
Three Seasons
Three Seasons is an American Vietnamese language movie filmed in Vietnam about the past, present, and future of Ho Chi Minh City in the early days of New Vietnam. It is a poetic film that tries to paint a picture of the urban culture undergoing westernization. The movie takes place in Ho Chi...
, 1998) won prizes at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 1998. Trần Văn Thủy's Tiếng vĩ cầm ở Mỹ Lai (The Sound of the Violin at My Lai) won Best Short Film prize at the 43rd Asia Pacific Film Festival
Asia Pacific Film Festival
The Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...
in 1999. Đời cát (Sandy Life) by Nguyễn Thanh won best picture at the same festival the following year. Bùi Thạc Chuyên's Cuốc xe đêm (Night Cyclo Trip) won third prize in the short film category at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in 2000.
Better known, however, are European productions in Vietnam, such as The Lover
The Lover
The Lover is an autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit. It has been translated to 43 languages and was awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt...
and Indochine
Indochine (film)
Indochine is a 1992 French film set in colonial French Indochina during the 1930s. It is the story of Éliane Devries, a French plantation owner, and of her adopted Vietnamese daughter, Camille, with the rising Vietnamese nationalist movement set as a backdrop...
, as well as films by Việt Kiều directors Tran Anh Hung
Tran Anh Hung
Trần Anh Hùng is a French film director of Vietnamese ancestry.He was born in Đà Nẵng, Central Vietnam, and emigrated to France when he was 12 following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975....
and Tony Bui
Tony Bui
Tony Bui is a Vietnamese independent film director in the U.S., most famous for his 1999 film Three Seasons, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and became the only film ever to win both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize there...
. Tran's first feature, The Scent of the Green Papaya won the Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in 1993 and was the first Vietnamese film nominated for an Oscar in 1994. His other films include Xích lô (Cyclo
Cyclo (film)
Cyclo is a 1995 film by Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung . It stars Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Trần Nữ Yên Khê. Le Van Loc plays a young cyclo driver who is forced into working for a gang after his cycle is stolen. Soon, his sister also comes under the influence of the gang and becomes...
, 1995) and Mùa hè chiều thẳng đứng (Vertical Ray of the Sun) in 2000. Another European co-production, Mùa len trâu (The Buffalo Boy
The Buffalo Boy
The Buffalo Boy is a 2004 film directed by Minh Nguyen-Vo. The movie was the official entry from Vietnam for Best Foreign Language Film category at the 78th Academy Awards...
) by Nguyễn Võ Nghiêm Minh, has won numerous awards at film festivals, including the Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
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 (Heaven's Net), a film about corruption that closely mirrors the trial of Ho Chi Minh City gangster Nam Cam
Nam Cam
Năm Cam was a notorious Vietnamese gangster. He was born in Saigon, Vietnam.-Early life:When Nam Cam was 15 years old, he was arrested for stabbing a man to death in a fight. He subsequently spent two years in jail. Upon his release, he joined the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1966, to fight...
.
An even bigger film was 2002's Lê Hoàng's Gai nhay (Bar Girls), which depicted Ho Chi Minh City's titillating and seedy nightlife while also warning of the dangers of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Featuring the first government-approved topless scene, it spawned a sequel, Lọ lem hè phố (Street Cinderella) in 2004. Another film along these lines is Nữ tướng cướp
Nu tuong cuop
Female Crime Boss is a 2004 Vietnamese movie. Directed by young director Le Hoang, it was the most financially successful film in Vietnam during 2005. It stars Lam Truong, Bang Lang and My Duyen...
(Gangsta Girls). There are also comedy-romance films, such as Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit
Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit
Hồn Trương Ba, da hàng thịt is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Quang Dung Nguyen and starring Johnny Tri Nguyen...
(Truong Ba's Soul in Butcher's Body) in 2006 Khi dan ong co bau
Khi dan ong co bau
Khi đàn ông có bầu is a 2004 Vietnamese comedy film. Starring Kim Thu, Nguyen Phi Hung, and 40 other celebrities in Vietnam....
(When Men Get Pregnant) from 2004.
Việt Linh has made several critically acclaimed films.
In 2007, Muoi (Muoi: the Legend of a Portrait), the first horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
in Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon (collaborated by Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n producers) also became the first rated film with an under-16 ban.
See also
- Cinema of the world
- Asian cinemaAsian cinemaAsian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia, and is also sometimes known as Eastern cinema. More commonly however, it is used to refer to the cinema of Eastern, Southeastern and Southern Asia. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle...
- Communications in VietnamCommunications in VietnamCommunications in Vietnam include the use of telephones, radio, television and Internet.-Telephones:Vietnam is putting considerable effort into modernization and expansion of its telecommunication system, but its performance continues to lag behind that of its more modern neighbors...
- East Asian cinemaEast Asian cinemaEast Asian cinema is a term used to refer to the film industry and films produced in and/or by natives of East Asia. It can be seen as a sub-section of Asian cinema, which in turn is a sub-section of world cinema, a catchall term used in the English-speaking world to refer to all foreign language...
- Media of VietnamMedia of VietnamMedia of Vietnam are tightly regulated by the Vietnamese government. First and foremost, the media are a tool for government information and propaganda...
- Southeast Asian cinemaSoutheast Asian cinemaSoutheast Asian cinema refers to the film industry and films produced in, and/or by natives of, Southeast Asia. By definition, it describes any films produced in Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.Southeast Asian cinema...
- Vietnam Multimedia CorporationVietnam Multimedia CorporationVietnam Multimedia Corporation or Vietnam Television Corporation is a large multimedia corporation in Vietnam. It was founded on February, 1988 by Vietnam Television with the main purpose to construct television stations...
- Vietnam TelevisionVietnam TelevisionVietnam Television, or VTV, is the national television broadcaster for Vietnam. Like all media of Vietnam, its programming is directly controlled by the government.-History:...
- World cinemaWorld cinemaWorld cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industries of non-English speaking countries. It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term foreign film...
External links
- Vietnamese-language films at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...