Films depicting the history of Vietnamese dynasties have been condemned for their poor quality at a conference on historical figures in Vietnamese movies held by the Vietnamese Cinema Association in Hanoi, November 6.

 A scene from Festival night at Long Tri palace

Several films were commissioned to coincide with Hanoi’s millennium celebrations but none left much of an impression.

One of the reasons for the poor work has been blamed on the lack of historical documents. To build a world or characters, film makers need more information about the times, culture and events, but a lot of historical documents have been lost, and film producers seem unable to be imaginative enough to fill the void.

Director Nguyen Huu Phan confirmed, "It’s difficult to make historical movies due to the lack of historic documents. Even the researchers have multiple concepts and ideas."

Another problem is the shortage of funds. Writer Le Phuong, who participated in the making of famous movie Festival Night at Long Tri Palace, said, "Making historical movies is difficult, the makers must take a leap of faith."

Many movie makers also blamed the lack of scenery for shooting. Some have wanted to shoot in China because many historical landmarks in Vietnam have been ruined and can't be restored.

The shortage of good scripts and the harsh criticism has also discouraged many movies makers and investors.

According to director Dao Ba Son, "There are many good themes that could be explored in Vietnamese history but have been ignored because few people love history and want to make good historical movies. Furthermore, our film crews are too weak technically."

After a long time making historical movies, writer Le Phuong said, "What we lack most are good film crews." He said the first problem was finding investment. "We shouldn't call out for mass movies marking this or that occasion, we'll never be able to find good actors or movie makers that way."

Phuong said the movies makers need to carefully choose their themes. They don't need to make movies with long timelines, but instead should focus on 'small' themes such as a well-known figure or event.

Many directors and writers have also said they want historical movies to be more creative and open, avoiding accusations that they’re just producing historical documentaries.

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