Director Nguyen Huu Phan talked about historical Vietnamese TV series and movies, which he said, not only have poor quality, but lack talented filmmakers.
Our historical movies have shown a real lack of quality in almost every respect. The producers complain of bad scripts, lack of funding, bad scenery poor cinematography shooting. According to you, what is the real problem?
Historical movies are only produced for special events or to pay tribute to certain figures. For this reason, they are often made in a rush and leave little room for creativity. For example, the movie about Emperor Ly Thai To must include in its plot the relocation of Vietnam's capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long (modern Hanoi) and a movie about Emperor Quang Trung must depict a rebel hero who united ancient Vietnam.
Unlike the movies about Qin Shi Huangdi Emperor, who is well-known for his brutality but famous for uniting ancient China. The Chinese producers choose various methods to create new perspectives on his life, but this is something Vietnamese filmmakers have failed to do.
Is the reason Vietnamese movies fail to take new perspectives on history because of the fear that the scripts will not be approved, or because the movie crews don't have the skills and imagination?
There are many reasons. Emperor Quang Trung and his brothers were robbers in the forest before he became a rebel hero, but no one dares to examine that period on screen.
When I watched Saving Private Ryan, I was so moved by the relationships and life stories that I didn't care whether the historical events were historically accurate or not.
Talking about Saving Private Ryan, I'm reminded of Vietnam most recent war film, Mui Co Chay ( the Scent of Burning Grass). Many people have said the movie failed to capture the full-scale of the horror from the battle of Quang Tri. What did you think about it?
I watched the movie, which was set in 1971 and 1972. This was the time when university students volunteered to join the battle. But I agree that the movie doesn't achieve its full desired impacts.
What type of film genre, historical drama films or dramatic documentaries, do you think has the most potential to enrich Vietnamese cinema?
Actually, we have relatively few historical documents. If we had to make movies about Tran Dynasty now, we wouldn't know where or who to ask about this period. Even researchers have different opinions about costumes and architecture.
It's time we find another way to make historical movies by widening our perspective. Audiences were not very exacting about historical accuracy when they went to see movies like Cleopatra or the Gladiator.
So you think our movie industry is lacking in terms of original scripts?
To attract a larger audience, historical movies need unique input from imaginative filmmakers, and we are seriously lacking in this respect.
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