Dòng Máu Anh Hùng (The Rebel) 2007

Private studios plot to steal the show

(24-02-2006)

Films produced by private stu-dios are expected to control the local film market this year, following the success of many privately funded movies last year.

The action thriller with an all overseas Vietnamese cast entitled Dong Mau Anh Hung (Heroic Blood) started shooting in the city last month. Produced by Chanh Phuong Film Studio (CP), the movie reached its first "record" when the studio reported it had invested US$1 million to produce the film, the most money ever spent on a film by a private studio in Viet Nam.

With a record budget and a cast including Vietnamese veteran actor Nguyen Chanh Tin and his nephew, Jonny Tri Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American stuntman who played in the US’s Spider Man 1 and 2, the film is scheduled to be released in September. Tri also appeared in the comedy Hon Truong Ba Da Hang Thit (Truong Ba’s Soul in Butcher’s Body) released nationwide during Tet (Lunar New Year).

Together with Jonny Tri Nguyen, Dustin Nguyen, another Vietnamese-American actor who played Cate Blanchett’s boyfriend in the US film Little Fish, plays a villain in Heroic Blood.

The film, set in the early 20th century, follows a man named Cuong, who returns to Viet Nam after studying in France. He is employed by the French army to carry out a secret mission. In the process of his undercover work, he meets and falls in love with a female intelligence soldier for the resistance army. His life then takes an unexpected turn.

"Heroic Blood is a high quality product, which is expected to attract audiences with its modern movie techniques as well as its Hollywood cast," director Chanh Truc said.

Tri Nguyen, who also wrote the script, said he hoped the movie would please Vietnamese audiences, who are fond of spy films.

"Heroic Blood is both a detective and a love story. It is an action movie, but is not imbued with violence – it aims to send a positive message about young love," Tri said.

Another action movie scheduled for release this year is Bo Lac Sieu Nhi (Super Small Tribe) from the Phuoc Sang Studio, directed by Le Bao Trung. The whole cast was required to have a martial arts background in order to shoot the demanding action scenes in the film. The studio also planned to shoot De Muon II (Hired Pregnancy) when it completes Bo Lac Sieu Nhi.

Romantic and comedy scripts following the story lines of foreign movies have been exploited continuously by Thien Ngan Studio, which released 2 Trong 1 (Two in One) recently, an adaptation of the classic US film Some Like It Hot.

Viet Movie Studio has planned to produce a movie based on Canh Dong Bat Tan (The Boundless Green Field), the best-selling short story by Nguyen Ngoc Tu. Fascinated by the story, director Nguyen Phan Quang Binh postponed his movie Mua Dau Mua (Early Monsoon) to travel to the southernmost province of Ca Mau, where the author lives, to buy the story’s copyright. — VNS

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