Impressions and emotions with “Dien Bien Memories”

"Dien Bien Memories" is a film produced by Vietnam Feature Film Studio in 2004, directed by Meritorious Artist Do Minh Tuan. The content tells a story that happened during the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954. National guard Bao and nurse May escorted a French prisoner of war named Becna to the rear base. On the way, many tragicomic and romantic events happened between the three characters. During this journey, love blossomed between Bao and May. 50 years later, Becna returned to Vietnam and met Bao again. The memories of Dien Bien in the past - although fierce but still sparkling with humanity - are unforgettable, intense memories in the lives of the main characters.

Stage scene during the exchange night

The film is a successful film and evokes many emotions for viewers, although the content is about the war theme which is very easy to fall into the usual propaganda rut. The film's success is first of all thanks to the team of skilled names such as: director Do Minh Tuan, screenwriter Nguyen Thi Hong Ngát, cameraman Nguyen Duc Viet, art designer Vu Huy, musician Trong Dai. Talking about the great Dien Bien Phu victory of the nation, the film chooses to reflect from the perspective of 3 characters, 3 most ordinary fates in the war through their very ordinary stories. War is the "background" and also the important reason leading to the plot of the story where 3 characters meet, "collide" with their thoughts and emotions, to finally leave behind the most important values ​​of life. The story is realistic, rich in emotions along with the natural acting of two young actors, Kieu Anh - as May and Pham Quang Anh - as Bao, helped the film leave an impression on viewers.

Director, Meritorious Artist Do Minh Tuan graduated from the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University of Science, now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU. He studied at the Faculty of Directing, University of Theatre and Cinema and worked at the Vietnam Feature Film Studio. As a writer, poet, critic, film director, and artist, he has won many awards in many fields of art such as: First prize in the Literature and Arts Newspaper Poetry Contest in 1988-1989; Third prize in the 3rd Novel Contest of the Vietnam Writers Association; Second prize in the Songwriting Contest about the Capital in 1976; Best Director Award at the Kite Film Festival in 2004 with the film "Dien Bien Memories"... He is also known to the audience for his feature films such as: "The Lamp in the Dream”, “Laughing Plague”, “The Woman Playing with Sand”, “Flowers of Heaven”, “King of the Garbage Dump”He is also the author of many successful TV series such as: ““Thang Cuoi”, “Going to vote for Thanh Hoang”, “Early Tet”, “Wake up your husband”, “Eva’s Secret”…

Sharing at the exchange, director Do Minh Tuan said: “There has never been a film in which I have put so much creative emotion as in "Dien Bien Memories".”. He also appreciates the logic of reflecting war through the perspectives, thoughts, and emotions of each character. Thanks to that, the impression of war appears deeply in very ordinary situations, even in the obsessions and nostalgia of each person, bringing depth of meaning to the film.

The film was shown to over 2 million people in theaters - an impressive number at that time, and was also bought by 5 countries for overseas screening. This brought incomparable happiness to the director, because"The film has brought the image of the kind and brave Vietnamese people to friends around the world."At the same time, the press and experts assessed that this is a film that breaks away from the beaten path of commemorative films, demonstrating the creativity and exploration of the director and screenwriter.

Sharing about the difficulties in the filmmaking process, director Do Minh Tuan said: the biggest difficulty was creating a Dien Bien space during the war with guns, bombs, bunkers to be as realistic and close to history as possible. In addition, many scenes with airplanes and parachuting from helicopters were very complicated, requiring support from many related units. But all were overcome thanks to the dedication and efforts of the entire film crew. The design of the battlefield scene in the film was considered excellent, contributing to the success of the film.

Artist Vu Huy is an important contributor to “Dien Bien Memories” receiving many compliments from the audience that: “the film accurately reflects their lives in the past”. To make the film “Dien Bien Memories”, the artist had to carefully research documents and images of this historical period to create the most realistic settings and costumes. The battlefield scenes, De Castries bunkers, gun emplacements, hills… were all reconstructed at a 1:1 ratio. When asked if he felt sad that the role of a set designer in a historical film is extremely important but it is a quiet job that few people know about, artist Vu Huy shared: “Don't mind this, it's the job I chose, if I know how to do the job enthusiastically and wholeheartedly, success will come".

Kieu Anh and Quang Anh, the two main actors in the film, are also two familiar faces to television audiences. Kieu Anh is known for her roles in “Phoenix in front of the sky”, “Collective citizens”… Playing two roles at the same time in “Dien Bien memories”, a female youth volunteer during wartime and a young girl of modern times born in peacetime, the actress said this was one of the challenges in her acting career. Accepting the role at a very young age, only 24 years old, her life experience as well as her awareness of the context and psychology of people in that historical period were still “inexperienced”, so she encountered many difficulties when acting. Thanks to the guidance of the director and the help of the film crew, she completed the role well as well as accumulated many acting skills after this film. Kieu Anh also expressed her happiness at receiving the love and affection that young people have for her role, even though after the film, she had a "quiet" break from acting for 8 years to accumulate energy for new breakthroughs and creations in the future.

Actor Pham Quang Anh also has many unforgettable memories when participating in “Dien Bien Memories”. This was his first role after graduating from the Academy of Theatre and Cinema. Being assigned a leading role in a major historical film made him both happy and… nervous. The director made a rather strict request: to lose 7kg in 10 days to fit the character. Wanting to seize this valuable opportunity, Quang Anh was determined to fulfill the director’s request. After 10 days of almost not eating rice, only eating vegetables, exercising like…crazy, Quang Anh appeared before director Do Minh Tuan with an appearance that was even more than expected: he had lost 8kg! This was an unforgettable memory of the young actor’s early life and thanks to that, he soon realized the hardships of the acting profession behind the sparkling halo of an artist.

The exchange session left many thoughts in the hearts of young people about human values ​​in life, about the beauty of history, about the values ​​and unforgettable lessons in the life of each person and more broadly, of an entire nation. The dedication and spirit of overcoming difficulties in artistic work of the artists also received the respect and sympathy of the audience.

Highly appreciating the work's humanistic perspective, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Thi Phung (Head of the Department of Archives and Office Administration) said: "Director Do Minh Tuan was a student of Hanoi University of Science, now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU. I believe that the knowledge imparted by the teachers at this school has contributed to creating a way of thinking, a way of looking at historical issues from a unique perspective, helping the director to make political films that are still attractive and approachable. The humanistic "quality" is the most important "quality" that has created the director's very own vision and way of making films. We and this school are very proud of him!”.

Dr. Nguyen Quang Lieu (Head of the Department of Politics and Student Affairs) expressed his deep gratitude to the film crew, because the film helped the teacher's generation return to the historical years, re-learn historical lessons that are rich in authenticity, fighting spirit but also very romantic. The film also helps bring the younger generation closer to history, from appreciating the values ​​of history to loving more what is in life today.