The portrait, personality and soul of President Ho Chi Minh, the beloved leader of the Vietnamese people, have been portrayed in many different art forms. In revolutionary cinema, especially in feature films, the image of this great man, although not yet portrayed much, without major breakthroughs, has had initial successes, leaving a deep impression on the audience. In the general context of a cinema with many difficulties and shortcomings like in our country, the initial successes of feature films about the image of Uncle Ho up to this point, in our opinion, are very noteworthy.
First of all, it is necessary to affirm and build the image of a leader who has spent more than half a century attached to the Vietnamese revolution, a person whose entire life, "reality" and "legend" have always been intertwined and interwoven, to reflect it truthfully, with other art forms is difficult, cinema is even more difficult. Simply because this is an art form closely associated with life. The closeness to life is one of the most important characteristics of this art form. Unlike some other art forms, when watching a film, whether it is a documentary or a fiction, the audience always feels like they are in contact with real people, real life, just as it is still happening in life. While Ho Chi Minh, as we mentioned above, in addition to being an ordinary citizen, was also a president, a very special person, to convincingly recreate his personality and soul is a huge challenge for fictional art forms (such as feature films). However, overcoming the above challenges, within just two decades, from 1990 to 2010, the Vietnamese revolutionary cinema has had quite realistic and vivid films depicting the image of Uncle Ho, leaving good feelings with many generations of audiences at home and abroad.
Between 1990 and 2010, Vietnamese revolutionary cinema produced five feature films on the subject of Nguyen Ai Quoc – Ho Chi Minh. These are the filmsSee you again Saigon(1990, director: Long Van, script: Son Tung),Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong(2003, Director: Nguyen Khac Loi, Vien The Ky, Screenplay: Nguyen Huu Mai),Hanoi winter 1946(1997, director: Dang Nhat Minh, screenplay: Dang Nhat Minh, Hoang Nhuan Cam),Crossing the Shanghai Bund(2010, directed by Trieu Tuan, Pham Dong Vu, screenplay: Ha Pham Phu, Le Ngoc Minh, Gia Phi),Looking out to sea(2010, director: Vu Chau, script by Nguyen Thi Hong Ngát). Although not yet complete and having some breakthroughs, the above films have also depicted in a relatively systematic way the process of personality formation and revolutionary career of Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh from when he was a patriotic youth to when he became the president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, leading the Vietnamese people to successfully wage the resistance war against the French.
From a chronological perspective, the five feature films mentioned above, although released at different times, if rearranged, we still have achroniclequite complete about Uncle Ho's life from his teenage years to the winter of 1946 (when he became president). Of those five works,Looking out to sea(made most recently), is the film depicting the image of Uncle Ho (played by actor Minh Duc) at the earliest time, when he was still a high school student, and was still unknown to many people.
The film is set in Hue and some central provinces during the period when Nguyen Tat Thanh studied at the Hue National School, and later became a teacher at Duc Thanh School, Phan Thiet. That was from 1908 to 1911. This extremely short period of time, on the contrary, was a very important time in Nguyen Tat Thanh's life. Because that was the time when his patriotism and awareness of the nation's destiny were clearly formed and affirmed. It will contribute to explaining the entire personality and soul of Ho Chi Minh - a person who dared to sacrifice his own personal happiness for national independence and the happiness of the people (later). The way the film's authors chose the time and context to highlight the personality of a leader who devoted himself to the people and the country like President HoLooking out to sea, in our opinion is completely reasonable.
With this choice, the filmmakers' consistent viewpoint clearly shows that, even when he was young, Nguyen Tat Thanh's perception of the nation, the people, and the country's circumstances was mature and different from others. Due to the reconstruction of the rather distant context, the realistic documents surrounding Nguyen Tat Thanh's life during this period were scarce and poor, and the filmmakers themselvesLooking out to seamust rely mainly on one's own imagination. Screenwriter Nguyen Thi Hong Ngát, although having a lot of experience in making films about Uncle Ho, still admitted that when she accepted the project to write the script for the film, she did not have much in hand, except for some letters she saw at the Ho Chi Minh Museum and a few brief meetings with writer Son Tung, a person who was very knowledgeable about Uncle Ho. For that reason, theslice of realityThe only thing she could rely on was the time when Nguyen Tat Thanh taught at Duc Thanh School, Phan Thiet Province. From that precious historical milestone, director Vu Chau and the film crew "added flesh and blood" to the film's story.Looking out to seaof the patriotic young man Ho Chi Minh. Some other details such as participating in and helping farmers and merchants in the protest against the high tax policy of the French colonialists while studying in Hue, the story of connecting with patriotic scholars when teaching at Duc Thanh school, the love story of the daughter of the owner of the fish sauce company and the choice between personal feelings and the common career of the patriotic young man Nguyen Tat Thanh... are all fictional and imagined by the authors. What is especially important here is that all the fiction and imagination in the film about the image of Uncle Ho originate from a realistic basis. It is thanks to the reasonable fictional details that the filmLooking out to sealeft many lingering feelings and emotions with the audience, creating real artistic effects...
See you again Saigonis a continuation of the storyLooking out to seaIn terms of time, though, of the five works about Uncle Ho, this is the earliest film made. IfLooking out to seaBuilding the image of Uncle Ho from childhood, when he was a high school student,See you again Saigonstarted a little later, when he was a young adult, mature and able to make his own decisions on important issues in life. The biggest difficulty for the authors when starting to make this film was that the cinema of our country at that time was still weak and lacking in all aspects. Up to that time, Vietnamese cinema still did not have a fictional film about Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh (while world cinema had many outstanding films about the lives of Lenin, Indira Gandhi...). And, some other art forms (such as painting, music, literature...), or documentary cinema had successful works about him very early. While feature films are a genre with a great advantage in portraying the character's image. The determination of the film crew, especially of the Saigon Party Committee, the city honored to be named after him, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh's birth, was very great. After a short time, the project was officially launched: writer Son Tung wrote the script, Long Van directed, and actor Tien Hoi played Nguyen Tat Thanh. The film recounts the years when Uncle Ho and his family lived and studied in Hue from 1895 to 1909, after which he went to Phan Thiet to teach and from there found his way to France to participate in revolutionary activities. About the film's story,See you again SaigonThere are some meeting scenarios withLooking out to sea. That is inevitable, because both focus on depicting a very important moment in his revolutionary life. Although the budget for a film in those years was extremely limited (even the scriptwriter, director and cinematographer did not receive any remuneration - a respectable sentiment that shows admiration and the desire to create the image of a great man), this is the film that is considered the most successful in both realistic and fictional aspects in building the image of Uncle Ho. In terms of reality, it is similar toLooking out to sea, the historical events recorded in history books during this period were not many. Filmmakers had to mobilize all their talent, imagination, and knowledge to portray the image of Nguyen Tat Thanh in his youth as realistically as possible. This is also considered an advantage of the feature film genre. Even if recreating a historical figure as familiar and famous as Ho Chi Minh, if not talented and careful enough, the artist can easily turn fiction into a double-edged sword. It will lose the authenticity and persuasiveness of the character. Fortunately, the film crewSee you again Saigondid not fall into this trap. Based on the “realistic soul”, the filmmakers fictionalized just enough so that the audience could always retain the real impressions of Uncle Ho. The realism was always guaranteed. That was the will for national independence and “patriotic feelings, love for the nation” of Ho Chi Minh. All actions, words, gestures, thoughts of Nguyen Tat Thanh were based on this axis of reality. For example, in terms of appearance, the intelligence was shown through his “bright” eyes, which actor Tien Hoi, with his efforts, portrayed quite successfully; or moreover, his thin, slender appearance due to his constant worries about the people and the country, was also portrayed quite well by the actor (Tien Hoi confided that this was his first film role about Ho Chi Minh, to achieve maximum artistic effectiveness, he had to go through a lot of hard training); The scene before leaving, Nguyen Tat Thanh visited the grave of his beloved mother, showing his deep affection; or the fictional scene of the family meal of Ut Van (Nguyen Tat Thanh's lover) and the proposal to make a girl's love for the young man of Mr. Tu Don (Ut Van's father), the clever and subtle answer "my work cannot stop here" of Nguyen Tat Thanh (before leaving to find a way to save the country) completely fits the logic of the soul and personality of the young patriotic man at that time. This can be considered one of the feature films that has a harmonious, smooth blend between reality and fiction in depicting the image of President Ho.
Chronologically following Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary activities, the two filmsNguyen Ai Quoc in Hong KongandCrossing the Shanghai Bundproduced by the Writers Association Film Studio, in collaboration with Chinese cinema, although produced at two different times, but have many similarities in both setting and story time. Compared to the first two films,Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong KongandCrossing the Shanghai Bundhas more advantages in both recreating the realistic and fictional picture surrounding the image of Uncle Ho. With the first filmNguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong(actor Tran Luc as Uncle Ho), that is the historic trial in 1931 of Nguyen Ai Quoc (under the name Tong Van So) in Hong Kong. The second film,Crossing the Shanghai Bund(played by actor Minh Hai), that is Nguyen Ai Quoc's escape from Xiamen, through Shanghai and finally the Sino-Soviet international border gate, before he boarded a ship to the Soviet Union (formerly). The film also has a line of real historical figures as the background for the appearance of the central character, quite thick such as Mrs. Tong Khanh Linh, revolutionary Nguyen Luong Bang, writer Tao Ngu, famous French journalist Paul Vaillant Couturier. Sticking to the slice of truth as the plot thread throughout the work, that is Nguyen Ai Quoc's "escape" from Shanghai in late 1933, early 1934. Not exactly the same as the two films above (Looking out to seaandSee you again SaigonAlthough recreating a more distant context of Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh, it is in the context of Vietnam, at a time when Uncle Ho was not yet famous, the fictionalization of this character rarely encountered public opinion barriers from viewers, even when the film was not convincing.Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong KongandCrossing the Upper Wharf Seacompletely different: the film's setting takes place abroad at a time when the main character is already well-known and has spent many years in revolutionary activities. How to recreate his portrait, the dosage and combination of reality and fiction in the film can create authenticity, convincing viewers both at home and abroad, that is a big challenge for the authors. Because both films are set on a real event of Ho Chi Minh: the trial in Hong Kong in 1931 and the spectacular escape from Shanghai to the (former) Soviet Union in late 1933, early 1934, the two filmmaking groupsNguyen Ai Quoc in Hong KongandCrossing the Shanghai Bundmust create a difference, so that the viewer does not feel the "poor repetition" of realistic details hinders the artist's imagination.
With moviesNguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong, director Nguyen Khac Loi has stuck to two truly fascinating and historically significant situations. That is the Nguyen Ai Quoc case (fabricated by the British government) and the rescue of the prisoner Ho Chi Minh by the Chinese communists. The second situation is also a real event, that is the nine trials of Nguyen Ai Quoc, the sinister plot of the French secret police and the sincere help of the British lawyer Loseby. The important thing is that on the basis of these two core events, the filmmakers have recreated the image of a Ho Chi Minh with full personality traits and a soul that is always consistent in the thinking of all Vietnamese people. He is a passionate patriot, ready to sacrifice all the pleasures of his life for the cause of national liberation. He is also a person who loves life, loves people, is extremely great but also extremely ordinary. Although it is a political film with a relatively consistent theme, we feel that the film's pace is very fast, each image and frame is cut very carefully and sharply, the character's dialogue is extremely sharp, the audience feels like this is an action film. Actor Tran Luc has successfully demonstrated these characteristics in his role. We can cite here a consistent detail that clarifies the elite nature of Uncle Ho portrayed by actor Tran Luc, continuing from Tien Hoi's role in the film.See you again Saigonmore than thirteen years ago: those were the bright eyes, the "soul" of a person who, no matter what the circumstances, was still "calm and composed". Because the main tone was a political film, the fictional part ofNguyen Ai Quoc in Hong KongNot much (compared to other films with the same theme), but thanks to the skillful acting of actor Tran Luc, viewers can still feel a very beautiful part of the life of the patriotic young man Nguyen Ai Quoc.
Crossing the Shanghai Bundis a film that continues the journey from Hong Kong to Xiamen, through Shanghai to find a way to the Soviet Union (former), starting a new journey of President Ho. A little different fromNguyen Ai Quoc in Hong KongWith a strong political tone, with this film, the authors have more space for fiction and imagination. The film therefore also has more nuances. Viewers can find it atCrossing the Shanghai Bunda mixture of many genres: historical political films, social drama films, detective action films... The film's story is thus less monotonous, dry, and one-sided of the political film genre. To avoid the pursuit of French secret agents and Chiang Kai-shek's government, Nguyen Ai Quoc and his bodyguard named Ho (a fictional character) temporarily took refuge in the private residence of a kind, wealthy Chinese man in the Xiamen neighborhood (this is a necessary fictional detail that shows Uncle Ho's connection with the international communist movement during his time abroad). Another fictional detail that needs to be mentioned is the relationship between the female doctor Phuong Thao (from Hoi An) and her lost brother from childhood named Ngu Lang with Nguyen Ai Quoc, when he was hiding from the pursuit of French secret agents and Chiang Kai-shek's government in Xiamen city. Through the image of Phuong Thao, the film director wants to talk about the boundless love of overseas Vietnamese people far from their homeland for leader Ho Chi Minh. By fictionalizing the image of Phuong Thao, the filmmakers also intend to create a one-sided love (from the character Phuong Thao), through which they also want to "normalize" the image of Uncle Ho (as well as the details of the 11 children, children of the An Nam martyrs, the detail of the assassin Ngu Lang, the real brother of the female doctor Phuong Thao), so that the audience always feels that this great man is actually a very ordinary person, like all other ordinary Vietnamese people. It can be said that the boundary between reality and fiction in the filmCrossing the Shanghai Bundis extremely fragile. But we believe that this is necessary for a feature film, especially a film about history. Success with a fictional film about a historical subject, such as the subject of Uncle Ho, we want to affirm that it only belongs to artists who "dare to be creative".
Done as soon as possible (immediately after)See you again Saigon) in a series of five feature films about Uncle Ho,Hanoi winter 1946(Actor Tien Hoi as Uncle Ho) recreates the most realistic setting up to the present time. The film is titledHanoi winter 1946, but the central event is still an important moment in the life of President Ho Chi Minh. That was the time when he led the Vietnamese people to complete the August Revolution in 1945, not long after, in the winter of 1946, Vietnam had just been born, was still very young, and was at risk of being invaded by French colonialists. Because the historical context in the film is at a more recent time than other films on the same topic, it is also the film with the most advantages in exploring and building the image of Uncle Ho. To create the context, the film's authorsHanoi winter 1946did not encounter many difficulties, because the real documents of this period were available in many history textbooks, and other documents. At the end of 1946, despite all efforts, the negotiations between Ho Chi Minh and the French government at the Fontainebleau conference failed. In order to have time to build up forces to prepare for a long-term, comprehensive resistance war, Ho Chi Minh was forced to sign a peace agreement with France. It was an extremely difficult moment for the Vietnamese state and for leader Ho Chi Minh himself. Revolving around this extremely intense battle of wits, the image of the leader of the young country of Vietnam was clearly and prominently portrayed by director Dang Nhat Minh. “We want peace, we must make concessions, but the more we make concessions, the more the French colonialists encroach because they are determined to take over our country once again”, “We would rather sacrifice everything than lose our country, we would rather be slaves” (this resolute tone of Ho Chi Minh had previously echoed before the time he led our people to carry out the great August Revolution: “Even if we have to burn the Truong Son mountain range, we must gain independence”; “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”). With those intentions, to highlight Ho Chi Minh’s personality, director Dang Nhat Minh mainly focused on his internal and external activities at this particularly important moment. All relationships between him and other characters will also contribute to clarifying his soul and personality. Regarding domestic affairs, Uncle Ho had to convince all classes of people, those who did not have the conditions to fully understand his difficult situation in signing the armistice, avoiding all unnecessary losses, while at the same time demonstrating the determination of the head of the country, affirming national independence. Many scenes of the film show real events of the Vietnamese revolution in this "thousand pounds hanging by a thread" situation. Regarding foreign affairs, the flexible diplomatic activities, both resolute and flexible, affirmed Uncle Ho's vision and intelligence in these decisive historical moments. The interwoven details of reality and fiction make it difficult for viewers to distinguish, but they have the effect of highlighting the beauty of the soul and the leisurely demeanor of Ho Chi Minh. It would be hard to imagine that, right at the time when the nation was “hanging by a thread”, the head of the country still maintained a calm, leisurely, composed and surprisingly “ordinary” appearance: receiving the representative of the French High Commissioner Saiteny right on his sickbed at the Northern Palace, chatting naturally, even humorously with the painter Han right at the time when he was filled with anxiety and worry about the fate of the country, caring about the private affairs of lawyer Lam, asking about his wife and children, agreeing to let the servant’s child go to Viet Bac with him after Hanoi was scorched earth during the resistance war… This can also be considered a political film that most clearly reflects the personality of President Ho Chi Minh throughout almost his entire life. We can find this special style in the film Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong. In this case, we see that the realistic element somewhat overwhelms the fictional one. And that is also an encouraging direction in historical films.
It is difficult to fully and in detail analyze the relationship between fictional and real elements in the construction of the image of Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh, even through just a few Vietnamese revolutionary films. Because as we mentioned above, before a great man, there is always a mixture ofrealityandthe legendLike Uncle Ho, recreating the beauty of his soul, personality, and emotions in a realistic and convincing way is not easy. We completely agree with the thoughts of actor Tran Luc, who plays Uncle Ho in the film.Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kongthat, making a film about Uncle Ho, in any circumstance, because "the details of the character's external conflicts are very few, there are many difficulties. We keep in mind that we must express the personality of a great but ordinary person". And furthermore, making a film about a real historical figure who is extremely familiar and loved by many people, is an even bigger challenge. Due to the framework and requirements of the article, we do not have the conditions to analyze this issue thoroughly, nor can we delve into some other artistic measures that are specific to cinema (images, sound, acting, etc.), especially with the feature film genre. That requires a research project with a longer duration. To conclude this article, we just want to note one more thing: making a film about a great figure like Ho Chi Minh can be difficult, but difficult does not mean impossible, and even more so, it is impossible not to do. For a man who sacrificed his whole life for national independence and people’s happiness like President Ho Chi Minh, no matter how much he did, it was still not enough. That is the “debt” of responsibility of the Vietnamese film industry in general, and of the seventh art artists in particular.