Vietnamese classic films to be screened for free

Actress Le Van in a scene of Vietnam’s classic film Bao Gio Cho Den Thang Muoi (When October Comes) (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Dozens of classic Vietnamese movies will be screened for free at movie theatres nationwide from March 9 to 15 to celebrate 65 years since the day President Ho Chi Minh founded Vietnam’s revolutionary cinema on March 15.

The movies, which received awards and have been honoured at Vietnam’s film festivals, will be screened at Hanoi’s National Cinema Centre and Ho Chi Minh City’s Cinestar Hai Ba Trung.

The films to be presented include classics like Bao Gio Cho Den Thang 10 (When Will October Come), Em Be Ha Noi (Girl from Hanoi) and Chi Tu Hau (Mrs Tu Hau), Con chim vanh khuyen (Passerine bird), Canh dong hoang (The wild rice field) and Me vang nha (Mother’s out) to recently-made films such as Dung Dot (Don’t Burn), Toi thay hoa vang tren co xanh (I See Yellow Flowers on Green Grass) and Em Chua 18 (Jailbait), along with documentaries on President Ho Chi Minh and topics like resistance and war.

Director Dang Nhat Minh’s When October Comes, released in 1984, is a haunting portrayal of one woman’s struggle with loss and personal sacrifice during the war. Many critics consider it to be the greatest Vietnamese movie ever made.

Another film directed by Minh, Dung Dot, is based on the diary of war martyr Dang Thuy Tram. Tram, a young female doctor from Hanoi, volunteered to fight during the American War. She was in charge of a military clinic in Duc Pho District in the central province of Quang Ngai, and was killed by American troops. 

Meanwhile, Toi thay Hoa Vang Tren Co Xanh is Victor Vu's latest movie, based on the novel by best-selling author Nguyen Nhat Anh. Set in the mid-1980s in rural Vietnam, the nostalgic drama reveals the realities of life in Vietnam in that era, before the country's current economic boom began. 

Em Chua 18 is a comedy on the life and loves of high school students, which broke the country’s box office record after just a month of release. It is about the romantic relationship between a 17-year-old student from a bilingual school and a yoga instructor almost twice her age.

A representative of the Department of Cinema said it has also made several films and programmes on the occasion, namely the film Suoi Dau Nguon (The Headwaters), a documentary featuring 65 years of development of Vietnam’s movie industry and a programme depicting the efforts to provide medical treatment for ethnic minorities.-VNA