Vietnamese Antique Film Studio – Dream Is Coming True

Covered by the green immensity of Yen Tu’s sacred forests, gradually formed a Vietnam’s ancient film studio which is considered … the largest and modernest one in Vietnam.

It is the general result of an earnest art work, effort and wisdom of people\r\nwho have a passion for the art of movies and want to devote their\r\nwhole lives and abilities to the development of the movies of\r\nmotherland.

Hidden in the Buddhist holy place

The studio of ancient movie is a large project with 14.6\r\nhectare, stays at 6 plot, 32 sub-area, Thuong Yen Cong commune, Uong\r\nBi city, Quang Ninh province (where belongs to Yen Tu tourist\r\nattraction area ) and is run by Vietnam Tinh Hoa\r\nincorporated company­, as a host investor. The project  is\r\nagreed and facilitated by the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province.

Hidden in the Buddhist holy place, is a quite\r\nprimeval with the vast of primeval forests, the murmur of brooks, the trails deserted with\r\npeople. All create a still scene far away from the busy, noisy living and\r\nmake people have the feeling of stray into the Vietnamese early Age.

According to the investor, the film studio was built\r\nin Yen Tu , besides the purpose of making movies, also\r\nbringing the value of spiritual culture through the human tourism tendency in\r\nwhich it expresses the specific of movie and the spiritual influence.\r\nAt here, tourists are allowed in the space of old-time culture, learnt the\r\nancient film’s material history and also can respectfully offer incense to\r\nBuddha on the top of Yen Tu mountain. The first norm of making film\r\nstudio is regeneration of the antique culture of  ancient Vietnamese; therefore, during\r\nthe process of executing of work, the investor always learns carefully about\r\nhistorical nation by stages then designs the suitable architecture, to get the\r\nbest out of all natural materials  as wood, laterite, porcelain ect,\r\nwhich reduces tousing modern technology that can change the\r\nnatural landscape at here.

The studio is split into two areas with two ways in: Dao\r\nNguyen and Tuy Duyen path. The first studio is laid out to\r\nsimulate the native culture living and many works of adaption such as village\r\nmarket, training ground of soldiers, folk temples and some simulating\r\narchitecture groups for embassy, horse post, the place for accommodating\r\nambassadors, ancient city gate, watching-tower, house on stilts, and so on. In\r\nthe future, a cultural tourist area will be built here with departments to\r\nshow, introduce the simulative prop products which are used in the\r\nantique movies.

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The second studio is the central of project including 6\r\nareas for setting the scene according to specific regions, classes, social\r\npositions in miniature of an antique city (involving urban and suburb).\r\nThe Royal citadel is main background with the Royal-court room,\r\n1500 m2 in width, inside is a studio where creates interiors for the scene\r\nin film.

The Royal-court room is also used as\r\nfilm-projection and film-store where  documentations of introducing movies\r\nmade here. Besides that including other areas: cities, mandarin’s houses,\r\nVietnam village community, a meditating lake, which are\r\nreconstructed according to the specific architecture of each regions,\r\n it creates the true feeling and close to each historical\r\nperiod. There are almost 20 ancient stone bridges â€¦ built together\r\nwith the Garden of Eden palace, waterfalls, pure streams, thousands of\r\nantique stones, all of which contribute to creating an impressive and\r\npoetic scene, the mixture of which bring out the harmonious\r\nfigure of movie and the real life.

A full of promise is opened

At present, Vietnamese ancient film studio is deploying the\r\nfirst stage of project with some of works that are gradually finished\r\nsuch as the three main ways: Dao Nguyen, Tuy Duyen, Bo De  leading to\r\nthe  studio and the two wells of Mat Rong that have been\r\nput into use, the meditation room of Phu Van national master\r\nand Ai Tinh house sitting by the side of Tu Thuy lake that\r\nhas also finished, the market-town including 30 big and small\r\nhouses that  are being put in frames and\r\nothers scene in the process of adjustment and completion. To raise the\r\n“Vietnamese particularity” for studio, enclosed props as clothes, weapons,\r\nthings for interior decoration... are created directly on traditional\r\nmethods by craftsman, restored according to original history. Over 60 stilt, wooden\r\nhouses are collected, bought, detached, and carried back to reset studio  from\r\neverywhere of  midland North Vietnam such as Ha\r\nGiang, Bac Giang, Thai Binh... by the members in the film company. Hundreds of\r\nancient stones are also moved to here to embank stream, bank up the river\r\nin order to increase the truthfulness and liveliness for thefollowing\r\nscenes of movie.

Sharing about film constructing process, director ­_\r\nmeritorious artist Van Luong said: â€œDuring the time of seeking\r\nliteratures for the movie “Phat Hoang Tran Nhan Tong”, he has to meet many of\r\nhistorical researchers of King Tran Nhan Tong to interchange and do\r\nresearch. From that point he realized that Vietnam still has no any virtual\r\nstudio for making ancient film or satisfying its norm. Almost all movies that are\r\nproduced by Vietnam have to hire film studios in foreign countries\r\nwhich is both costly and limited historical scene.

Therefore,  he determined to make a Vietnamese\r\nfilm studio, a style specific to Vietnamese. During the history of executing\r\nthis idea, Van Luong and his staff have to survey and visit\r\nmany of Chinese antique film studios to study the way of \r\ndesigning, setting the stage and based on these fundamentals to\r\ntake flexible changing and make it appropriate for Yen Tu’s location and for\r\nVietnamese cinema’s characteristic.

According to Van Luong director as well,\r\npracticality and flexility are the two major factors of this work, the\r\npracticality for capital investment and effective reuse; the flexibility for\r\nuseful effect. Except the Royal-court room  made from concrete, most\r\nof  works are made from wood and surrounding by the replaceable material.

All of works totally can be adapted according\r\nto difference context, characteristic and style of each movie. The studio area\r\nis not so large and in accordance with Vietnamese movie project. \r\nSpecially, the project absolutely exploits the strong point of Yen Tu primeval\r\nforest, bring the real nature to film studio: use the old rock to create streams,\r\nwells, stone-bridges... but the primeval features of scene are still\r\npreserved.

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“I want to make the new features for Vietnamese cinema and\r\nbring it to approach to the new tendency of  global entertainment”,\r\nmeritorious artist Van Luong said. Until when the studio accomplishes, he wants\r\nto change the notion of viewers nowadays about unsatisfied feeling for\r\nVietnamese ancient movies. Indeed cinema is a game which is based on\r\nthe original to adapt, reconstitute history; hence , bring out\r\ndeep humanity messages, not to take the total history to movie. Historical\r\nperiod expresses clearly through the heroic characters and Vietnamese ancient\r\nfilm is the deepest crystallization of  Vietnamese cultural quintessence.

Minh HÆ°Æ¡ng/ANHP.vn