History of Vietnamese cinema
Although the first screening in Hanoi dates back to April 28, 1899, it was in the 1920s that cinema first appeared in Vietnam, then French Indochina. It was also at this time that the city's first cinema was inaugurated, a Pathé Théâtre that has since been destroyed. Used by the colonizers for propaganda and colonialist purposes, cinema was primarily intended to document the daily lives of Vietnamese and French expatriates. Nevertheless, it enabled local intellectuals to get their hands on cameras, and thus make the first films in the country's history. Nguyễn Lan Hương, Vietnam's first producer/director, shoots several short films chronicling the lives of the country's crowned heads. Later, other filmmakers joined the craze, producing documentaries, dramas and international co-productions with neighboring China. The Japanese invasion of 1940 brought this artistic momentum to a halt. On the one hand, the arts were banned and cultural practice was outlawed for the Vietnamese. On the other, cinemas (then more than sixty across the country) were requisitioned to screen fascist propaganda films.
The end of the Second World War left little respite for the country, which was plunged directly into the turmoil of the First Indochina War. A conflict documented by the Ministry of Information and Propaganda from 1945 to 1954. After the end of the war, the film industry in the north of the country regrouped in Hanoi, where the Vietnam Film Studio was founded in 1956. From this period, a few outstanding dramas stand out, such as Madame Hau (Ky Nam Pham, 1963), a film that won a prize at the Moscow International Film Festival, and fervently recounts the struggle of an ordinary woman on the bangs of the revolution.
Since reunification and the opening up of the international market, Vietnam's success today is due to independent cinema, and to co-productions, notably with France. Initiated by filmmakers Trần Văn Thủy(Hanoi Through Whose Eyes, 1983 or Le son du violon à Mi Lai, 1999), Nguyễn Thanh(Vie de sable, 1999) and Ðặng Nhật Minh(La fille de la rivière, 1987), among others, this Vietnamese new wave is doing extremely well at international festivals, winning numerous awards. Ðặng Nhật Minh's feature film, Guava Season, won awards at Locarno, Rotterdam, Oslo and Singapore in the early 2000s.
A few years earlier, it was French-Vietnamese filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng who won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993, with his first feature L'Odeur de la papaye verte. Since then, he has won numerous awards, at Venice in 1995 for his film Cyclo, and more recently with his latest film La Passion de Dodin Bouffant (2023), which was awarded the Prix de la mise en scène at Cannes, thirty years after the director's first laurels on the Croisette.
Today, North Vietnamese cinema is once again diversifying, offering comedies, action films, documentaries and auteur films to its ever-growing audience. Take the time to rediscover the rich history of this cinema, and why not visit the Cinémathèque Nationale in Hanoi, cradle of the Vietnamese seventh art.
Major film shoots in the region
Contrary to what 007 would have us believe, James Bond never set foot in the mythical Halong Bay. Disputes with the Vietnamese government led the film crews to use Thailand and its equally sublime bays to represent these spaces. On the other hand, connoisseurs will undoubtedly remember the sublime shots of Indochine, Régis Wargnier's romantic fresco (1992). Starring Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh-Dan Pham, Jean Yanne and many other well-known faces from French cinema, Indochine transports you to the 1930s as Eliane, Camille and Jean-Baptiste form a love triangle as bewitching as it is mysterious. A classic of French cinema in the 1990s, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film and Catherine Deneuve her second César. Halong Bay is one of the main settings for this film, which also features the islands of Hang Dinh and Ninh Binh. The latter was also the location for many scenes in Jordan Vogt-Roberts' recent Kong: Skull Island (2017) . A Hollywood blockbuster with a rather impressive cast including Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman. Shot between Vietnam and Hawaii, this action-thriller also takes you to the shores of Lake Yen Phu, in Quang Binh province, which has become a popular destination since filming began. Don't worry, you won't come across any giant monkeys. But you might run into other tourists who've come to experience the same thrills as you.
In Hanoi, as you stroll through the city, you may recognize the settings of Philippe Noyce'sA Quiet American (2002). The second adaptation of Graham Greene's novel of the same name, after Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1958 adaptation, this film stars Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser vying to seduce a Vietnamese woman played by the hypnotic Thi Hai Yen Do. A captivating work in which Michael Caine's charisma earned him an Oscar nomination, and in which we discover not only Hanoi but also the districts of Hoa Lu, the island of Ninh Binh, and many other spots in the country. A truly cinematic tour of Vietnam, not to be missed.
Where to see movies in North Vietnam?
Hanoi has many cinemas, from large multiplexes to small neighborhood cinemas, some of which also show films in English. Why not stop off at the Dan Chu Cinema, in the Dong Na district, or the Ngoc Khanh Cinema, built in 1979. If you prefer the comfort of a large complex, head for the National Movie Centre, a cinema renovated in 2017 that now boasts 12 screens and all the comforts of a modern cinema.
