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| A still in Tunnel: Sun In The Dark, a film by award-winning director Bùi Thạc Chuyên. Photos coutersy of the crew |
HÀ NỘI — A motion picture by award-winning director Bùi Thạc Chuyên will be released nationwide from April 4 to mark the 50th annivesary of the south liberation and national reunification.
The historical action movie, Địa Đạo – Mặt Trời Trong Bóng Tối (Tunnel: Sun In The Dark) is set in 1967 in the south of Việt Nam when the Battle of Cedar Falls begins. It was the second large-scale operation in the US strategic counter-offensive into the ‘iron triangle’ of Bến Súc – Củ Chi – Bến Cát.
Chuyên wrote the script in 2014 after he made a short movie for Củ Chi tourism. The film is about a group of guerrillas led by Bảy Theo in the Bình An Đông base. Their task is to protect, at all costs, a strategic intelligence group hiding at the camp.
Bảy Theo’s guerrillas became the US military’s number one target with the Americans’ only mission to seek them out and kill them.
The radio and electromagnetic communications with the intelligence group were detected and located by the US military taking away the guerrilla team’s only advantage of being invisible in the extensive, complex and mysterious tunnel system.
It took Chuyên two years to research the film, visiting the Củ Chi guerrilla warfare tunnels, located about 70km from downtown HCM City many times to interview war witnesses and research historical documents. His visits even included areas of the tunnels which are not open to the public.
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| Địa đạo: Mặt trời trong bóng tối (Tunnel: Sun In The Dark) – is to premiere on April 4 in Việt Nam |
“No movie has ever pushed me so strongly like this,” Chuyên said. “Despite all the difficulties which at times seemed insurmountable. I feel pride in the strength of the Vietnamese people and the love for the Fatherland and the previous generations is showing me the way.
“After 50 years, the day of peace and national unification is truly good in the lives of all Vietnamese people today, including me.”
The movie is also about comradeship, love, a desire to remain alive, and above all obligation and sacrifice for the country.
The lead role in Bảy Theo is played by award-winning actor Thái Hòa. He won the Best Film Actor at the 23rd Việt Nam National Film Festival and Việt Nam Cinematography Department’s Golden Kite Awards. Hòa has been working in film and theatre for over 30 years.
In addition to Hòa, the cast includes Quang Tuấn, Hồ Thu Anh, Cao Minh, Diễm Hằng Lamoon, Hoàng Minh Triết and Khánh Ly.
Địa Đạo: Mặt Trời Trong Bóng Tối is the first film about the national resistance against the American made from the social budget.
“I believe that the film will be blockbuster,” said Nguyễn Thành Nam, a representative of the film investors. “Cinema is the best way helping young audience to get to know about history.
“I call other investors inside and outside the country to invest into making films about the national wars in the 20th century.”
The film’s scenes were shot at the State-owned and biggest Hoà Phú Studio of HCM City Television Station in Củ Chi District.
The film crew rented seven hectares of forest to recreate the scene of the forest burned and devastated by bombs. The tunnels were assembled piece by piece to serve the filming. Many weapons and armored vehicles used by the US in the war also appeared in the film.
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| The film is set in the Củ Chi tunnels near HCM City. |
Director Chuyên is a veteran with international awards. His latest film Tro Tàn Rực Rỡ (Glorious Ashes) represented Việt Nam in the preliminary round of the international feature film category at the 2024 Oscars.
The film also won the top award – Montgolfière d’Or (Golden Balloon) – at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France.
Địa Đạo: Mặt Trời Trong Bóng Tối will be shown with English subtitles in the national cinemas. — VNS
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