Movie “Hanoi 12 Days and Nights”: Interesting facts from real life to the screen

Set in the historic winter of 1972, the film “ Hanoi 12 Days and Nights” is a beautiful picture of the brave spirit of the army and people of Hanoi, along with the air defense and air force of the Vietnam People's Army.

The film was released in 2002 and is now being re-released to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital (October 10, 1954 - October 10, 2025). This is an opportunity to look back at many details that may interest audiences when watching it for the first time or watching it again.

Familiar faces of Hanoi

Before the US carried out the Linebacker II bombing campaign, the capital Hanoi still stood out, not only for its beautiful landscape, but also for its gallant spirit, polite intellectuals, and a generation that loved beauty and respected humanistic and good traditional values.

The filmmaker included in the first part of the work the "trio" of artists of Hanoi at that time such as: Painter Bui (Meritorious Artist Pham Bang), writer Phan (People's Artist Tran Tien) and musician Trong (musician Pho Duc Phuong).

These are characters inspired by painter Bui Xuan Phai, writer Nguyen Tuan and musician Van Cao. The film also includes many paintings by the late artist, recreating a small corner of the arrogant and haughty personality of the author of "Vang bong mot thoi."

Inside the famous coffee shop. (Click to see larger image)

Lan Coffee Shop in the film borrowed the setting of the famous Lam Coffee Shop on Nguyen Huu Huan Street. The shop was a familiar stop for artists at that time, with the owner Nguyen Van Lam being passionate about painting, collecting paintings by famous painters Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, To Ngoc Van, Tran Van Can, Nguyen Gia Tri... To this day, the shop still often appears on the list of places "to check in when coming to Hanoi."

In addition, the film also features writer Kim Lan in the role of herbalist Tam, portraying a peaceful Northern countryside scene. Meritorious Artist Bui Trung Hai (second director, main cinematographer of the film) revealed that the late writer was a close friend of the main director - People's Artist Bui Dinh Hac, with the calmness, depth and compassion of an intellectual.

Writer Kim Lan in the movie. (Photo from the movie)

“He acted very well. His character created a deep, humane note for the film. In the scene where people were happily watching the B52 plane crash at Ngoc Ha Lake, he was the only one who quietly lit three incense sticks to pray for the souls of the deceased American pilots. That is the message of love for peace of the Vietnamese people, the love between people,” director Bui Trung Hai shared.

Writer Kim Lan was also a frequent face in Vietnamese cinema before 2000. He appeared in the films “A Phu’s Wife” (1961), “Chi Dau” (1980), “Vu Dai Village Back Then” (1982) and “The Birds Return” (1984).

Hoan Kiem Lake, Bach Mai Hospital, Hoa Lo Prison, Long Bien Bridge, Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam… also appeared in the film, both as identification points of the capital Hanoi when shown to international friends at many film festivals, and as historical “witnesses” that still exist today.

Scene of a French female journalist reporting live from Hanoi. (Photo from the movie)

Interesting historical facts

Not only artists, "Hanoi 12 Days and Nights" also features the performance of Major General Nguyen Dung Chi - commander of one of the troops that directly attacked hill A1 in the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954.

He is one of the film's professional advisors, invited to play the role of Major General Pham Thai to recreate the tough, decisive demeanor of a military general.

Major General Nguyen Dung Chi. (Photo from film)

The script for “Hanoi 12 Days and Nights” was a combination of three scripts by a group of five screenwriters. The film is based on many memoirs and historical documents from both Vietnam and the US, trying to stick to reality to depict the scale of the war.

“The crew's choice was to try to use as many real details as possible, from the date and time, to the events of each day…” second director Bui Trung Hai shared.

Accordingly, stories such as lack of ammunition because of not being able to install the SAM-2 missile in time, soldiers on duty installing the missile being poisoned and fainting, and the story of pilot Vu Xuan Thieu committing suicide by crashing into a B52 plane... are also partly recreated in the film.

The crew of "Hanoi 12 Days and Nights" took a photo with representatives of the air defense and air force supporting the film. Director Bui Trung Hai is third from left. (Photo: Provided by the film crew)

Director Bui Trung Hai shared that “Hanoi 12 Days and Nights” is a film invested by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but has received a lot of support from the Ministry of National Defense, especially with military man Phan Trong Quan, the son of Director of the Cinema Department Phan Trong Quang, who understands and sympathizes with artists. Thanks to that, the film crew was able to film the take-off and landing scenes of the MiG-21 at night, without using lights to recreate the secret battle scene in 1972.

According to Colonel Nguyen Dinh Kien Moi (former Commander of the Hanoi Air Defense Division, former Deputy Director of the Operations Department - General Staff), 12 days and nights at that time were the peak of hardship.

The intensity of the fighting was very high. One night the alarms went off 30 times, the B52s were active 3 times, from 7 to 8 am, 11 to 12 pm and then 4 to 5 am. These time frames were also set on the missile troops' watches in the movie.

Colonel Kien also clearly remembers that winter was very cold. The missile troops went to bed with their clothes and shoes on, both to be ready to fight at any time and to keep warm. This is one of the many details emphasized and recreated in the work.

In 2002, “Hanoi 12 Days and Nights” received the Silver Lotus Award at the Vietnam Film Festival, then participated in many international film festivals such as Cairo (Egypt, 2003), Fukuoka (Japan, 2003), Locarno (Switzerland, 2004), Fajr (Iran, 2004), Vesoul (France, 2005), La Laguna Tenerife (Spain, 2005)...

Mr. Tadao Sato, president of the Fukuoka Film Festival in 2003 commented: “ Hanoi 12 Days and Nights is a good film, an intellectual film. Each war scene is very fierce, but viewers still see the Vietnamese people put peace above war, put friendship between nations above hatred between nations.”

Director Bui Dinh Hac (in black shirt) takes a photo with Fukuoka Film Festival Chairman Tadao Sato. (Photo: Family provided)

At the La Laguna Tenerife Historical Film Festival, there is also a film program about the Vietnam War. The film “Hanoi 12 Days and Nights” was selected to be screened along with many other famous American films about the war in Vietnam, including the Oscar-winning film “The Deer Hunter.”

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/phim-ha-noi-12-ngay-dem-nhung-su-that-thu-vi-tu-doi-thuc-den-man-anh-post1069410.vnp