Vietnamese culture in martial arts movies

"Vietnamese people have a very good standard for evaluating food: 'home cooked food'. And movies are the same" - a screenwriter talks about Vietnamese cultural and life elements in movies in general and martial arts movies in particular.

Martial arts scenes incorporate many Vietnamese cultural elements in The Anonymous - Photo: Producer

The Vietnamese film market used to be biased towards comedy , romance or horror. In recent years, action films have been produced more and more by filmmakers and are also more popular with audiences. Some films attract attention with images and materials related to traditional culture and the lives of Vietnamese people.

Most recently, the movie Anonymous (directed by Dan Tran, starring Kieu Minh Tuan) has martial arts scenes combined with Vietnamese cultural elements such as ao ba ba, carrying poles, folk paintings...

Martial arts and Vietnamese culture

In The Anonymous , director Dan Tran inserts Vietnamese cultural elements into the martial arts scenes, through the setting, props, and art design. This is most clearly shown in the scene where the character breaks into the art gallery - the main lair of the child kidnapping ring leader.

The character Lam (Kieu Minh Tuan) confronts the criminal gang in three rooms. While Lam fights the group of fake mannequins, the surrounding screens show a series of famous Vietnamese landscapes.

When Lam faces four female assassins, the director is inspired by the To Nu tetralogy, letting the characters fight to the tune of traditional musical instruments.

Anonymous person staged martial arts scenes based on Vietnamese cultural materials - Photo: CGV

This scene is the highlight of the film, carefully staged but still heavily staged and forced. Props such as carrying poles, conical hats, and ao ba ba… do not provide much support for the martial arts moves.

The Anonymous reminds us of the movie Hai Phuong by director Le Van Kiet, starring Ngo Thanh Van, which earned more than 200 billion VND in 2019.

The two films have the same motif and genre, but in terms of authenticity and closeness to Vietnamese life in each fighting scene, Hai Phuong is at a higher level.

The film became a hit thanks to the image of Ngo Thanh Van wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress and a conical hat, fighting alone against a notorious human trafficking group.

The scenes of the river delta region appear rustic and innocent, but also filled with the suffocation of people's lives struggling to make a living.

Director Le Van Kiet also skillfully shows off camera angles in small alleys in bustling Saigon, exposing the dark corners of people living in the underground world .

Thanks to choosing an action setting based on real life, Hai Phuong brings a more realistic feeling.

This advantage continues to be promoted by Ngo Thanh Van in Thanh Soi , the prequel to Hai Phuong when the group of "female monsters" live and have many fighting scenes in a small, familiar old apartment building of old Saigon.

Hai Phuong is a project that caused a fever at the Vietnamese box office in 2019 - Photo: Studio 68

The action film Lat mat: 48h (2021) by director Ly Hai also won over audiences with its local, rustic colors.

The film tells the story of Hien (Vo Thanh Tam) and his wife's escape from a group of cruel gangsters, to find a treasure worth more than 2 million USD. The action scenes take place continuously, from fighting on rooftops, racing in alleys in Saigon to chasing on the rivers of the West.

Sister Thirteen: 3 Days of Life and Death (2020) by Thu Trang, Tien Luat, Kieu Minh Tuan has action scenes on real backgrounds filmed in Da Lat.

Through the fighting scenes of the gangsters, viewers not only understand more clearly the characters' personalities, but also see that their feelings for each other are as simple as those of other ordinary people.

Specific and universal substances

Action movies in Vietnam are difficult to compare in terms of investment level with Hollywood movies or other countries.

Therefore, to attract audiences, projects need to have a clear, familiar, and universal cultural and local life color for Vietnamese people, for Vietnamese viewers. This is something that international works cannot have.

Director Ly Hai once admitted that he succeeded thanks to his "ricey" and popular filmmaking style. This is shown through most of his films, most notably Lat mat: 48h .

Flip side: 48h has a strong popular color, true to Ly Hai's filmmaking brand - Photo: CGV

But besides the unique features of Vietnamese culture and life, successful action films often have universal messages that audiences can easily sympathize with. This is also a common feature of action films around the world.

For example, Lat mat: 48h shows the strong love between husband and wife, the meaning of family, friendship and the simplicity and generosity of the people of the West. These are all very ordinary messages, easily evoking the sympathy of the majority of the public.

Similarly, Hai Phuong conquered the audience thanks to its story about family love in general and maternal love in particular.

In Sister Thirteen: 3 Days of Life and Death , through the journey to rescue teammates, the audience feels more clearly the value of family and friendship.

Movies are like "home cooked meals"

Ngo Thanh Van wears a traditional Vietnamese dress to practice martial arts in Hai Phuong - Photo: Producer

Screenwriter Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich (pen name ToTo Chan of the films Mother-in-law, Lo To, Mother's Happiness) told Tuoi Tre :

"Films that can attract Vietnamese audiences are those that stimulate public curiosity, as well as have strong national identity.

We Vietnamese have a very good standard for evaluating food: "home cooked food".

People love their own identity and their nation.

Just cook delicious, rich dishes that remind people of the flavor and identity of their hometown, and people will immediately like the food you cook. And the same goes for movies."

Tuoitre.vn