A scene from "Live with History".
To celebrate National Day (September 2), three state-funded films were launched in Hanoi. The production costs for these movies were huge, compared to private products, but they failed to lure the audience. As a result, all of them were rejected from cinemas after a few days.
Of the three movies, entitled “Song Cung Lich Su” (Live with History), “Mo Gio” (Fake Tombs) and “Dam Me” (Passion), the first is considered the biggest failure, although its production cost is up to VND21 billion ($1 million).
“Live with History” is one of the most expensive movie projects in the history topic in Vietnam. It is a product of the Vietnam Feature Film Studio, directed by People's Artist Nguyen Thanh Van.
The movie describes the Dien Bien Phu campaign through the dream of a group of young backpackers who travel through the historical site in Dien Bien Phu. From people of the modern world, who can be selfish and socially irresponsible, they changed in the positive direction.
The film was initially expected to create a breakthrough for the historic film genre. However, when it was released in Hanoi in early September, only several tickets were sold. The National Cinema Centre and the Kim Dong Cinema had to cancel many shows because they could sell only two to three tickets/show. The film will be screened for free at universities.
Explaining the failure, director Thanh Van said his movie does not aim at a business factor but conveys historical messages to the audience and it was screened at small theatres. Moreover, the movie was not well marketed.
Large cinema systems in Hanoi and HCM City all said that they had not received any offer of advertising and releasing the movie.
Meanwhile, being released at the same time with the three state-funded films, private films like Scandal 2 and Lost were marketed very well, since the projects commenced when the movies were launched.
People's Artist Thanh Van admitted that his film crew did not have a professional division to advertise the project to the audience.
In addition to the lack of PR strategy, “Live with History”, as well as many other state-funded films, failed because they were inappropriate for audience tastes and market demand.
People's Artist Thanh Van said that he was satisfied with the content and the way of expression of the movie. But he also acknowledged that the subject of war and history is less attractive to Vietnamese audiences compared to entertainment movies.
Some viewers said the movie was thoroughly invested in terms of photography compared to other historical movies but its content was still far from the truth, with old-fashioned dialogue and slightly ridiculous details. They also said that the movie was still full of propaganda.
In the past, many other state-funded movies failed in revenue, such as “Rung Den” (Black Forest), “Choi Voi” (Lonely) or “Vu Dieu Dam Me” (Dance of Passion). These films were all withdrawn from theatres after two weeks because they failed to lure the audience.
Some State-owned movies that won international awards like “Mui Co Chay” (The Smell of Burnt Grass) or “Tam Hon Me” (Mother’s Soul) which were launched in 2011 but were not released at home because of financial problems.
