Director Long Van and the movie "Liberating Saigon"

(Baonghean) -Rewatching the film “Liberation of Saigon”, directed by Long Van, Vietnam Feature Film Studio (2005), the impressions of a magnificent, realistic and emotional film, worthy of the nation’s historic victory in the Spring of 1975, remain forever imprinted in the minds of viewers.

The process of conceiving and organizing the production of a major film reflecting the campaign to liberate Saigon in the spring of 1975 was recounted by Meritorious Artist and Director Long Van: In 1985, after the General Staff finished watching the episodes of "Saigon Special Forces", General Le Trong Tan invited the film crew with a close and caring gesture, the general said: "There is one more film you have to make, which is about the liberation of Saigon, something that the people of the whole country are waiting for!".

Since then, the general's words have urged director Long Van to concentrate his thoughts, to find people with professional skills and deep knowledge of war to invite to join the film crew. But everything had to be put on hold when the Film Studio assigned him to urgently complete the film project "See You Again Saigon", right on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday (May 19, 1995)... By 2000, the film script "Liberate Saigon" was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Information! But throughout the entire process before that, 5 scriptwriters, consultants in the fields of history, military, and cinema, considered the best, had been working silently and diligently.

Co-authors of the script include writer and journalist Hong Ha, who is an archive of frontline documents. Writer Nguyen Tran Thiet followed the 3rd Corps into Saigon, writer Vu Van Nha is a former military officer. Directors Le Dang Thuc and Long Van are passionate about their profession and have a lot of experience in the war. All of them have gathered their faith, intelligence, and enthusiasm to create a good script.

The Saigon Liberation Campaign in the spring of 1975 was a great feat in the history of building and defending the country of our people! How can we make a film worthy of the stature of this war? Portraying hundreds of characters, of which nearly 20 are historical prototypes who made glorious victories such as Generals Vo Nguyen Giap, Le Trong Tan, Hoang Van Thai, Van Tien Dung, Senior Lieutenant General Tran Van Tra... But in difficult times, the filmmakers always received enthusiastic support from the prototypes.

This is a feature film, so the filmmaking process has strict artistic requirements, unlike conventional war documentaries. The first requirement of the film is to be faithful to the events, so that the public has a correct understanding of the scale of history. How to ensure the "story" with a dose that can be allowed for fiction, but must be true to the qualities of the people who were both daring and quick, intelligent and resourceful, who liberated Buon Me Thuot - Hue - Da Nang - Xuan Loc - Saigon. Therefore, the process of selecting actors to play the characters requires great care and effort, both resembling the real-life characters and having acting talent. For example, to find someone to play the role of the late General Secretary Le Duan, the film crew also spent nearly a year searching all over the art troupes in the South and the North. Finally, actor Ha Van Trong was the one who successfully took on the role, recreating the temperament of a talented, decisive leader, from actions to words, decisive and strong with a typical Quang Tri accent...

Illustration photo from the movie "Liberation of Saigon".

In particular, the grand scenes in the film were elaborately and meticulously staged with planes, missiles, tanks, and heavy artillery of the troops entering Saigon on April 30, 1975. The grand, realistic, and emotional images of the film convinced viewers as if they were witnessing and reliving the heroic life and atmosphere of the 70s of the 20th century.

Meritorious Artist Long Van is a director from the North but has been known as a person with a destiny to make films about the South since the liberation day. With 7 feature films, from “Tieng goi tien”, “Nha hoi cua tinh yeu”, “Nguoi khong mang hoc”, “Cho ca ngay mai”, and especially 4 major films: “Biet dong Sai Gon” - 1985; “Hen ghen lai Sai Gon” - 1995; “Giai liberate Sai Gon” - 2005, and recently the TV series “Nhung con cua phan dong Sai Gon” - 2010, the city named after Uncle Ho has become a “promised land” for the director who is deeply attached to his artistic creation, as he once confided: “That encounter was a “fate given by heaven”, and I am also very satisfied”.

Le Lan (47, Dang Thuc Hua, Vinh)