“Two Sides of the Horizon” - A good film about Vietnamese people abroad

(Baonghean)The TV series Hai Phuong Chan Troi was adapted from the novel Blood of Snow, written by the author, writer Tran Hoai Van, directed by Tran Quoc Trong and Vu Truong Khoa. This is a project of the Vietnam Television Film Production Center VFC (2012) broadcast on VTV1 during prime time, attracting the attention of viewers.

The theme of the film is stories about the lives of overseas Vietnamese living in Europe, set in the Czech Republic. Many bitter fates, heartbreaking and fierce tragedies, in the cold white snow of the border area that expatriates are having to endure to make a living. The price they have to pay for the money they earn, soaked in tears, sweat, humiliation, and even sacrificing their lives, reflects an objective and vivid reality about the bright and dark aspects of our labor market abroad. At the same time, the film also shows the audience the feelings of Vietnamese people far from home who always live for others, in a cohesive national community.





Scenes from the movie "Two Sides of the Horizon"

They are people who come to the promised land with many different reasons and circumstances (both legal and illegal) but all have the same purpose: to make money. Some people go abroad to study, but when their time expires, they do not return home but find a way to stay and do business. Some people, because they listen to friends and relatives' persuasion, have the illusion of leaving in the hope of changing their lives, illegally crossing the border, accepting the life of a refugee, regardless of the danger to make money at all costs, hoping to improve their family's life... That is the character Tinh - a mother who lost her daughter who drowned while trying to cross the river and was haunted to the point of not daring to return home. Tran Vinh - a man who did many jobs to make a living, hoping to save some money before returning home but then had to leave empty-handed, even got into trouble with the law, but when released from prison, he was still willing to take care of a Vietnamese mixed-race boy, only to be misunderstood; Mr. Le - a successful businessman who is both admirable for his kindness to the community and scary for his calculations to survive; Lawyer Minh - who went abroad to study Law and did not return, stayed to work as a consultant, providing legal support to overseas Vietnamese, but behind that are blatant money-making deals...

Each character in the film has to endure a fate, a separate pain when struggling and worrying about life. Although it is fierce, the film has beautiful scenes, worth pondering about how the characters love, live and dare to forget themselves for others! The thread running through the film is the love of compatriots, the love, support, and solidarity between compatriots far from the Fatherland who are living and working in a foreign land. At the same time, the film also brings a message to domestic viewers to know how the lives of our overseas Vietnamese are, so that they can understand and reduce their illusions about promised lands.

It was touching to watch the footage recreating the heartbreaking traps our people had just arrived in, when they were robbed and brutally murdered by Vietnamese pimps and gangsters. The scenes of innocent, bewildered girls being locked in dark dungeons and raped in a heartbreaking, humiliating way. They were saved by Tran Vinh as a humane, noble "savior". Viewers were also deeply moved by the emotional relationships and mutual help in times of trouble between Vietnamese people and citizens of the host country. The words of the character Le repenting before his mother's altar about the promise he made 20 years ago when he received the notice to study abroad: "Mom! I will study hard to return to serve the country, do many useful things to help poor people like you. I will get married and have a grandson for you to hold!" Yet at the age of 49, he still lives alone and lonely in a foreign land. He has a premonition that one day soon he will be able to see his mother, because the terminal illness is gnawing at his soul and body, which he is hiding from everyone. He has used the money he has earned over the years for charity work and investment in welfare projects, but he is afraid that time will run out.



Behind the scenes of the movie "Two Horizons" in the snow in the Czech Republic.
Photos in the article: Internet.

It is known that the film project “Two sides of the horizon” has invested tens of billions of dong, but to make a film with the main setting being abroad is still a tight budget. The geographical distance, difficulties, hardships, and working conditions in harsh weather are the obstacles that the film crew must overcome to have the most realistic and vivid footage about the lives of Vietnamese people living abroad. “We feel daring to make this film, but if we don’t dare, we can’t have a good film!” - Director of the film studio Do Thanh Hai said. The film also gathered a cast of actors with good chemistry and acting skills such as Meritorious Artist Manh Cuong, Meritorious Artist Le Vy (currently residing in France), actors Xuan Bac, Le Vu Long, Kieu Thanh, Vi Cam... The film also had the participation of multinational actors from Germany, France, Prague Drama Theater of the Czech Republic and we cannot fail to mention the enthusiastic care and support of our Embassy and the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic, so that the film could achieve the desired success.

Filmmaking about the Vietnamese community abroad is a new topic, both in television and cinema. It can be seen that “Two Sides of the Horizon” opens a new genre of films that society is interested in in the trend of global integration, a major policy of our Party and State. Hopefully, the film will be a remarkable mark for Vietnamese television dramas currently being broadcast.

Le Lan (47, Dang Thuc Hua, Vinh)