“Nun Huyen Trang” – Then and now!

(Baonghean) -Television audiences have just finished watching 10 episodes of the documentary about the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces. The film once again reminded viewers of the feature film "Saigon Special Forces" (4 episodes), released in the 80s of the last century, in which the image of "Nun Huyen Trang" in the film, played by Meritorious Artist Thanh Loan, remains in the hearts of fans until now.

Meritorious Artist Thanh Loan was born in 1951 in an ancient village in Hanoi. When she was young, her parents often took her to the Hong Ha theater to watch plays, and her dream of becoming an actress began there. No one in her family was an artist, and everyone wanted her to become a doctor. However, listening to her friends, she ran away from home to take the entrance exam for the Army Performing Arts, and was accepted into the General Political Department's Song and Dance Troupe when she was only 17 years old.

Thanh Loan possesses the typical beauty of a young woman from Hanoi, with a pretty oval face, a beautiful figure and standard diction. She officially entered the film industry with her first feature film “The One Who Returns to the Reed Field” (1973), adapted from the short story of the same name by writer Le Luu.

With the character Rieng, Thanh Loan has left in the audience's mind a vivid image of a production team leader, with a nimble, innocent, fresh, and delicate brown blouse in love... It is that charming and magical beauty, along with her simple, unpretentious acting style right from the first role discovered by the cinema, that has laid a solid foundation for the actress's path to the seventh art. Thanh Loan has become one of the names sought after by directors and admired by audiences.

Thanh Loan as nun Huyen Trang.

But perhaps the role of nun Huyen Trang in the movie "Saigon Special Forces" (directed by Long Van) was the role "tailor-made" for the beauty of Hanoi's old quarter. Later, she confided: "This could be the "peak" that I will never surpass"! The image of "nun Huyen Trang" is gentle, holy, with deep, deep eyes that she transformed from the prototype of a female special forces soldier, named Pham Thi Bach Lien, a girl from the garden area of ​​Sa Dec, Dong Thap, who followed her father to Saigon to study at a convent school. Because she participated in the student movement "taking to the streets" to protest the war, she was expelled from school, Bach Lien shaved her head and became a nun at Bon Nguyen Pagoda, then became a special forces soldier under the guise of the dharma name "Nun Huyen Trang".

The temple is a place where many monks, nuns, and Buddhists come and go, but few people know that it is a developing revolutionary network. "Huyền Trang" is an important link in the special forces operating in the inner city. The nun had to hide a love affair with the special forces captain of the city, Tu Chung (under the guise of the owner of the Dong A paint company), and many times she was numbed by witnessing her lover and the person pretending to be his wife (also a special forces soldier), living "happily" in the Capital... With the success of the film and the attraction of the audience at that time, the name "Nun Huyền Trang" has linked Thanh Loan's life with her colleagues and the public. She was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist in 1993, and was honored by everyone as one of the "four beauties" of the cinema industry in the resistance film genre along with People's Artist Tra Giang as Diu in the film "Parallel 17 Days and Nights"; People's Artist Nhu Quynh as Net in "Den Hen Lai Len"; Actress Thuy An in the film "Canh Dong Hoang".

In addition to the movie “Saigon Commandos”, the audience also knows Thanh Loan’s acting talent through the movies: “Song of the Battlefield”; “The Three Roses Plan”; “Dead Love”; “Secrets of the Forbidden City”, “Forgotten Proposal”! After her famous roles, she switched to being an announcer for the program For Security of Vietnam Television, building the Traffic Safety program broadcast on the station in 1992-1993 quite successfully.

Meritorious Artist Thanh Loan as director.

Later, she studied documentary film directing, she delved into and explored the topics of the lives and careers of the people's police officers in the two wars against France and the United States, such as the films: "Canh Cop in Plainclothes"; "Noi Dong Song Cuoi"; "Dau Tam Chac", and especially the film "Bo Si Chua Toi" (a portrait of the first Minister of Public Security, Tran Quoc Hoan), which left her mark on her talent as a director. She became a female Colonel with the important responsibility of Deputy Artistic Director of the People's Police Cinema. The busy management work, having to travel to many places from the South to the North, did not give her time to act anymore, so although she missed the screen terribly, she had to accept it. And because she had not appeared on film for a long time, there were many malicious rumors, such as the "beauty" was beaten by jealousy, had acid thrown in her face...

Retiring in 2008, she lives happily with her husband, an Associate Professor - Doctor of Mathematics (10 years older than her), and their children and grandchildren on Linh Lang Street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi. Although she has become a grandmother, the former Hanoi beauty, "Nun Huyen Trang" is still very beautiful at the age of 60. She confided: "Despite her age, women should spend time exercising and playing sports; simple things like walking, playing badminton, swimming... to maintain their health and complete their work". Every afternoon, "Nun Huyen Trang" arranges time to go to the dance floor, not only gracefully dancing classically but also seductively dancing modernly. Whenever a colleague calls to go make a film, Thanh Loan is ready to go with her passion for dedication.

Le Lan (47, Dang Thuc Hua, Vinh)