The film 'Indochine' and the unsung 'tourism ambassadors' for Vietnam.

Hollywood is the world's most attractive travel promoter, CNN once wrote. Great films are a wonderful way to transport viewers to a place. For Vietnam, films like *The Quiet American*, *The Lover*, or *Indochine* are indispensable.

On the occasion of the director and lead actor of the film Indochine visiting Vietnam to attend the Hanoi International Film Festival 2016 and interact with the audience tonight (November 2nd) at the National Film Center, let's review these films.

Recently, Charlie On Travel selected four impressive films (shot in Vietnam or not) that could become "tourism ambassadors," with the criteria of reducing gunfire and increasing human voices.

1. Indochina

Many people say they fell in love with Vietnam and want to visit the country after watching Indochine (1992), the French film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The film is set in Indochina during its struggle for independence from French colonial rule. The main character is Éliane Devries (played by the famous Catherine Deneuve), a French plantation owner. In Hanoi, visitors can visit the café where Deneuve sat with a cup of coffee and a croissant every morning during filming. The café is called Kinh Do and is located on Hang Bong Street.

2. The Lover

Few Vietnamese people haven't heard of "The Lover," the classic love story adapted from the novel by French writer Marguerite Duras. In 1992, the film brought the image of Saigon - Cholon to life in a way never before seen. Moreover, who wouldn't be curious about a love story between an Eastern man and a Western woman in the "Pearl of the Far East"?

The film is both elegant and classic, yet sensual and rebellious. It's also the film with the most profound portrayal of the characters' psychology, set in Vietnam. The performances of actors Jane March and Tony Leung Ka-fai are incredibly impactful. After decades, *The Lover* remains a classic, unaffected by changing times.

3. The Quiet American

There are two film adaptations of Graham Greene's novel, *The Quiet American*, released in 1958 and 2002. The 2002 version is the focus here. It's a story that is both realistic and human. Dark and conflicted between morality and love, the film is set against the backdrop of the American intervention during the French occupation of Vietnam.

The film revolves around a love triangle between a British journalist (Michael Caine), an American philanthropist (Brendan Fraser), and a Vietnamese woman (Hai Yen). This relationship represents the West's "civilizing" and the East's "mysterious and strange" in a deeper and more nuanced way than most films that follow a similar approach.

The Quiet American is a film that left a deep impression in Vietnam. It was filmed in Hanoi, Saigon, Ninh Binh, and Hoi An. The Hotel Continental Saigon was also where author Graham Greene stayed while writing the novel in 1951, when he traveled between Saigon and Ben Tre.

4. Full Metal Jacket

The 1987 film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick offered a different perspective from all other films about the Vietnam War. The film's tagline, "In Vietnam, even the wind doesn't blow, it sucks the air," is one of the most memorable cinematic taglines, speaking to the suffocating atmosphere of the war in Vietnam from an American perspective.

While not a positive portrayal, the film sparks viewers' curiosity about our country. Iron Armor is set in Hue, but it wasn't filmed in Vietnam.

According to Thethaovanhoa