The film "Road to Thang Long Citadel", or "Ly Cong Uan - Road to Thang Long Citadel" was unexpectedly shown on VTV5 since the end of October, after being announced, it has been edited a lot and thanks to the editing support of AI technology.
Up to now, Ly Cong Uan - The Road to Thang Long Citadel is the Vietnamese historical drama that received the most backlash and criticism when it was released in 2010. The film is on the list of projects produced to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi.
The film "Ly Cong Uan - The Road to Thang Long Citadel" was produced with great contributions from the Chinese crew, the general director is Can Duc Mau. The film was rented a studio to be produced by Hoanh Diem. In 2010, the producer announced that the money spent on 19 episodes was up to more than 100 billion VND.
It can be calculated that with more than 100 billion VND for 19 episodes, it means that each episode (with a duration of 45 minutes) costs about... 5 billion VND. Each minute of broadcasting is equivalent to more than 100 million VND. This is a shocking "huge" number 15 years ago.
"Ly Cong Uan - The Road to Thang Long Citadel" was noticed right from the start. This is the first time a Vietnamese film project has hired a Chinese production crew from director, costume, costume to set... Director Can Duc Mau was the director of the TV series " Bao Thanh Thien Youth", which was widely shown in Vietnam at that time.
The film screenwriter includes Kha Chung Hoa - this is the screenwriter for a series of famous Chinese films such as Vo Tac Thien, Vuong Trieu Ung Chinh...
Li Cong Uan - Road to Changlong Citadel hired nearly 700 traditional costumes from China, plus rented a sets for the Zhejiang studio, rented hundreds of mass actors... so the cost is considered to be very large.
However, when releasing photos and some excerpts, Ly Cong Uan - Road to Thang Long Citadel was criticized for... being similar to China.
Historical researchers at that time also spoke strongly, saying that the film is similar to Chinese films, from costumes, character shapes, to settings, palace architecture... all are unfamiliar to Vietnamese history.
Professor of history Le Van Lan analyzed the film's many historical errors in the film, for example, the image of the pagoda in the film is a Chinese pagoda because the Vietnamese pagoda is written with the word Buddha, but the pagoda film is written with the word Thuyen.
The Central Feature Film Appraisal Council for the second time has decided that the film "Ly Cong Uan - Duong Duong To Thanh Thang Long" will not be broadcast on television on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long.
A representative of the Department of Cinema affirmed, "the film will have to be edited a lot".
For the past 15 years, the film has always "encouraged" the plan to air but has always had difficulties. "Road to Thang Long Citadel" is still criticized because the materials of Chinese ancient costumes, character building, setting... are not pure Vietnamese.
Ly Cong Uan - The Road to Thang Long Citadel has undergone many revisions. This becomes a typical example for the production and investment of historical films, when national historical materials need to become a separate identity in films.
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, director Bui Tuan Dung said: "History is always a very difficult topic. The film requires expensive investment and careful research. National history is a sacred topic, if there is a slight deviation, the audience will react and criticize it. Meanwhile, we do not have many historical documents or historical scripts. Therefore, when choosing a historical or war theme, you have to be very careful."
Over the past 15 years, the film "Ly Cong Uan - Duong to Thanh Long" has paid a heavy price when it took energy, investment money, and was edited many times.
Li Cong Uan - The Road to Thang Long Citadel has the participation of actors: Tien Loc (reigned as King Ly Cong Uan), Hoang Hai (reigned as King Le Hoan), Phan Hoa (reigned as Duong Van Nga), Meritorious Artist Trung Hieu (reigned as King Dinh Bo Linh), Runner-up Thuy Van (reigned as Thanh Lien)...
The film revolves around the story of the historical figure Ly Cong Uan and his decision to leave the capital from Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) to Thang Long.
