High pressure
In 2024, there were quite a few films set in ancient times on the big screen, such as Cong Tu Bac Lieu, Linh Mieu - Quy Nhap Trang, Cam... These projects all recreated many ancient settings to match the plot content.
The film “Cong Tu Bac Lieu” invested heavily in the setting and costumes to depict the life of the rich people in the South in the 1930s. The film crew spent a lot of money to restore the setting with the design costing more than ten billion VND. In total, the costumes were newly made, about 100 suits, more than 100 ao dai and more than 50 ao ba ba...
The crew of “Cam” filmed in an ancient village in Quang Tri, in the heat of 42 degrees Celsius when making the first horror film based on the story “Tam Cam”. Director Tran Huu Tan said that the setting was one of the challenges for the crew when recreating the life of the ancient Vietnamese people. After many months of surveying in the Central region, the crew chose the main filming location at Ha Trung village communal house.
In “Linh lich - Quy nhap trang”, to have the setting of Duong Phuc family’s mansion, producer Ho Xuan Phu said, the film crew surveyed about 40 villas, stilt houses, and garden houses in Hue before deciding to restore the 150-year-old ancient villa at 51 Ham Nghi (Hue).
According to the crew of the film “Lynch lynx - Ghost in the house”, the process of finding a suitable setting was quite difficult. The difficulty in restoring was that the wooden part of the house was seriously damaged and could not be reused, so the entire floor had to be removed and reinforced. The cost of restoring and designing the old scene cost the crew a lot of money.
In terms of advantages, films with old settings easily attract the attention of the audience, because the films bring to the viewers a sense of nostalgia, even novelty. There are films that also bring a feeling of mystery, stimulating the curiosity of the viewers.
However, realistically speaking, for these types of films, the setting is a huge financial burden, not every film crew is willing to risk spending a lot on the setting...
Revenue from period films
Movies set in the past always have a certain appeal to viewers. The settings are attractive with strange costumes, ancient landscapes... However, when a movie of this type is completed, the story of revenue is a difficult problem.
“Cam” and “Linh Luc - Quy Nhap Trang” have quite a lot of revenue, nearly 100 billion VND and more than 86 billion VND respectively. “Cong Tu Bac Lieu” despite investing in a large setting of up to tens of billions, has only earned more than 34 billion VND and is at risk of heavy losses when leaving theaters.
Even with a large budget, films with historical settings are not guaranteed to win. Remember, the films "Old Man Hac" and "Trang Ti" also attracted attention when they were released to the audience, but because of the conflicting controversies, the projects left theaters with a loss in revenue.
The race for box office revenue on the big screen with films set in the past has never been easy. Filmmakers should not subjectively rely only on investing in the setting while neglecting the content and acting of the stars.
Many projects are praised for their beautiful settings and large investments, but the content is disjointed and unattractive, plus the selection of stars that are not suitable for the characters has made the audience no longer interested in watching.
Take the latest example of the project “Cong Tu Bac Lieu”, where Song Luan’s performance as the son of Bac Lieu was criticized for being awkward, and the film’s content lacking depth, causing the film to only attract viewers in the first half. In the second half, the project is being surpassed by new films and may not be able to stay in theaters in the near future.
Making films set in the past is not easy. If filmmakers can balance content, script, acting and setting, new film projects can attract audiences.
