Filmmakers defend historical inaccuracies

Vietnamese filmmakers are hitting back at criticism after every single historical film that has been released has been met with criticism about costume accuracy, claiming the films aren’t documentaries and they are happy to compromise history for the sake of modern tastes.

When Thach Sanh was released, many criticised the film because the accessories like belts, shoes and bracelets were too modern for the period.

The Lady Assassin received the same criticism. Many people said the main character’s costumes made her looks more Indian and the patterns on jewellery are just a mess. Ly Cong Uan – The road to Imperial Citadel of Thang Long was also criticised for being too Chinese.

The Beauty is the most recent film to be criticised even though it has not yet been released. After watching the trailer, many people voiced their opinions, saying that the lion on one character’s costume looks like it was taken straight out of The Lion King.

A scene in The Beauty trailer

Cultural and historical researcher Tran Quang Duc, author of Thousands of Years of Caps and Robes, said the lion in The Beauty was a forgivable mistake. Since Vietnam had lost lots of historical documents through its turbulent history, and current research prompt different opinions and researchers may not be able to reach common grounds.

“Maybe the prints on my book are not clear enough to show the image but if they had come to me, I’d give them advice,” Duc said, “It’s difficult to find a purely Vietnamese lion image of that time.”

Director Nguyen Thanh Van said, “People shouldn’t be too hard on costume accuracy. A director a 100 years later can’t duplicate exactly what a director a 100 years earlier would have used. Even if they can, it won’t be beautiful for audience of that time.”

Director Nguyen Thanh Van

He went on to say that Vietnamese women in old times are known for their black teeth but that was not considered beautiful anymore. Moreover, there are about 16 films about Hamlet and each director used different kinds of costumes, he said.

Painter and costume designer Nguyen Manh Duc said he made changes to costumes in Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong to make it appeal more to audiences. “The language of a film is different from the language of a novel. It must not alienate audience,” he said.

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