I was just thinking about this...I really think two of the greatest women in Vietnamese history, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, are going to have their life and their pivotal role against the invading Chinese portrayed on the big screen. I'm not talking about a small-budget movie, but a real movie aimed at the whole American audience, not just Vietnamese.

The un-Hollywoodized history alone is enough to make it the perfect drama/action movie because people just eat up underdog stories - and the Trung sisters are double underdogs: they were people of the smaller country of Viet Nam and they were women. Given that, it's even more amazing because they rallied an entire nation and defeated the much larger invading horde.

Could you imagine the awesome battle scenes? Given that the Vietnamese army was far outnumbered, it was will and strategy that made them victorious. So a good director would show the different tactics that were employed, and good actors would portray the intense desire to fight. Imagine a dramatic shot of Phung Thi Chinh giving birth on the battlefield, then getting up to continue fighting, and this time, she's not just fighting for indepedence for herself, but also for her newly born son and subsequent generations. All of these scenes just makes the audience root for the underdog - if you've watched Black Hawk Down, do you remember the high you felt when the enemy was mowed down at the end by helicopter machine guns?

Then the tear-jerker elements of the movie comes in when it took China years to regroup and defeat the Trung Sisters, who then committed suicide by jumping into a river, rather than witness the fall of their country. But the lingering feeling would be hope - if VN was conquered, what did it do to still exist today? So the movie would end with Trung Trac's and Trung Nhi's desire for independence. The sequel could pick up from the legacy that they've left to show that desire for independence lived for 1000 years. So the appeal to the American audience is that it's not just a movie about Vietnamese history, but it's about the triumphs and strong will of human nature.

The biggest problem is that there are no Vietnamese major action movie director yet...and you know how Viet parents aren't very supportive of their kids pursuing something outside the sciences and technical fields..but I'm sure about 10 years from now there will be one who can take on a movie this big.

As for the support of the community, I could imagine women's rights activist groups and feminist groups championing this movie. And also other Asians in Hollywood because Asians in entertainment is still relatively scarce, so those on the inside would love to see more of us in the field.

What do you guys think?

Hell yeah I wanna see a movie about the Trung Sisters on the epic proportion of the Lord Of The Rings or Troy. It would be awesome seeing them on elephants leading the Vietnamese charging towards the Chinese imperialists.

I would not mind seeing the movie about the final naval battle to kick Chinese out in 939 A.D by Ngo Quyen.

As long as Zhang Ziyi plays one (or BOTH!) of the Trung sisters, I'm in!!!!!!!


rage

Let us remember that the Trung sisters and Lady Trieu are not the only female warriors in our history. The Tay Son dynasty also had around 30-60 female generals and one of the most famous is Bui Thi Xuan.

It's inevitable, but please don't make it now. Wait till 5-8 years, untill Vietnam actually have better equipments. Finally, this year (or maybe last year) Vietnamese government allows private movie company to open.

The battle scene with on elephant back would be cool. But it would be better if it's battle of Bach Dang, Ngo Quyen, Ly Thuong Kiet, Trung Hung Dao, or Quang Trung. Quang Trung would be the best because not only does he has to fight the Manchus, he has to fight Trinh, the Nguyen, later Nguyen Anh, the Thais, and even tension with his older brother Nguyen Nhac. That's a hero I truly want to watch.

Bui Thi Xuan is a tragic story. When Nguyen Hue Emperor passed away, she was trying to hold on and maintain the new Dynasty but Nguyen Anh was just too strong. She got trampled by elephant for execution by Nguyen Anh at the end. So sad

Wow, very sad indeed, from commanding a million man army to being trampled to death by an elephant

that is a pretty sad death worst than getting split apart by 5 horses

Theo các giáo sĩ Pháp chứng kiến vụ hành hình thì nữ tướng Bùi Thị Xuân coi cái chết nhẹ như lông hồng, đến chết sắc mặt vẫn không thay đổi.

Người đời sau có bài thơ vịnh nữ anh hùng như sau:

Vận nước đang xoay chuyển
Quần thoa cũng vẫy vùng
Liều thân lo cứu chúa
Công trận quyết thay chồng.
Khảng khái khi lâm nạn!
Kiên trinh lúc khốn cùng
Ngàn thu gương nữ liệt
Gương sáng hãy soi chung

Well I guess that just makes her legacy more heroic. It is said that when she was about to be executed, facing the elephant, she did not budge but stared at the elephant for a very long time. The elephant was kinda scared and stepped back but Nguyen Anh's soldiers poked it with spears so it ran towards her and trampled her to death. So sad and such a messy way to die

She yelled at the elephant instead and the elephant was freaked oụt

Yes! Make the movie!! i always thought about this before.



I agree with supernovasp, that this movie is inevitable but should wait until Vietnam has better equipment because this is one movie that deserves be of higher quality than the usual. anyways, movies based on other heroes of Vietnam would be really awesome as well like some of you have mentioned!

The chinese are really going to get piss-off

i read this story when i was 8 them commies made me memorize it...now i forgot everything...i only remembered the first line
Ba Trung que o' Chau Phoung.....then blank from there...where can re-read this story.

yeah! I think we should make the movie about Tran Hung Dao vs the Mongols. We don't want to loose 1.3 billion Chinese audiences ($$$), do we?

Yeah, it'd be great. Can't wait, it could show in 2010, Ha Noi's birthday!!


I didn't get to learn that poem, or is it that I don't remeber? Would someone please tell us?

Woah awesome picture. I'm saving it.

It might be a little too much to make the American audiance the target of a movie with historical backgrounds. Heck, the only thing that most Americans, and perhaps the world, knows about Vietnam is the conflict with the US in the 70's.

Question: What ever happened to the elephant population in SE Asia?

Elephant population is dying out. Similar to the tiger population.

Deforestation leading to a loss of habitat and feeding ground. Also alot were killed for destroying crops and many were taken from the wild for tourism purposes.