https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1535-6862
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Abstract
Along with the intense globalisation process in Vietnam since the early 21st century, there has been a bloom of commercial films shot in the famous places of this country named ‘films as tourism promotion’. However, behind the eye-catching frames, the picturesque landscape, and the smooth cinematography, whether those films accompany the ecological discourse of preserving the indigenous natural environment is another complicated problem that needs to be challenged in this research. Since then, we will consider the effects of socialist nationalism and capitalism’s mass production on the eco-consciousness of the film audiences/masses, how they give the viewers a firm belief in the indestructible and sustainable beauty of the national landscapes, and how they distract the audience’s visual interest from practical issues. Also, we aim to examine the ecological status of these tourist sites after the movies were released to determine the chain-related environmental consequences of this cinematic trend.
Acknowledgements
We thank all Vietnamese directors who made the films included in this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 After one month, the film garnered the most significant number of viewers and revenue (USD 7.3 million) of any movie up to that time.
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmjiCP6R-7I (trailer of Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjWoaNWZ2Xo (trailer of Go-go Sisters).
3 In socialist Vietnam, there is the ternary division into state-sponsored cinema (SC), independent cinema (IC), and commercial cinema (CC). When the IC often criticizes socio-political-cultural issues, cope with strict public censorship, and the indifference of domestic viewers; the SC tends to follow the propagandist purpose and absolutize the values of nationalism; the CC focuses on attracting the audiences and maximizing the box office. Therefore, the commercial cinema in Vietnam pursues the trend of “films as tourism promotion” as an inevitable choice.
4 The films’ names are shown in the second paragraph of this essay.
5 We can see this kind of landscape combination via the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kLRl9OSACvIMpkKKH2nixyGJ9X6arTLp/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108591891545323838667&rtpof=true&sd=true.
6 See the interview of Victor Vu through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahPJurohH28 (video uploaded on December 19, 2019, by the user “8 Saigon”.)
7 Apart from creating a lush world wholly alienated from the crippling state of environmental degradation in contemporary society, the directors have “coded national identity” through the famous and clichéd landscapes, which become just like “photos, postcards and posters” representing national images and are commercialized, massively produced, and sold everywhere to tourists (Thièsse, Citation2013, p. 31).
8 Almost all the above films scored high revenue compared to the domestic ones, winning some state awards, such as Yellow Flowers (3.500.000 USD, Golden Lotus Award at Vietnam film festival 19); Tam Cam (3.000.000 USD; 2017 Silver Kite Award for Feature Film); Go-go Sisters (3.695.000 USD, Best actress, Best Production Design at Golden Kite Arward 2018); etc.
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Giang Hoang
Giang Hoang is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University (USSH-VNU), Ha Noi. She received her Ph.D. (2013), majoring in theory of literature, from Vietnam National University and had the certificate of film writing course (2010) from the Film Studies Program sponsored by Ford Foundation (USA). She was a Harvard-Yenching Institute‘s Visiting Scholar for 2018–2019 and a Harvard Asia Centre’s Visiting Scholar for 2019–2020. In recent years, she has been interested in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches in cinema and literature, such as adaptation, translation studies, landscape theory, and ecocriticism. She has also published more than 40 articles on the globe cinema/arts domestically and internationally in these areas. Her publications have appeared in the Journal of Urban Culture Research, Asian Studies, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Journal of Narrative and Language Studies—NALANS, Landscapes, etc.