[Update: ScreenAnarchy, in association with GOMORRAHY.com, is now providing two downloadable QuickTime trailers for Othello Khanh's Saigon Eclipse (Sài Gòn nhật thực) - see the bottom of this article.]
In Saigon Eclipse, Kieu is an actress in a film produced by her mother, Tu and stepfather Henry. Kim is a young overseas Vietnamese film director who has just returned to the country to participate in the film with Kieu and eventually they fall in love. Midway through production, Kieu’s family is thrown into crisis because of Henry’s gambling problem. She is then forced to offer herself as payment for his debt and her life becomes a living hell as she descends into the world of prostitution.
Saigon Eclipse was inspired by the “Story of Kieu”, the classic Vietnamese epic poem written by Nguyen in the early 19th century. The story will revisit the story’s principal themes of filial devotion, redemption and the submission of women.
The privately funded movie is five years in the making and start filming in May of 2006 in and around Ho Chi Minh City, and is to release on May 18 in 2007. Othello hopes his film will screen in other countries. He had assembled a multinational cast including Vietnamese actresses Truong Ngoc Anh and Nhu Quynh, Vietnamese-Americans Dustin Nguyen [21 Jump Street, V.I.P. and The Rebel] and Johnny Nguyen [Spider-Man 2, Tom yum goong and The Rebel], Vietnamese-French Marjolaine Bui, and HK actor Joseph Tseng.
The sad truth about the Vietnamese film industry is that the country simply lacks the infrastructure to make films. So filmmakers like Othello are going outside of Viet Nam and recruiting Viet Kieu [overseas Vietnamese], as well as professionals from other nationalities, and bringing them back to Viet Nam to jumpstart the industry. As much as the locals groan about the number of foreigners involved in filmmaking there are not enough qualified locals to work in the industry.
In November of last year it was announced that local film companies could partner with overseas entities to make films in Viet Nam, as long as the company making the movie was majority-owned by Vietnamese or ethnic Vietnamese. This announcement has opened the virtual floodgates for creative filmmaking. A new "Vietnamese realism" as Othello calls it is sorely needed. The external image of the country is limited to films produced by foreigner markets which focus on the Viet Nam War. Though films like Platoon and Apocalypse Now were not filmed in Viet Nam they still dwell on a dark period of Viet Nam’s past.
"After living in Viet Nam for 11 years, I wanted to make a film that showed my impressions and emotions about the country. Whether the film is a success or not depends on the audience. I want my film to present a different Viet Nam, a Viet Nam not of war, but full of love and vitality." His script draws on personal diaries dating back to 1995, when Mr. Khanh first arrived in Viet Nam. In 1994 after trade embargos were lifted Othello was invited to Viet Nam and recruited by the Vietnamese government to help modernize the local TV industry. Othello’s company CréaTV is one of the largest in the country. "We have Hollywood and Bollywood. Maybe, with good will and luck, someday, we can create our own Bac Ho Ly-Wood." Bac Ho is Uncle Ho, as Vietnamese call Ho Chi Minh, father of the revolution. “It’s exciting to be in Viet Nam. There’s a great group of people here to make the country a better place. With my rebel heart, I’m trying to work and develop stories of the people”.
Othello and his producer have promised us images from the film and trailers when they become available. For now we can provide you with cast pics so you may familiarize yourself with the faces. Enjoy.
Saigon Eclipse trailer #2 (downloadable 3.7 MB MOV file)
Saigon Eclipse trailer #1 (downloadable 4.6 MB MOV file)