Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2018
Images from the Internet
Tấm Cám: The Untold Story (aka Tấm
Cám: Chuyện Chưa Kể)
Directed by Veronica Ngo
(aka Ngo Thanh Van)
VAA Productions / BHD
Vietnam Studios / Cleopatra Entertainment / MVD Visual
115
minutes, 2016 / 2017
Well,
I must say, this is my first Vietnamese film viewing that has nothing to do
with the action there during the 1960s and early ‘70s. This is more the sweeping
epic kind of period story one would expect from either Japan, or especially
China; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
comes to mind.
Asia
has a history of taking Western stories and Easternizing
them, such as Macbeth (Throne of Blood, 1957) and King Lear (Ran, 1985). Then again, the West has taken the Eastern stories as
well, and either transplanted them (The
Magnificent Seven, 1960; A Fistful of
Dollars, 1964;, more recently The
Ring, 2002), or merely placed themselves in the story in Asia (Shogun, 1980 and The Great Wall, 2016, for example).
For
this release, it is in part a reimagining of the Cinderella story, set in the
magical past of Mainland Southeast Asia. We see sweeping vistas and mountain castles as
the camera swoops and flies in both the real and digital realm, and it’s all
beautiful and lush (and easy to distinguish between the two, but that’s
alright).
 |
| Ha Vi and Isaac |
Even
before the credits, the handsome prince with Spock-like eyebrows, Thái Tử (translated
as “Prince”; Isaac), is all bedecked in gold armor while racing to see his
dying father. He and his posse almost
runs over Tâm (“Center”; Ha Vi), and it is love at first sight. But, as the
story goes, he takes off without finding out who she is, which he will later
regret.
While
pretty accurate to the Grimm’s Fairy Tale, there is also a lot of minor tweaking
along the way. For example, along with the evil step-mother Dì ghẻ (“Step
Mother”; director Veronica Ngo), there is only one nasty step-sibling, Cảm (“Cold”;
Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc), who is a horribly spoiled brat. Also, rather than a fairy
godmother, there is a fairy godfather, But (“Shoes”; scene stealer Loc Thanh),
who is obviously based on the Robin Williams’ Genie character from the animated
Aladdin (1992). He has a nasty sense
of humor and also mentions things that have no place in the story or time, such
as the Energizer Bunny. Dressed like the White Wizard phase of Gandalf (sans hoodie), with eyebrows that go down
to his chin, he is quite hysterical.
The
Cinderella part is actually quite abbreviated, even if it gets the most credit,
with the entire story taking only the first 30 minutes. For example, the whole
“fit the foot to the shoe” bit takes place at the initial ball when Tâm first
walks in dressed in her fine outfit.
People
may not remember this, but fairy tales were often quite dark, such as in the
original Cinderella story, one of the step-sisters cuts off part of her foot to
try and make the shoe fit. Here, while nothing this gruesome visually occurs,
there ae some sad and surprising moments with death, the threat of murder, and
war never far away. You may certainly begin to wonder about the “Happily Ever
After” part.
 |
| Huu Chau |
There
are many layers of fantasy here, including ghost stories, reincarnation, and a
bit of another Fairy Tale, “Beauty and the Beast.” I’m not necessarily up on my
Tales since I haven’t read them (or had them read to me) since I was a small kinder, but there is much in the way of intrigue,
betrayal and resurrection. And like many Tales, this is a bit over the top;
honestly, though, this is the kind of production that is built for it. When I
was in Xi’an, China, a few years ago, I saw an opera/ballet called A Song of Everlasting Sorrow, about the
first Emperor of China and his Concubine; there are some similarities here, as
well. This also is a story of love that goes beyond death, treachery and
friendship.
As
for the betrayals, some come as a surprise (as they should be in the true definition
of the word), but the obvious one is the main villain, a Fu Manchu-ish, Saruman-like
Magistrate, Thừa Tướng (“Prime Minister”; Huu Chau). He is more cartoonish in a
Ming the Merciless way, though the main difference is that he is actually is played by an Asian actor (unlike
anyone in the West who has played Mr. Merciless).
 |
| Ngoc Trai |
Along
with the character But, my favorite is Nguyên Lực (“Resources”; Ngoc Trai): who
is a friend to the prince, and also an outstanding comic relief. Trai is never
ridiculous to the point of losing credibility, sort of in the way that Donald O’Connor
would play to the likes of Gene Kelly.
Of
course, there must be sweeping battle scenes, and there are a few, which are
very well composed and shot. Yeah, they fly through the air with the greatest
of ease, though not always getting the outcome you might expect. Once again,
there is a strong mix between real, harnesses, and digital. The end and
inevitable battle between good and evil is nearly all Digi, and it looks a bit
silly and great at the same time.
The
story is, well, a Fairy Tale, and I wonder how much of it is based on
Vietnamese folklore that I haven’t a clue about. I mean, while someone in the
West may wonder, what?!, I’m betting there’s
probably somebody saying the same thing there about a story of someone who is
nailed to a piece of wood and comes back to life three days later. It’s all perception
and culture.
The
only extras on this disk are the trailer and the chapters.
The
lovely director Ngo, who can also be seen in the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), does a splendid job with her
second directed film in bringing this all together, and I’m looking forward to
seeing more of her output.
