Famous filming locations in Vietnam
TOPICS 6: Famous filming locations in Vietnam
Vietnam is a country with a unique and wonderful nature. Because the terrain stretches along from the North to the South, there are a lot of beautiful and overwhelming landscape that changing according to the terrain. Besides, the cultural regions are extremely unique and diverse. Through time, many original landscapes are still untouched, and historical monuments are conserved intact. Therefore, Vietnam is the ideal place for many film crews to come and get their best film shoot.
There have been many Hollywood movies and famous movies in the world were shot in Vietnam, especially Kong: Skull Island (2017), Pan (2015), Indochine (1992)…
Posters of Kong: Skull Island (2017), Pan (2015) & Indochine (1992)
Meanwhile, Vietnamese film producers also know how to exploit our country beauty to have extremely beautiful scenes for our movies. Vietnamese films won high awards such as: I see yellow flowers on green grass (2015), Story of Tam & Cam (2016), The third wife (2018),…. having the beautiful scene in big screen taken around Vietnam.
Posters of “I see yellow flowers on the green grass” (2015)
Hereafter, we would like to show you the famous filming locations in Vietnam which used to be internally and internationally presented in big screen.
Ha Long Bay:
Ha Long Bay is the most famous filming location in Vietnam because of its presence in many famous movies: Indochine (1992), Pan (2015), Kong: Skull Island (2017)…
Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay is located in the Gulf of Tonkin of Vietnam. Ha Long means “Bay of the descending Dragon” because of legend about a dragon that sent by the Emperor of Jade to support Vietnam people fighting against the foreign invaders, helped push away the attackers and in the process, spat jewels that landed in the sea and formed the karst landscape… Since then, there are countless small islands in different shapes in the middle of the beautiful bay, along with the surrounding cave system here.
Since the magnificent and original landscape, Ha Long was chosen for setting scene of many historical, fictional and exploratory films..
Ha Long Bay in “Pan” (2015)
Pan (2015) is the film inspired by a familiar fairy tale about a boy who lives under the body of a teenage boy – Peter Pan and his life in the fairyland of Neverland. The movie requires the whole scene to be show the fantasy and fairy of the story; therefore, the film crew must find a place with a magical landscape to convey that requirement. Overcoming many options, Ha Long Bay was chosen to shoot the most beautiful fairy scenes of this movie.
Ha Long Bay in “Indochine” (1992)
Indochine is a 1992 French film set in colonial French Indochina during the 1930s to 1950s. The film won the Oscar award in 1986 and is considered as one of the best epic works in the African region. Scenes in Ha Long Bay made the most beautiful scenes for this movie.
The scene of Ha Long Bay was chosen to appear right on Kong: Skull island poster
Ha Long Bay in “Kong: Skull island” movie (2017)
Ha Long Bay seen from above appears in the scene of shooting American troops by helicopter and discovering Kong – lord of Skull Island. This is a scene showing all the majestic and overwhelming landscape of Ha Long Bay.
We have provided fixer services for many filming crews to film at Ha Long bay.
Ninh Binh Province:
Another wonderful place for filming in Vietnam is Ninh Binh province. Ninh Binh is a land of charming rivers and mountains in the Northern Delta, with many beautiful scenes in natural populations. It’s also known as ‘Ha Long Bay on Land’. This place was chosen for many Vietnamese movie’s scenes, such as: Blood Letter (2012), Story of Tam and Cam (2018), The third wife (2018)… Foreign film producers also quickly saw the hidden beauty of this land to choose it for their filming. In particular, in 2017, the film director of Kong: Skull Island (2017) decided to come here to shoot many important scenes for his movie.
The outstanding landscapes in Ninh Binh are Trang An complex, Tam Coc – Bich Dong and Van Long swamp, where appeared in different famous movies.
Trang An complex
Van Long swamp of Ninh Binh in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Ninh Binh is not only a land of poetic natural landscapes, but also a place to preserve the historical and cultural values of Vietnam with Hoa Lu ancient citadel and many pagodas. Almost Vietnamese movies shot here are fairy and historical stories.
“Blood Letter” is a Vietnamese historical story mostly shot in Ninh Binh
Trang An (Ninh Binh) in Blood Letter movie
Story of Tam and Cam (2017), a Vietnamese fairy story is totally shot in Ninh Binh. With available poetic natural scenery, Ninh Binh is not difficult to become fairy in “Story of Tam and Cam” movie. The talented film director of Vietnam, Ngo Thanh Van, made this place a wonderful miniature fairytale kingdom on the big screen.
Ninh Binh is become fairyland in Story of Tam and Cam (2017)
Quang Binh Province:
Quang Binh – this place is known mainly through the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and the largest cave in the world – Son Doong Cave.
This is the most pristine landscape of Vietnam, because there are still many unexplored places. Phong Nha Ke Bang is a national park in Central Vietnam bordered flanked by Laos to its west and The East Sea. Phong Nha-Ke Bang is written in the UNESCO World Heritage List. A few years ago, Son Doong cave – the most spectacular cave in the world was first discovered in the deep forest after many years of being hidden by the craggy terrain and slipped under the radar.
Son Doong cave
Until now, the number of film crews coming to Quang Binh seems be less than Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh, because the terrain here is almost untouched and dangerous, quite difficult for making film. Only the famous filmmakers like Hollywood invested in producing film here as the case of Kong: Skull Island. Quang Binh is the great choice in creating spectacular scenes of major international film projects.
Phong Nha – Ke Bang in Kong: Skull Island (2017)
(The scene of Kong: Skull Island shot in Quang Binh)
The ancient capital of Hue city:
The ancient capital of Hue city is most important historical and cultural sight, occupies a prominent place in the middle of the city. It represents an excellent example of an eastern feudal city. Apart from this, there are numerous royal tombs, pagodas and temples inside and around the city, making it one of Vietnam’s most important cultural and historical centers. With this feature, it becomes the ideal place for both domestic and foreign film crews to shoot the historical movies.
Hue’s ancient capital
One of the films that won the Oscar was Indochine (1992), which filmed a lot of scenes in Hue. The ancient buildings and romantic scenery here make up an irreplaceable part of Indochine’s setting.
The scene of Indochine (1992) shot in Hue
In 1989, director Régis Wargnier of the Indochinese movie went to Vietnam to find the context for his movie. This is the first foreign film crew that was allowed to film in the palace and tombs in Hue Imperial Citadel. Even the local government allowed the film crew to set up a scene in Bao Dai King’s tomb.
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The scene of Indochine (1992) shot in Hue
The scene of Indochine (1992) shot in Hue
Vietnam Filming Fixer – Fixer in Vietnam has had so many projects in Hue, and we have another post about filming in Hue here.
Phu Yen province
This is the newest famous filming locations in Vietnam, after the success of a Vietnamese movie “I see yellow flowers on green grass“.
The film was set in Phu Yen, a province in central Vietnam. Bãi Xép, the background for the scenes in which the kids fly their kites, is actually quite an attraction. The beach, approximately 500 meters in length, may not be popular for tourists, but this is a perfect place for childhood memories. The best way to reach Bai Xep is from Tuy Hoa city nearby. The path to Bai Xep is covered in vast rice fields, the iconic image of Vietnam countryside lifestyle.
The scene of “I see yellow flowers on green grass”
The landscape here has no majestic mountains like Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh, no historical sites like Hue, but here is a rustic area with large fields and beautiful grasslands. In particular, the location near the sea creates an extremely peaceful and beautiful setting.
The scene of “I see yellow flowers on green grass”
The scene of “I see yellow flowers on green grass”
To learn more about filming in Vietnam, feel free to contact us!
