The latest work by veteran director and scriptwriter Dang Nhat Minh, Dung Dot (Don’t Burn) was shown to the press recently before its national premiere on Liberation Day on April 30.

The movie is adapted from the book Dang Thuy Tram’s Diary, based on the original diary that was kept by American veterans for 35 years with the intention of eventually returning it to Dang Thuy Tram’s family.

The mainstream movie was produced in two years with nearly VND11 billion (US$650,000) from the State. Minh talks about what he says is his most satisfying work.

The movie is based on the 2005 bestseller Dang Thuy Tram’s Diary. What do you think about the suggestion that the movie is simply riding on the success of the novel?

The diary is real and everything relating to the diary is also real. It is famous outside Viet Nam. It’s a difficult project for movie makers. I don’t want to turn the diary into a war movie. And readers will not be forced to interpret the diary in a different way.

The fate of the diary as well as its journey to Viet Nam after 35 years needed to be addressed. Thus, the movie Don’t Burn will send a message of peaceful desire and focus on the humanity of the Vietnamese people.

The mother of martyr Dang Thuy Tram was touched by the movie, but she thought much of it was fictionalised. Do you agree?

A fictional movie cannot be 100 per cent true. The movie Don’t Burn is a fictional work, but it is based on reality. For example, Dang Thuy Tram’s mother doesn’t go to the pagoda and burn the diary. She does not dream of her daughter, martyr Dang Thuy Tram, coming back with the diary in her hand, but the movie does have all these things.

I have had a lot of support from the martyr Dang Thuy Tram’s family. However, it would have been difficult to make this movie without the help of American war veterans Fred Whitehurst and Robert Whitehurst who shared their wartime memories with me.

Ten American actors play roles in the movie. How did you convince them to take part in your movie?

I was anxious about going to the US to meet the American actors. When I met them I was surprised by the fact that they each had an English translation of the diary entitled Last Night I Dreamed of Peace in their hands. I was very touched.

They had read the diary and studied my script. They understood my ideas and learnt the dialogue by heart in order to do their best. Actor Brian Townes, who plays one of the main characters, wrote in his own diary everyday that he was in Viet Nam. He said that the time he spent on the movie had been the happiest of his acting career.

How about the musical score that was composed by two Hungarians?

I agree with the many people who say that the music is very impressive. Initially, I approached a Vietnamese composer but there were some difficulties. My daughter was working in Hungary at the time and she told me that would approach some Hungarian composers. After seeing images from the movie, Benedicfi Zoltan and Benedicfi Istvan were very touched. They wrote sympathetic music. They were paid what a Vietnamese composer would have received.

The movie has some imposing scenes. What difficulties did you encounter making the movie?

Eleven billion dong is not a large sum. Sets have to be built. However, the Ministry of Defence helped with props, such as weapons, vehicles, uniforms. We even had to find someone in Nam Dinh Province who could supply us with a vacuum flask of the type used by martyr Dang Thuy Tram’s family dozens of years ago.

What’s the most important message of the movie?

Dang Thuy Tram’s mother said the movie reflects the spirit of the diary. She said she hoped that through the movie, the world would get to know more about the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese soul.

VietNamNet/VNS