For two consecutive weeks of its premiere, the film was in the top 2 of the most popular films in theaters across the country.
Romantic setting in the movie
The story of Ly Family
"Camellia Sisters – Living like Royalty" is the latest movie of the directors Bao Nhan & Namcito, produced by MAR6 Pictures and released by Lotte Entertainment. The film casted famous actors such as: People's Artist Le Khanh, People's Artist Hong Van, the late People's Artist Hoang Dung, Le Khanh, Kaity Nguyen, Khuong Le, Anh Dung ...
Set in Hue, the film revolves around the conflicts of fame, fortune, and love of three sisters of the Ly family: Ly Le Ha (People's Artist Le Khanh), Ly Le Hong (People's Artist Hong Van) and Ly Linh (Kaity Nguyen), who are famous in the antique collecting and auctioning circles. They live the royal life at Bach Tra Vien, the most luxurious and lavish mansion in Hue with white camellia gardens blooming white and many valuable antiques.
Hidden in the shell of richness and glamor are the secrets that conceal the pain of each character. They are beautiful and talented women who yearn to be loved but do not have perfect love. They must put on their masks to protect the family's reputation. It is a sad picture of the fates of the women hidden behind the lavishness.
Ly Le Ha is noble, powerful, brave and thorny, but is hurt in desperate love. Ly Le Hong is funny, feigning madness to hide the secrets of her family and herself, in order to a lead an untroublesome life. The youngest Ly Linh is ambitious, returning to Bach Tra Vien with many schemes.
The film intersperses comic relief through the silly character portrayal by People's Artist Hong Van with charming lines in Hue's accent, soothing the stuffy atmosphere in Bach Tra Vien.
With the highlight of the only surviving phoenix costume, the "Three-tailed Phoenix” of the Nguyen Dynasty, that is sought after by all antiques lovers, the stories revolve around money, fame and hidden secrets. Each character’s life is gradually exposed and the audience is taken from one surprise to the next.
With the ambition to become the "queen" of the real estate industry, Ly Linh returns from Saigon to attend the auction party of her two sisters. Her scheme was to steal the phoenix costume in exchange for power in her fiancé’s corporation. However, on the auction night, the treasure suddenly disappeared. The search for the phoenix costume pushes the three Ly sisters into conflicts.
Tuong Vy, a young viewer, commented that the film's content is gentle and emotional but leaves viewers with many thoughts on happiness. Only when people let go of vanity and superficial values can they find inner peace. With beautiful scenes, Hue in the movie exudes elegance, nobility and attraction.
"Hue is so beautiful on screen"
"Camellia Sisters – Living like Royalty" can be ranked as one of the films with the largest investment in Vietnam, with nearly 2 million USD. The movie brings to the audience spectacular scenes of luxury and splendor, sophistication and luxury, delicate to every detail. Everything in the movie from the context, furniture, decorations, flowers, jewelry, costumes ... were carefully selected by the crew.
The directors put in the film the majestic and ancient beauty that is also romantic of the ancient capital. An Dinh Palace, Hue Imperial Citadel, Minh Mang Tomb, Duyet Thi Duong Theatre, Ngu Phung Pavilion, Hue Imperial Antiquities Museum, Phu Cam Church ... were exploited by the directors through a completely different perspective, bringing the audience to the rich, regal world. Especially, An Dinh Palace was splendidly transformed into Bach Tra Vien with the highlight of the white camellia flower garden.
Rarely does a Vietnamese film have a scene that makes the audience "admire" like "Camellia Sisters – Living like Royalty". One audience shared on social network that after watching the movie, she just wanted to pack her suitcase and go to Hue immediately because the scenery was so beautiful.
Talking about the scene in the film, Hue director Tran Nguyen Bao Nhan confided: “Choosing the main setting in Hue, most of the imprints left on the audience which overwhelm and excite them will be the images of a distinctly luxurious and regal Hue, unlike anything ever seen on the big screen. I hope that through “Camellia Sisters”, the contemporary beauty of Hue is made more well-known to the audience. I hope that when people think of Hue, they will no longer think of the old Hue by default, but of the most beautiful and luxurious features which have existed since the old days”.
Watching the movie, Hue City Party Secretary Phan Thien Dinh shared on his personal Facebook page: “Hue is so beautiful on screen. As I watched the movie, I became more confident about the dream of turning Hue into a film studio, especially for romantic love movies. Hue accent is wonderful and many conversations and performances in the movie portrayed the real Hue’s characteristics, especially the climaxes. The movie made me love the people of Hue even more”.
Story: Minh Hien - Photo: Provided by the film-makers