Mạnh Linh

Acting

Biography

Mạnh Linh (born 6th April 1929 as Phạm Văn Lạng - ?) is a Vietnamese actor, stage director and former director of Vietnam National Theatre. A renowned stage actor, he had worked in several troupes prior to 1945, upon which he joined the Revolution’s forces and operated the Bac Giang’s People Artistic Troupe. His promotion to the National Theatre in 1948 saw him become a full-time professional actor under the guidance of Thế Lữ, and soon he started starring in the Theatre’s major productions. He briefly worked in the Soviet Union, mostly taking on the lead roles in Leniniana plays by Mikhail Shatrov and Nikolai Pogodin; for his achievements during this stint, Mạnh Linh was awarded the Order of Lenin. Mạnh Linh also enjoyed significant success as a film actor: In 1959, he starred in “Chung một dòng sông”, the first film to be made in North Vietnam post-colonial French era and a hallmark of 1960s Vietnamese revolutionary cinema. His later projects, often with director Hải Ninh, were also critically acclaimed, with the most successful being “Tướng về hưu” (The General Retires) in 1988. The film won the highest award at that year’s Vietnam Film Festival, and Mạnh Linh was awarded the title People’s Artist. In 1996, the actor went on trial on charge of being an accomplice in his daughter’s debt evasion case and was sentenced to 8 years in prison, prompting the state to strip him off the People’s Artist title. Due to old age, he was allowed by the court to remain in his home, and his whereabouts are not heard of ever since. It is often believed that he had passed away in the 2010s.

Known For

N/A

Hoa is a young engineer and computer specialist who arranges the database of an institution. She is hardworking, yet her dedication goes unnoticed, and her boss dismisses her work and expertise as “redundant”.

A Bird that Knows Its Way

1979Movie

N/A

Following the introduction of Đổi mới, soldiers and military personnel return to their assigned homes in a corner of Hanoi, struggling to integrate into civilian life and making ends meet amidst the changing economic era.

Hanoians

1996Series

8.0

Following the 1954 Geneva Accords that partitioned Vietnam into two zones at the 17th parallel, a pregnant Dịu remains back in the South with her family while her husband has to move up North. At home, the young woman has to juggle between the duties of a liberation fighter and a mother while enduring her enemies' tortures and imprisonment, as she assumes the leadership of an underground liberation movement after its previous secretary was assassinated

17th Parallel, Nights and Days

1973Movie

5.5

Hoài and Vận fall in love during the war against the French. Vận fought as a guerrilla and Vận ferried guerrillas across the river. When peace comes, Vietnam is divided in two across the Bến Hải River, leaving them separated.

On the Same River

1959Movie

N/A

Duong and Tho are two military intelligence officers tasked with investigating enemy positions. They arrive in a rural area and meet Kien, a guerrilla fighter. Kien's wife, who deeply loves her husband, fears that if he continues his activities, he will be targeted by terrorists, leading to the destruction of their family's happiness. For this reason, she tries to stop her husband and clashes with Tho.

An Early Autumn Day

1962Movie

N/A

An engineer devises a plan that will help a farm improve its staggering business, but is dismissed the farm’s manager.

The Forgotten Proposal

1980Movie

7.5

A general who devoted his life to the communist cause, retires, only to find that his household is in disarray, his grown children money-grubbing, and Vietnamese society far from the rosy picture of equality he'd imagined he'd helped make it.

The General Retires

1988Movie

N/A

Returning to Vietnam after many years of studying abroad, a doctorate in atomic force Thai Duong entered an unimaginable reality. Many funny situations took place in his family when he was pondering over choosing a job in a new environment. Thai Duong was tricked into losing money, and his father and brother Loc Ton performed a risky mission to earn money: buying liquidated bombs.