Once Upon a Time in Vietnam- “Lua Phat”
Once Upon a Time in Vietnam (Vietnamese: Lửa Phật) is a 2013 Vietnamese action fantasy film directed by and starring Dustin Nguyen along with Roger Yuan. This is the first Vietnamese action fantasy film and currently the largest budget of any Vietnamese film made.
Director Dustin Nguyen gave Bao the creative direction that he wanted the costumes to evoke the feelings of Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" and Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes of Time"...while making sure to maintain a Vietnamese feeling injected with Steampunk aesthethic pops. This is when Bao is in her design element. She thrives in the challenge of mixing and marrying different times and moods to create something truly unique and individual for the fantasy movie landscape which was being brought to life. This was not to be a literal period piece. This was to be its own time and landscape of Once Upon a Time in Vietnam. Drawing on historical, fantasy, anatomical, and science fiction elements, Bao designed and had everything custom made. From bronze and leather armor, to fiberglass armor, to the townspeople to the Circus Troupe to the Martial arts fighting Monks and Soldiers. She had to work closely with local bronze makers, seamstresses, and builders to come up with a creative array of costumes with no period genre precedent but with a precise tone and historical feel to dress over 1,000 extras and 45 key actors.
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