After numerous difficulties, “Binh Tay Dai nguyen soai” (The Binh Tay marshal), one of Vietnam’s few historical TV dramas on national hero Truong Dinh, finally airs on HTV9 from May 29.

The 40-episode drama, which will air on HTV9 at 5:30pm every day from May 29, has gone through a two-year bumpy journey.

“There were tough times when we thought we might give up on the film,” said Phan Hoang, the drama director.

Over 5,000 actors, including 200 actors and actresses and 4,800 extras, with 100 of them being foreigners, and 50 battle horses, took part in the drama to depict Truong Dinh (1820-1864), who is credited with reclaiming some major areas to expand the country southward and walking away from the Nguyen reign to lead the resistance against the French troops in the 1860s before killing himself to avoid being captured by the enemy.

One of the difficulties the crew faced is scouting for settings. They spent up to eight months traveling to 10 provinces across the country to search for and re-create old-time sets.

Several mishaps occurred during the filming, including actors’ fainting repeatedly from overwork, and their van overturning due to poor road quality. One of their hired horses suddenly died, resulting in a loss of VND48 million (US$2,308).

The awaited drama boasts many eye-catching scenes, from explosions, men being devoured by crocodiles and stalked by tigers and French battleships’ forays on Vietnamese seas.

Ho Chi Minh City Television spent over VND16 billion (US$769,231) on the drama, slightly twice as much as the investment for a modern-day psychological one.

“Historical filmmakers are at a serious disadvantage, as three or four modern psychological dramas can be produced within a year, while this drama takes almost two years to finish. Besides, the revenue earned by historical dramas cannot be compared to modern films, while historical dramas are usually targets of negative criticisms,” Hoang noted.

However, the director insisted he will continue to make historical dramas, as “the genre gives me an outlet for my artistic creativity, as most Vietnamese films now focus on modern psychological, social aspects while evading this more challenging genre.”