The Musician at the Dragon Citadel () is a 2010 Vietnamese film based on Nguyá» n Du's poem, Long thành cầm giả ca, for the Millennial Anniversary of Hanoi directed by ÃÂào Bá Sán. The film won the Golden Kite Prize for Best Feature Film, as well as Best Director, Actor, Editing, and Costuming.
The film opens with a scene of a little girl named Gái (Girl) reflecting in the village well. The girl was born in a peaceful countryside, whose mother used to be a singer, so she had to follow in her mother's footsteps. An acquaintance brought her to ThÃÂng Long Citadel (Present-day HàNá»Âi) to learn how to play the ÃÂàn Nguyá» n, she became a student of Master Nguyá» n and was given a courtesy name (The name was Cầm). From the first time Master Nguyá» n had met Cầm, Master Nguyá» n saw in her, a special talent, her playing of the ÃÂàn nguyá»Ât shows more emotion than her other counterparts. One day, a rebellion broke out and caused Cầm to leave ThÃÂng Long (Hanoi). The poet Tá» Nhð (Nguyá» n Du) meets Cầm and they fall in love. But he already has a wife, and doesn't want to be with her, even when he meets her several times and has intimate sexual encounters with her later. Cầm wonders around aimlessly until she reached her hometown. During this time, the Qing Dynasty invaded Vietnam and a Qing mandarin had captured her along with other people in her hometown. And the mandarin had forced her to play music for him. The Tây Sán army ambushed the Qing garrison which allowed for Cầm to escape. After this, Cầm becomes a famous singer, while Tá» Nhð began writing poems. Many years later, the two meet when they are both old, feeling sorry, he writes a poem (Long thành cầm giả ca) for her, and she jumps into a well (commits suicide). The movie ends with the narrator saying that on nights when the moonlight shines, people can hear mysterious sounds of a musical instrument coming from the well
The movie itself is based on Nguyá» n Du's poem, Long thành cầm giả ca, where he writes about a beautiful female musician who lives in the Dragon Citadel (Long thành; Hanoi). The original poem was written in vÃÂn ngon (literary Chinese), but has been translated into Vietnamese.
In the ending credits, the song heard is lines 249-263 of the Tale of Kiá»Âu,