Film « the quiet american » to be screened in Vietnam
HANOI - "The Quiet American", a film on Viet Nam produced by Hollywood, will be widely screened in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City during upcoming Christmas.
A group of companies, including the Culture-Sport Joint Stock Company NDP and the Bach Ho Company Ltd., has won the rights to distribute the 30-million-USD movie in Viet Nam.
This was the result of negotiations between the companies' group and the International Production Associated, the firm which holds distribution right for the film in the Asia-Pacific region, said a representative of the group, Nguyen Ba Anh Vu, in an interview with the Viet Nam News Agency by telephone.
"The Quiet American" depicts the American war in the Indochina and explains why the Americans were present in Indochina. Director Phillip Noyce based the film on a novel of the same name written by Graham Greene in 1950.
As a journalist, Graham Greene had a progressive outlook on the war at that time. He had seen with his own eyes the collapse of the French colonial rule and the involvement of the Americans in this region. He descbribed that historic period through a tripartite love story between a British journalist, a young American and a beautiful Vietnamese girl. The story was written at room 207 of the Continental Hotel in Dong Khoi street, Ho Chi Minh City.
Vu said that "The Quiet American" is a specially attractive film for both Vietnamese and foreign audiences. First and foremost, the film was released in US for a week from Nov. 22, and qualified as an entry for the Oscars prize. It will be screened widely as from Feb. 14 next year.
Second, the prominent point was the selection of Do Hai Yen, a new graduate of a dancers training school, among thousands of candidates to play the role of Phuong - a beautiful Vietnamese girl, a beloved character in the film. Audiences also applauded Michael Caine for his performance as jaded British war correspondent, who is deemed Oscars-worthy. The main character, the quite American, was played by rising young American film star Brendan Fraser.
Director Phillip Noyce has surprised audiences by using Vietnamese folk music and songs for the film. "Thien Thai" (Paradise), a song by Vietnamese composer Van Cao and sung by Vietnamese singer Hong Nhung, is the main song in the film. It is the first foreign film made with Vietnamese subtitles.
Director Noyce said he hoped that "The quiet American" will be screened once at the square in front of the Municipal Theatre in Ho Chi Minh City as an expression of his sincere thanks to the city's People's Committee for its support and assistance to the film makers while they shot the most important episode of the film - the first explosion in Sai Gon, beginning a 20-year war in Viet Nam.
Vietnam News Agency - December 5, 2002
|