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December 18, 2002

'Quiet American' gets first screening in Vietnam

HANOI (AFP) - The film version of Graham Greene's 1955 novel "The Quiet American" was given an enthusiastic welcome on its Vietnam premiere after being deemed acceptable by official censors.

Greene's novel was acclaimed as a portent of American involvement in Indochina and is set in Saigon in 1952 at the height of the fight for independence from French colonial rule.

The film tells the story of a tumultuous love triangle involving a cynical foreign correspondent, played by Michael Caine, and an idealistic young American played by Brendan Fraser.

The film is very faithful to Greene's book, which is sold in photocopied editions by kids on the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and depicts the period when France was losing its conflict in Vietnam and American engagement was growing by the day.

The story flatters Vietnamese pride by depicting the Western powers as blind. They are fascinated by Vietnam but incapable of understanding the country, charmed by its beauty but destined to do it harm.

The film adaptation has been tipped as an early contender for Oscar honours next year.

It received its Hanoi premiere on Tuesday, and in line with local tradition a single female voice narrated the entire dubbed dialogue in Vietnamese. The film will be screened in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday before going on nationwide release.

The 2002 box office hit "We Were Soldiers", which depicts the November 1965 battle of Ia Drang, the first major set-piece clash between US troops and the North Vietnamese Army, was banned for "distorting historical reality".

The authorities also took objection to this year's release of "Green Dragon", which is based around the first wave of refugees who fled Vietnam in 1975 and who were housed in camps in the United States.

Vietnamese actor Don Duong is still awaiting punishment for his role in both productions.

Vietnamese authorities, who in the past have been sharply critical of Hollywood portrayals of the Vietnam war, have lauded the movie as "progressive in its perception of Vietnamese history."

Australian director Phillip Noyce and star actor Fraser attended Tuesday's Hanoi debut. They later met students from Hanoi's film school and the Vietnam's national cinema association.

But many found it difficult to talk about the war period.

"The film's approach to the Vietnam war is very general and it does not take a clear stance. I was not alive during this period and therefore I am not really in a position to comment," said journalist Le Hai Van.

Actor Bach Diep added: "I do not want to criticise or praise the film. It was interesting."
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A yearning for urns
GIANT PIECES TO GRACE VIETNAMESE CENTER

By Michael Bazeley

(Mercury News) - Undaunted by a poor economy that has hurt fundraising, backers of a Vietnamese cultural center and garden in San Jose are finally close to breaking ground on their project.

When finished, the center will transform four acres of Kelley Park into a Vietnamese garden with a Lotus Tower, a 7,000-square-foot museum and a 4,500-square-foot community hall.

This month , the Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Foundation received nine hand-crafted bronze urns -- shipped from Vietnam to the Port of Oakland -- that will be a main attraction of the garden.

``For me, after more than seven years of hard work, my money and my time, seeing these sitting here, it makes it worth it,'' said Liem Nguyen, president of the heritage foundation. He was admiring the large urns after they were unpacked.

The $11 million project has plodded along since 1987. The original backers abandoned the project after several years. Nguyen restarted it in 1993 and has dedicated most of his spare time to it ever since.

The group has relied almost entirely on private donations to fund the project, which is estimated to cost $11 million. So far the group has raised $1 million. As a result, the foundation will first build only the museum, and add other portions as more money is raised.

Backers say the downturn in the valley's economy has made fundraising extremely difficult.

``I'm worried that because of the economy, we will not be able to do what we want to do,'' said Vicki Tindel, vice chairwoman of the foundation. She said the project could take 10 years to complete.

Nguyen has traveled to Vietnam several times to seek advice for the cultural garden and on the design of the main buildings. The ornate structures will feature floor and roof tile imported from Vietnam, and visitors will enter the museum through 9-foot-tall handcarved wooden doors, also from Vietnam.

The museum's ceiling will depict scenes of ancient Vietnamese daily activities, and the interior will feature hand-carved beams and painted rafters.

``I want it to become an attraction for our future generations so they can come here and see that a part of Vietnam is here and it will link them back to their homeland," Nguyen said. ``But also, it will make Vietnamese culture part of American culture.''

Nguyen said the garden and center will eventually be donated to the city.

At the behest of Tindel, the center will also feature a memorial to women -- American and otherwise -- who served during the Vietnam War.

``Future generations, especially girls, will be able to see what previous generations gave to their country,'' Tindel said. ``I'm hoping they will see that women gave their fair share.''

The foundation already has a building stuffed full of Vietnamese historical artifacts on North Ninth Street in San Jose, and Nguyen said more is in storage.

But the organization's most prized possessions are the nine handcrafted urns. Weighing about two tons a piece, the urns are exact replicas of the Nine Dynastic Urns that greet visitors to the royal city of Hue in Vietnam.

The original urns were cast in the 1830s by the Emperor Minh Mang. Each urn symbolizes a king's sovereignty, and the whole row of urns represents the power and stability of the Nguyen throne.

Carvings are chiseled into the sides with images reflecting Vietnam's landscape and people.

Nguyen received special permission from the Vietnamese government to produce replicas of the urns for the center. Vietnamese craftsmen spent nearly five years making them -- each with a different name and style -- at a cost of nearly $300,000.

``It's taken a long time,'' Tindel said. ``But we're finally here. It's going.''

Contact Michael Bazeley at mbazeley@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5642.
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