Film 6:30-9:00pm, The Quiet American a 2002 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Graham Greene’s story (101 minutes)

Graham Greene (1904-1911) was an English novelist and author regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Through 67 years of writings which included over 25 novels, he explored the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. Throughout his life, Greene travelled far from England, to what he called the world's wild and remote places. The travels led to his being recruited into MI6, the British intelligence agency, by his sister, Elisabeth, who worked for the organization. As a novelist Greene wove the characters he met and the places where he lived into the fabric of his novels. (Wikipedia).

Published in Great Brittan in 1955, The Quiet American draws on Greene's experiences as a war correspondent for The Times and Le Figaro in French Indochina from 1951 to 1954. His inspiration for the novel came from an experience in 1951. Driving back to Saigon from Ben Tre Province, he was accompanied by an American aid worker who lectured him about finding a "third force in Vietnam.”

In Greene’s novel a British journalist in his fifties has been covering the French war in Vietnam for over two years. He meets a young, idealistic American NGO worker and undercover CIA agent. The American lives his life and forms his opinions based on the works of an author who theorizes that neither Communism nor colonialism are the answer in foreign lands like Vietnam, but rather a combination of traditions – a "Third Force.”

Philip Noyce (b. 1950) is an Australian film director. His 2002 adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, gave Michael Caine an Academy Award Best Actor nomination and earned best director awards from London Film Critics' Circle and US-based National Board of Review. Other films include Clear and Present Danger (1994), Bone Collector (1999), Rabbit Proof Fence (2002), and Catch a Fire (2006).

ENTRANCE Complimentary for current members RMB50 Non-Members

Membership applications available at the event.

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