Saigon: Year of the Cat

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Saigon: Year of the Cat

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Overview

This British TV production is set in 1974, just before Saigon fell to the Viet Cong troops. A CIA operative and a bank clerk become reluctant allies as they try to flee the besieged city. The escapees inevitably grow closer to one another as they burrow through the Vietnamese jungles.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/16/2003
UPC:	0798622302526
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	NR
Source:	WESTLAKE
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00

Special Features

Biographies; Filmographies; Photo gallery; Interactive menus; Jump to scene; Dolby sound; IBM/MAC compatible

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Judi Dench	Barbara Dean
Frederic Forrest	Bob Chesneau
E.G. Marshall	The Ambassador
Josef Sommer	Jack Ockham
Wallace Shawn	Frank Judd
Roger Rees	Donald Henderson
Chic Murray	Mr. Haliwell
Charles Dance	Actor
Manning Redwood	Colonel Fielder
Thomasine Heiner	Joan Mackintosh
Clarke Peters	Soldier
Bob Sherman	Ambassador's Aide
Andrew Winner	Officer
George Fenton	Composer

Technical Credits

David Hare	Producer,Screenwriter
Verity Lambert	Producer
Susie Figgis	Casting

Scene Index

Side #1 --
2. Chapter 2 [7:28]
3. Chapter 3 [11:29]
4. Chapter 4 [13:17]
6. Chapter 5 [8:47]
7. Chapter 6 [7:43]
9. Chapter 7 [5:17]
10. Chapter 8 [4:29]
11. Chapter 9 [9:24]
12. Chapter 10 [9:28]
13. Chapter 11 [4:47]
14. Chapter 12 [7:41]

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

Director Stephen Frears was working with a talented cast and a strong script for his BBC production of Saigon: Year of the Cat, but the film fails to match the powerful and trenchant mix of the personal and the political found in his later theatrical films, My Beautiful Launderette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. David Hare's screenplay certainly contains all the elements of a fine political drama. The backdrop -- the fall of Saigon -- is fascinating subject matter that has not been explored frequently on film. The main characters, Barbara (Judi Dench) and Bob (Frederic Forrest, best known for playing Chef in Apocalypse Now) are well drawn. Their actions and dialogue are believable and intriguing down to the finest detail. Dramatizing the intimate details of this crucial historical moment, such as the way the bank manager, Mr. Halliwell (Chic Murray), calmly assists a customer while being held at gunpoint, or the matter-of-fact manner in which Bob tells Barbara his views on torturing political prisoners, is where Frears' film is its strongest. These moments give insight into both the characters and the political climate. Frears was clearly hampered, in part, by the film's budget. It was audacious to even attempt to depict a crisis of this scale on a low budget, but the results are sometimes unintentionally amusing. Showing people running down a hallway yelling, for example, does not effectively dramatize a bomber attack on the presidential palace. There is also an embarrassing sequence wherein an extra playing a soldier at the U.S. embassy clearly pretends to fire his rifle, while the gunshot sounds are dubbed in. These moments give the film an irredeemable air of sloppiness, as does the uneven acting of the supporting players. This hampers the cumulative dramatic impact that the filmmakers are trying to generate.

Saigon: Year of the Cat

Saigon: Year of the Cat

DVD

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Overview

Product Details

Special Features

Cast & Crew

Scene Index

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Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

Special Features

Cast & Crew

Scene Index

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Customer Reviews