When Does the First Film "The Amateur" (1981) Take Place?
"The Amateur" is a spy film written by Diana Maddox with Robert Littell [adapting "The Amateur" (1981) by Robert Littell] that released December 11th, 1981. So when is "The Amateur" set?
It takes place in the year:
We know this because early in the movie Charles "Charlie" Heller pulls up several encrypted messages sent between operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency and all the ones seen on the computer screen are clearly from "11" (i.e. November) "1978". So it must be during or after November of 1978 AD.
1981 AD
We know this because early in the movie Charles "Charlie" Heller pulls up several encrypted messages sent between operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency and all the ones seen on the computer screen are clearly from "11" (i.e. November) "1978". So it must be during or after November of 1978 AD.
More specifically, the small grave marker for the adult character whose death is the inciting incident for the entire plot reads: "JANUARY 19, 1981". So we know the story starts in late-January of 1981 AD.
When Charles "Charlie" Heller specifically asks about this death saying, "When... when did this happen?", he's told, "About 2 hours ago." So we know this is the date for the entire first segment of the narrative and the rest lasts only a matter of weeks or months. So the narrative ends within the 1981 AD calendar year.
