The Quiet American Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)November 20th, 2002
THE QUIET AMERICAN
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Michael Caine gives one of his best
performances as Thomas Fowler, a worldly English
journalist, and his relationship to a naive
American who has strong ideas how to shape
Vietnam. Graham Greene wrote the novel set in
1952 Vietnam. The story is powerful and only
became more so as the United States became more
involved in Southeast Asia. A riveting film.
Rating: 8 (0 to 10), low +3 (-4 to +4)
I saw Graham Greene's novel THE QUIET AMERICAN sold on street corners of Vietnam when I visited in March of 2002. I thought that the reason was just that it was currently being filmed in the country at that time. In Hoi An, in fact it was being filmed in town at the same time I was there. The film was being directed by Michael Caine we were told. I had never heard of Caine directing and he wasn't this time either. He was starring, but the film was directed by Australian Philip Noyce who has helmed good films like DEAD CALM and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER. In the interim I read the novel (well, part of it) and had seen the earlier version of the film which had Audie Murphy in the title role. Noyce was both more faithful to the novel and made a far better film. In fact, the earlier version totally perverted the story.
My biggest problem with Noyce's version is probably with me. Brendan Fraser has played a lot of exaggerated comic roles and very few roles that are as serious as his part in SCHOOL TIES. He always looks a little wacky these days even in serious roles. And this is a film that relies on an undercurrent of danger that goes well with some sudden and startling plot turns.
Fraser plays Andrew Pyle, an American scholar in Saigon. Pyle is devoted to making a difference in the country, not for the French or the Communists, the two sides then fighting for control. Instead he idealistically championed a "third force" who could represent the interests of what he sees as a single Vietnamese people.
We see this idealist through the eyes of a decadent English correspondent. In fact, we see him only in flashback after all his good intentions have gotten him murdered and his body thrown into the river. In the flashback Thomas Fowler (Caine), a worldly and quietly decadent correspondent for a London paper, meets Pyle. Fowler is skeptical of Pyle's ideals. Then Pyle meets Phoung, Fowler's attractive mistress. He becomes fixated on her and Fowler is amused by this chink in his idealistic armor. Pyle decides to take Phoung from Fowler.
Noyce has recreated an earlier era. This is a Saigon with foreigners in white suits sitting in cafes to avoid the noonday sun, watching and admiring young Vietnamese women in their Ao Dai pants dresses. It is a Vietnam of steamy but beautiful landscapes and sudden death from explosions or staccato gunfire. THE QUIET AMERICAN was filmed entirely in Vietnam as an Australian production. A nice musical score is provided by Craig Armstrong. I rate THE QUIET AMERICAN an 8 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +3 on the -4 to +4 scale. It is one of the high points of the year.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected]
Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper
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