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THE
QUIET AMERICAN
Leaving
the theater after watching The Quiet American, I was struck by how
timely it seemed, even though the story is set more than fifty years
ago and was written nearly that long ago (published 1955). Seeing
the film while we stand on the verge of war with Iraq gave a certain
urgency to this film.
Review by Darrel Manson
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CREDITS
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Directed
by Phillip Noyce
Novel by Graham Greene
Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Robert Schenkkan
Michael Caine .... Thomas Fowler
Brendan Fraser .... Alden Pyle
Do Thi Hai Yen .... Phuong
Rade Serbedzija .... Inspector Vigot
Tzi Ma .... Hinh
Robert Stanton .... Joe Tunney
Holmes Osborne .... Bill Granger
Quang Hai .... General The
Ferdinand Hoang .... Mr. Muoi
Pham Thi Mai Hoa .... Phuong's Sister
Mathias Mlekuz .... Captain Sorel
Produced
by
Staffan Ahrenberg .... producer
Steve E. Andrews .... associate producer
Antonia Barnard .... line producer
Moritz Borman .... executive producer
Guy East .... executive producer
William Horberg .... producer
Roland Loubet .... co-producer
Kathleen McLaughlin .... co-producer
Anthony Minghella .... executive producer
Sydney Pollack .... executive producer
Eyal Rimmon .... co-producer
Chris Sievernich .... executive producer
Nigel Sinclair .... executive producer
Original Music by Craig Armstrong
Cinematography by Christopher Doyle, Huu Tuan Nguyen, and Dat Quang
Film Editing by John Scott
Casting by Chris King-Mullinar
Production Design by Roger Ford
Art Direction by Ian Gracie and Jeffrey Thorp
Set Decoration by Kerrie Brown and Duc Tho Nguyen
Costume Design by Norma Moriceau
MPAA:
Rated R for images of violence and some language.
Runtime: 118 min / Canada:101 min (Toronto Film Festival) / UK:100
min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
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TRAILERS
AND CLIPS
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CD
SOUNDTRACK
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Quiet
American (Score)
Varese Records
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POSTER
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No
available poster as of January 20, 2003
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BOOK
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 The
Quiet American
by Graham Greene
While the French Army in Indo-China is grappling with the Vietminh,
back in Saigon a young and high-minded American named Pyle begins
to channel economic aid to a "Third Force."
Caught
between French colonialists and the Vietminh, Fowler, the narrator
and seasoned foreign correspondent, observes: "I never knew
a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused."
As young Pyle's policies blunder on into bloodshed, the older man
finds it impossible to stand aside as an observer. But Fowler's
motives for intervening are suspect, both to the police and to himself:
for Pyle has robbed him of his Vietnamese mistress.
"No
serious writer of this century has more thoroughly invaded and shaped
the public imagination than Graham Greene." (Time)
From
the Back Cover
"There has been no novel of any political scope
about Vietnam since Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American."
-- Harper's
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AVAILABILITY
ON VIDEO AND DVD
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SYNOPSIS
In
war, the most popular weapon is seduction.
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From the classic novel by Graham Greene comes a murder mystery centered
on a love triangle set against the French Indochina War in Vietnam,
circa 1952. It's the true story of a veteran English journalist (Caine),
a young American (Fraser) and the beautiful Vietnamese woman caught
between them. This is a world where nothing is what it seems--suffused
with opium, intrigue and betrayal. |
REVIEW
by
DARREL MANSON
Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel
has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts. His reviews
usually include independent and significantly important film.
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 Leaving
the theater after watching The Quiet American, I was struck by how
timely it seemed, even though the story is set more than fifty years
ago and was written nearly that long ago (published 1955). Seeing
the film while we stand on the verge of war with Iraq gave a certain
urgency to this film. Keep in mind that the film was ready to come
out in late 2001, but was held back because it was felt that it would
be seen as unpatriotic in the aftermath of September 11.
 The
story is built around three main characters: Thomas Fowler, a British
journalist; Alden Pyle, an aid official at the American consulate;
and Phuong, a Vietnamese woman loved by both men. The romantic rivalry
intertwines with the geopolitics that were taking place involving
Vietnam to provide a setting to examine motives that lead to the things
people do.
 Pyle
is an idealist of sorts. He is trying to save the world from Communism
and give people liberty. He looks at Vietnam and sees that the French
will never be able to win there. Ho Chi Minh doesn't represent a good
alternative. Pyle advocates a third force -- some other power from
within that will be an alternative to the other powers. In this case,
General The. (In real life, the U. S. helped bring Ngo Dinh Diem to
power in the south about the time Graham Greene wrote the book.) The
is something of a thug. He is not above murder. He wants power for
himself and will do terrible things to get it. But for Pyle, even
though The may not be a good person or even a good leader, the higher
good of defeating Communism is worth what he will do to support The.
 Fowler,
is not nearly as noble as Pyle. He is in Vietnam sponging off his
newspaper without doing much of anything. He wants to make promises
to Phuong, with whom he has been living, but knows he is unable to
carry them out. He does not seek a higher good in the choices he makes,
rather a personal good -- to be able to continue to live as he has
been living.
 Phuong
is a pragmatist. Before she began living as Fowler's mistress, she
was a tea dancer -- dancing in the club with whoever would buy a ticket.
She will take whatever (or whoever) will best take care of her. Pyle
at one point uses her as a metaphor of Vietnam -- a mistress to a
European keeper but potential to be much more. What is missed in that
analogy (and perhaps by Greene in the book) is that she might have
wanted to have her own life without having to depend on either man.
Perhaps that reflects the thinking of major powers at the time that
a country like Vietnam just needed to be wooed and won; they wouldn't
really be capable of living on their own.
 Of
course, we now watch this knowing where all this political tinkering
led. When the film is set and when the book was first written, America
was just beginning to get dirty hands in Vietnam. We would later be
soiled to our soul. It is amazingly prescient that Fowler, the European,
stays and watches as history unfolds, while Pyle, the American, is
killed.
And certainly this is a timely film in a world ready to go to war
again. But then again, I can't think of a time when this story would
not be appropriate.
Certainly, at the moment, we should reflect on whether a desire for
a greater good is leading us to do things that will in the end, not
serve either the greater good or be good at all. Is war, in fact,
a way to bring stability to the region? Is it good for us to give
us civil liberties in the name of a greater good of security? Is it
proper for us to support thugs (including at one time Saddam Hussein
and Osama bin Laden) when they are convenient allies? Such issues
are the kind of things that Pyle raises for us.
 Fowler
makes us think more of the self-centeredness that is involved in the
Enron scandal or in the strike that shut down West Coast ports. They
may have legitimate goals, but they also often harm many others. They
often come down in the end to ?what is good for me.? These issues
may or may not have some to the nobility of Pyle's issues, but both
Pyle and Fowler are willing for others to suffer for whatever gets
what they seek.
 Phuong
leads us to consider the things we might do because it is practical
and advantageous, even if we degrade and lose ourselves by those choices.
Some people stay in abusive relationships or dead end jobs because
they feel they have nowhere else to go. This has neither Pyle's nobility,
nor Fowler's selfishness. This is an attitude that is based in despair.
Yes, this film is timely as we stand on the brink of war. And it will
continue to be timely even after this episode takes its place in world
history. |
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PHOTOS
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