The Quiet American
by Phillip Noyce
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Michael Caine, Rade Serbedzija, Tzi MaDirector: Phillip Noyce
Producer: Anthony Minghella
Producer: Antonia Barnard
Producer: Chris Sievernich
Producer: Eyal Rimmon
Writer: Christopher Hampton
Writer: Graham Greene
Writer: Robert Schenkkan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Quiet American
Movie Review: Fabulous Performances, Beautiful-Looking Film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a well-acted and beautifully-filmed movie that surprised me just how good it was. It's one of those "sleepers," meaning a good movie that gets little notice. Man, I'd like to see this on Blu-Ray.
I found it interesting from the get-go with Michael Caine doing a superb job, one of the highlights of his distinguished career. Some have even called it his best performance. The same might be said of Brendan Fraser, too, someone who is more known for his lower-brow characters in far less-intelligent films. Those two, and Do Thi Hai Yen complete the threesome who excel in the leads. The fact this film takes place in Vietnam and she is Vietnamese makes her all the more believable.
The colors in this film are very pretty, interiors and exteriors. The only negative I had was the obvious political bias in here. The movie paints an unflattering picture of the early days of America's involvement in Vietnam with Fraser playing "The Ugly American."
Politics-aside, at least half the film is really a love story, as both male leads go after the same woman (Hai Yen). That has a strange ending, is all I will say. All the way through the movie builds in suspense and intrigue in both the politics and the romance. I've seen it three times and thoroughly enjoyed it all three times.
Summary of The Quiet American
The acclaimed performances of two-time Academy Award(R)-winner Michael Caine (Best Supporting Actor, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, 1999; HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, 1986) and Brendan Fraser (THE MUMMY, GODS AND MONSTERS) power a stylish political thriller where love and war collide in Southeast Asia. Set in early 1950s Vietnam, a young American (Fraser) becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle when he falls for the beautiful mistress of a British journalist (Caine). As war is waged around them, these three only sink deeper into a world of drugs, passion, and betrayal where nothing is as it seems. Based on the classic novel by Graham Greene -- you'll find yourself riveted by the fascinating intricacies and ever-developing intrigue of this outstanding motion picture.The Quiet American proves that elegant and intelligent filmmaking can be emotionally powerful. Michael Caine plays Thomas Fowler, a British journalist in 1950s Vietnam with a lovely Vietnamese mistress named Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) and a jaded view of the political strife teeming around him. He befriends a seemingly innocuous American named Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), who falls in love with Phuong--and slowly, Pyle's real purpose in Vietnam becomes revealed. Fowler finds that, to hold on to the carefully balanced life he's created for himself, he must make choices he's long avoided. Caine and Fraser are both superb and give a human face to complicated politics; as a result, The Quiet American manages to be compelling as both history and a story about very specific people embroiled in a very personal conflict. An impressive film from director Philip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Patriot Games). --Bret Fetzer
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