The Quiet American
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Movie Reviews of The Quiet American
Movie Review: Excellent and Realistic Drama
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like good, realistic human drama which poses the right questions but avoids easy answers, you will like this movie. The acting, direction, and cinemontography are all of a very high level, and it is coherent and moving.
Briefly, this story transmits an important piece of history, set in South Vietnam during the 50s before the French colonial government fell apart. I haven't read the Graham Greene novel, but from the "extras" I sense the film is actually better, as the Third Man film is superior to his story of the same name. You can come away from this movie with conclusions about colonialism, communism, or the American intervention, but they may well be the ones you already had. However, the story line at the very least -- if you are open and attentive -- ought to put a few wrinkles in your philosophy and opinions whatever they are. In short, this is what used to be called top notch art, in either the genre of literary fiction or film. The key is the lack of simple answers about the two Vietnamese sisters portrayed in the film. Also you are free to choose the British journalist played by Michael Caine, the American operative portrayed by Brendan Fraser, both, or neither as your hero-protagonist.
In short, this is a first rate piece of material and moral realism no less complex and multi-faceted than life itself.
Movie Review: Mesmerizing and Atmospheric
Summary: 5 Stars
In this film ,set in war torn French occupied Vietnam,Michel Caine gives one of the best performances by a male movie actor in the history of modern english speaking cinema.It just shows you what a joke the Oscars really are in only giving him a nomination and not the prize. Hats off to a real movie star.If the film itself is slighly unassuming and you might say "stunning" in its narrative, see it for this wonderful, under stated performance. Nuf said.Movie Review: Totally entranced
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw The Quiet American, starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser, over the weekend, and I was totally entranced. First of all, Michael Caine has long been a favorite actor of mine. He elevates every piece of material that he performs, and in this film, his portrayal of Thomas Fowler is nuanced by a lifetime of acting, learning, and observing human nature. Caine plays a British journalist reporting from Saigon in the early 50's. Fowler enjoys a rather lazy life, having tea at the Continental Hotel and indulging himself with a beautiful young Vietnamese mistress. Fraser, no slouch himself, especially considering that he must hold his own in plenty of scenes with Caine, plays Alden Pyle, the quiet American of the film's title.
This film has haunted me over the past two days. The movie's central story is one of an older European man in love with an exotic young beauty. He suddenly finds his relationship challenged by an interloper, a clever young American who has quite a bit more to offer. For me, the primary thrust of the film dealt with what one will do to obtain, or retain, what one desires. Both men want the girl, and the film hinges on what each man is willing to do to have her. This tortured triangle is set against the growing unrest in Vietnam, and we all know how THAT conflict went.
There are also many other themes at work in the film: how the girl herself represents Vietnam (locked in a struggle of possession), the way political forces worldwide are often manipulated behind closed doors, and the question of whether ends (no matter how good) justify their means (no matter how bad). Both men seem to metaphorically represent the countries they come from. Oddly, their approaches to the two different conflicts (the fight over the girl and the fight over Vietnam), seem to be polar opposites.
The film is also richly shot and very atmospheric. Fowler's character is in love with Vietnam and, before you finish watching the film, I can almost guarantee that you'll have some interest in visiting it yourself. Pyle's blinding white suit, worn in the final scenes of the film, and the face of Hai Yen Do (who plays the girl in question - Fong), will be mental images you won't be able to shake.
The Quiet American is riveting, well worth the investment of your time, and it will keep you thinking for a while.
Movie Review: Intelligent drama based intrigue with pedigree performances
Summary: 4 Stars
The story is set in Saigong, Vietnam in the early 50's and opens with the discovery of a murdered American (Brendan Fraser) and the subsequent questioning of English Reporter (Michael Caine) by the local French Authorities. We are then transported back to the introduction of these two characters, against the backdrop of the growing Communist unrest under the French occupation. Philip Noyce's adaptation of Graham Greene's acclaimed novel of international intrigue, meanders more than races away with the story from this point, but builds with almost intoxicating subliminal undertones, as the two main characters begin to battle for the affections of the local beautiful mistress of the aforementioned Caine.
Caine in married in England, and cannot get a divorce through his wife's Catholicism, and his young mistress (played with alluring but almost innocent guile by Do Thi Hai Yen) cannot after being involved with a foreigner marry a Vietnamese man, should Caine leave the country. She begins to see the young enigmatic and outwardly gentle Fraser as a ticket out, and this three way pot boiler adds some distraction to the political plot. However, as the story unfolds, we see that our characters are not all that they appear to be, and as Caine delves deeper into the Vietnamese situation, he and Fraser become embroiled in a political cat and mouse game, the end results of which we have seen at the outset.
There's something anti climactic about knowing the end before you start, but the pedigree of Greene's novel rises above that, and keeps your attention throughout the reasonable short 100 minute run time. The acting is solid all-round, particularly by Tzi Ma as Caines doting local assistant, and each character develops, and ultimately keeps us guessing until the end of the picture. Doubtful to top any best movie polls, and indeed was never in contention for accolades, but it is still well worth seeing none the less. An intelligent drama based thriller that just may surprise you. Enjoy.
Movie Review: A moving love story
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw "The Quiet American" for the love story, not for the politics. The triangle between the aging Brit Thomas Fowler, the idealistic American Alden Pyle and the not-so naive Vietnamese Phuong was beautifully and realistically portrayed, with strong performances on all sides. In a way, the love story was very much like "Casablanca," with the political Pyle, the world-weary Fowler, and the beautiful Phuong desired by both. The two men both considered themselves in Phuong's best interest, while she was looking for honesty, love and commitment, something neither man could provide.
That being said, the political aspect of the film was deeply intriguing, showing a side of the Vietnam war that I had never seen before. All of the movies I had watched were post-US involvement, or, such as Oliver Stone's "Heaven and Earth," showing escalation from the Vietnamese point of view. It is easy to watch war movies only for the conflict, forgetting the quiet unease before the violence.
The film is beautiful as well, slow paced and elegant. Vietnam is a lovely country, and "The Quiet American" plays it to full advantage. There is nostalgia here, and knowledge of an innocent soon to be lost, but also the statement that one should appreciate things while they are there, regardless of the future.
People live lives at all stages of history. They lie and are honest. They love and betray. Even in the midst of the sparks that would soon consume a country, human beings are still human.