The Quiet American (2002)

The Worst Film Ever

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Trapped inside rheumy eyes, sagging jowls, and pot belly, Fowler (Caine) looks every inch the backwater journalist at the end of a not-very-distinguished rope. We understand his love-lorn desperation. Ditto his porcelain doll mistress, and her desperation to survive the shifting sands of colonial Vietnam. Alden Pyle (Fraser) too, looks every inch his OSS part, an idealistic frat-boy who took all the correct courses, saluted all the correct flags, and never learned a thing about the soul of subjugated peoples, at home or abroad. If these visuals are perfect, the lead performance is not. In short, Caine's Thomas Fowler has been wildly overpraised. In a part that cries out for civilized passion, he gives a lot of well-bred British civility, but very little passion. There are simply too many blank-eyed stares with not enough hint of the inner life that breeds conflicting emotions. Instead of interpreting the character, his scenes float on physical appearance and the richness of Greene's conception, a distinction too many folks have conflated. Thus the final act of betrayal, which should be the movie's payoff, is robbed of suspense and insight by a performance that fails to develop over time. I found myself wishing Bette Davis had directed his scenes.This is a good movie, but no unmitigated triumph. The Greenian complexities and ambiguities are mostly where they should be. However, unlike the novel's narrative, exposition here at times suffers from heavy-handed repetition as other reviewers have pointed out -- the overstated wet cement, for one. Nonetheless, there's enough depth to convey the basic brilliance of the book, which remains a powerful interweaving of personal and political treachery. (The reviewer who likens this novel to those of Henry James provides an ironical insight.)Too bad this second version was denied to viewers of the bowdlerized 1958 version. That way, the US might have been spared a bloody object lesson in the sort mass deception that now echoes across the shifting sands of Iraq.

When I was at college I had to read the Graham Greene novel The Quiet American and then write an essay regarding colonialism within the literature. Due to this I despised the book, not because the story or writing weren't good but because I had to do an essay on something that really didn't interest me. Years later I have decided to watch the film version of that novel and I have to say it was much better than I remember. Like I said the book wasn't bad but after watching this film, which I thought was great, I am considering buying the book and re- reading it.The film is kept quite close to the book; which is good news for all of those who have read it. The story follows Thomas Fowler (Caine) who is an English journalist in Vietnam due to the war between the French colonialist and the communists of Vietnam. Since being there he has met a young Vietnamese woman who he can't marry due to still being married to a Catholic woman refusing a divorce. He really believes that he loves this woman despite the fact he knows most of these women are with wealthier older men to get themselves out of the country. Fowler's life begins to change though when he meets Alden Pyle (Fraser), an American medical worker who has been sent in to aid the Vietnamese. Although they become good friends, Pyle falls in love with Fowler's girl and as this is 1950's Vietnam he believes he should be able to declare his love and let her decide. Fowler then has to do all he can to keep his girl from a man with many more prospects than him. All of this is set in the beginning of the Vietnamese war and highlights a possible way to how the Americans became involved, which also ties in with this love triangle.Don't be fooled into thinking this is a love story. It may be at heart a love story but surrounding it around the war makes all the difference. There are plenty of political theories and themes' running through it and the love story is only really one half of the entire plot but the driving force behind it all. Caine and Fraser are brilliant in this film. Their chemistry is spot on and after reading the book these actors are exactly how you would expect them to be, they definitely done their homework. Other members of the cast also portray their roles well but it is the two leads who steal it. Caine seems to breeze through it with ease with it being a simple role for him, so most praise has to go to Fraser who has proved that he isn't just a comic actor and can take serious roles seriously. Both actors play their characters with hidden depth that seeps through as the story goes on, and we can clearly see a change in both their personalities by the end of the film. The setting is also beautiful. The cities of Vietnam look great despite war torn, and the graininess of the cinematography also adds to this. The war scenes are filmed well and they add to the depth of conflict and desperation which is shown throughout. War may be happening but our leads are more worried that love will keep them alive.The film kept me gripped till the end, and the final twenty minutes is intense when we finally understand what is happening. The music adds to this tension and the fast pace of the build up. This final act ironed out a few negatives that I had with the film and cleared them from view. One of these was that the beginning felt a little disjointed and expositional but the final act made me forget all about it. This was a film that I am surprised to have liked and I recommend it to those of you out their interested in this kind of plot line. Actually I recommend it to anyone who likes Michael Caine, and that must be everybody. Also don't be put off by the casting of Brendan Fraser, he is actually really good.4 / 5For more reviews: www.tolli-movieworld.blogspot.com

Graham Greene's 'The Quiet American' is wonderful evocation of Saigon and Vietnam during the French War. The story revolves around Mr. Fowler, a cynical British journalist, and Pyle a young American idealist both of whom are in love with Phuong, a young Vietnamese woman. Unfortunately, the film is a bitter disappointment. Greene's deftly crafted canvas has been brazenly mis-handled with the film applying impatient and ill-defined strokes.'The Quiet American' uses the love triangle as the focal point of the story when it should have been rather more focal on the political and personal intrigue within the book. The film is certainly a commercial one, dumbing down the themes and spoon feeding the audience. I was even let down by the production values, as it did not transfer the lavish and brooding atmosphere in Greene's work. The romance is not creditable and the characters are vastly under developed and malnourished. The film does not spend enough time in any one place and this is probably its biggest fault.Maybe I am prejudice by my memory of the book but the film is way off-key, poorly conceived and mis-aligned with Greene's words. If the purpose of the film was to capture the book it needs to re-study the masterpiece.

I was in Saigon ten years ago when they had just finished filming this movie and some friends of mine, who permanently lived there at the time, had a small role in it. It was 2001, but the movie didn't came out that year 'cause, after 9/11, the production decided to delay the release of the film. Someone thought that it was anti-American since it could be seen as a criticism of American policy. I still don't understand why since the Iraq war wasn't begun yet and Graham Greene's original novel was written long before America decided to intervene in the Vietnam conflict. Greene's and movie's criticisms on American foreign policy are very general, besides the plot is more of a love story. It's settled in 1952 in Vietnam: Caine is an English journalist who looks for new stories to ensure he can continue his job in Saigon and his living there with a young mistress. He has no intention to come back to London and to his wife. It's the time of the French-communist fighting in the north of the country. A young American doctor arrives as a part of a medical team and falls in love with the journalist's mistress. The two men discuss about what would be better for the girl, but in love, as in war, everything is permitted and someone will meet a tragic end. Phillip Noyce does a good job and his adaptation is faithful to Greene's story. There isn't much action and the movie runs slowly, but never boring. The film's strength is the cast: Brendan Fraser and Do Thi Hai Yen are pretty good, but Michael Caine is simply terrific, he is perfect in his part, it seems his role was written especially for him. It's worth seeing the movie just for his performance. Caine is one of my favorite actors and since I was there at the time, my regret was I couldn't go on the set to meet him. After this movie The Quiet American became one of the most sold books by Saigon's street vendors.