"The Quiet American" is a Vietnam movie with a different approach from most of the pieces viewers have seen. Director Phillip Noyce and screenwriters Robert Schenkkan and Christopher Hampton's film about French soldiers trying to preserve their country's tenuous hold on South Vietnam against the North Vietnamese is appealing to an American public that has been watching films about the war period for years.
There are two overhanging presences in this movie that are important, but ghostly. One is the Vietnam War, and the American public's ongoing melancholia concerning what went wrong and when. The other is the divine omniscience of the late British writer Graham Greene, whose novel has been adapted for this film.
Michael Caine plays British foreign correspondent Thomas Fowler in 1952 Indochina. Fowler is fatigued not only with life, but with material pleasures. Caine's voice-overs speak to the narcotic mystery of the place that would become Vietnam: After a season here, he says, "you can hardly remember your name or what you're escaping from."
Caine effortlessly breathes life into the British journalist, who is very comfortable on foreign soil. His wife is miles away in England, leaving Fowler free to engage in his two loves: Vietnam and his sweet, small mistress, Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen).
Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), an economic-aid worker and all-American boy, arrives to disrupt Fowler's strange, perfect life. Fraser and Caine's sweet-and-sour acting blend beautifully.
Pyle predictably falls instantly in love with Phuong, whose sister sees him as a better catch than the still-married Fowler. In gentlemanly form, though, Pyle gains Fowler's permission before pursuing Phuong's affections.
It is odd how accommodating both men are to each other, even though they are both in love with the same girl. They are both desperate to keep her, but would rather the other one have her than neither. They fight over her, while politely offering their rival a drink of brandy. These odd relationships can be read as a metaphor for the relations between England, America and Vietnam at the time.
"The Quiet American" was supposed to be released more than a year ago, but was consigned to Miramax's back shelf after Sept. 11, 2001, when its heavy-handed epilogue and shot of Brendan Fraser wiping blood from his shoe most certainly would have been read as "anti-American." The film is better positioned now, with this country poised for another unpopular encroachment into far-away lands. The longer the wide release of "The Quiet American" is delayed, the timelier the movie becomes.
Director Phillip Noyce brings an odd, melancholic beauty to the 1952 Vietnam setting of Graham Greene's novel. With its warm cinematography, the film is not filled with bloodstained grassy fields. Instead, we're taken to the streets of Saigon, filled with lights, life and corruption.
Hollywood actually adapted "The Quiet American" in 1958, but the film was poorly regarded because the story was changed. This time, they seem to have gotten it right. A recent second viewing makes the film very likeable and Caine's Oscar-worthy performance only enhances that feeling.
"The Quiet American" becomes more mysterious and unsettling as it goes along. The love triangle and the political intrigue are complex, making for an involving movie with an interesting twist.
