SnoopyStyle It's 1952 Saigon in French colony Vietnam. Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is a world-weary British ex-pat reporter in love with the country. Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser)'s dead body is found. Inspector Vigot interviews Fowler about the "quiet American" working for the Economic Aid Mission. Fowler doesn't want to return to his unhappy marriage and has a young Vietnamese girlfriend named Phuong. In flashback, Fowler befriends new eager Alden Pyle and travel up north to do a story.This is based on the Graham Greene novel. Michael Caine inhabits his role completely. Brendan Fraser is great at being an American political zealot. The only problem is a lack of intensity coming from the Vietnamese actress. The movie has a compelling sense of place and time. It's a great story of murky morality and absolute conviction in the two lead characters.

p-stepien In the formation years of the Vietkong London Times reporter Thomas Fowler (the masterful Michael Caine) identifies the body of American entrepreneur Alden Plye (a welcome retreat from comedic roles by Brendan Fraser). This scene initiates the movie, which then transports us several months back in time, when Fowler leads his idyllic life in exile with a Vietnamese lover Phoung (Do Thi Hai Yen), always having time to chill with a cup of tea and newspaper in the local café. Intent on staying after his publisher hints at recalling him to England due to lack of stories Fowler decides to venture north in search of stories. This has him come face to face with supposed Vietkong atrocities, which in Fowler's eyes seem somewhat suspicious. When confronting himself with a general from Ngô Đình Diệm's regime, he finds himself threatened by death only to be saved by the 'quiet American' Alden Pyle. Alden, a thoughtful and soft-spoken individual, quickly befriends Fowler, but the situation slowly starts to come undone, when both become romantically involved with Phuong.Written as a tale of deceit and an attempt to introduce the darkening fate of the Vietnamese civil war. Naturally simplified from the extremely complex story by famed novelist Graham Greene "The Quiet American" is still a very satisfying movie, despite the flawed necessity to straighten out the loops in comparison to the novel. Written and placed before the descent of American troops onto Vietnamese soil, Greene delivered a poignant and surprisingly accurate portrayal of the times, owed to the fact that Greene worked as a war correspondent in 1951-1954, thus offering first hand knowledge and giving the US government a controversial subversive role in the civil war. Revolutionary at the times the story resounds ever stronger as the dark dealing of the American government in the so-called Third World has been revealed.The backdrop of a love triangle serves as a device over which the story is told, but also one not without significance, as the English-man attempts to save the status quo, even if that means shaking hands with the devil (moral dilemmas replicate themselves on a grander scale). Cynical and egotistical he is confronted with American idealism, but one far from the perceived innocence it proclaims. Michael Caine performs with conviction, subtly nuancing the sarcastic reporter, set in his ways and governed by a cynical distance to the outside ongoings, however still emotionally affected when confronted directly with pain and blood. Oppositely him Fraser does well as the affectionate American who mixes ignorance with high flying ideals, albeit simultaneously being much more flawed than outside appearances suggest. The romantic subplot of the novel dashes to the front, making it the backbone of the story, which does help the movie's narrative, but weakens its effectiveness making the political misgivings take a backseat to the affairs of the heart.Naturally the symbolism can be ventured further into: The Englishman represents the ageing disenchanted and thus cynical Europe, which is sure to leave Vietnam (Phuong) to her own fate, despite the proclaimed intent to stay. As he is unable to cut ties from his homeland, another pretender vies for the heart of lover - the quiet American. Young, well-intentioned, but mindlessly brutal he promises to replace the Englishman as protector, but at the same time is carried by misguided ideals.

Desertman84 The Quiet American is a film adaptation of Graham Greene's bestselling novel of the same title. This version of the novel in contrast to the 1958 version, depicted Greene's original ending and treatment of the principal American character, Pyle. Like the novel, the film illustrates Pyle's moral culpability in fostering intrigue within the South Vietnamese government. Going beyond Greene's original work, the film used a montage ending with superimposed images of American soldiers from the intervening decades of the Vietnam War.It features starred Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, and Do Thi Hai Yen; and is directed by Phillip Noyce.Thomas Fowler is a British journalist who in 1952 is covering the early stages of the war in Indo-China for the London Times, not a demanding assignment since few in England are especially interested in the conflict. When not filing occasional reports, Fowler spends his time with Phuong, a beautiful woman who shares lovemaking and opium with Fowler and is willing to accept the fact the married journalist will never make her his wife. Fowler becomes friendly with Alden Pyle, a cheerful and articulate if seemingly naïve American who is in Saigon as part of a medical mission. As Fowler and Pyle develop a closer friendship, Pyle is introduced to Phuong, and the American soon becomes infatuated with her. When Fowler's editors suggest he return to London, he responds by digging himself deeper in covering the war, and Pyle attempts to take Phuong away; she soon rejects him. Undaunted, Pyle continues with his work, but Fowler discovers that medical help is not what the American is bringing to Vietnam. Pyle is in fact a CIA operative who is helping to organize and finance a "Third Force" who will battle Ho Chi Min's forces as well as the French and their allies. Fowler also learns that Pyle is behind a series of bombings which are believed to have been carried out by Communist extremists, and faces the ugly fact that his American friend is in fact a terrorist killing in the name of Uncle Sam's political interests.This is a smart and literate effort that despite some weaknesses in overall conception has one undeniable virtue: There's not a single weak scene.Added to that,it has great performances especially Michael Caine, whose portrayal as an English reporter goaded out of his comfortable, opium-clouded, ex-pat lifestyle ranks among the very best of his career.And also,the subtle and penetrating film made to look effortless as nothing is forced or pushed, so much so that it's easy to overlook the extraordinary challenges posed by Graham Greene's novel and it manages to capture its spirit.Overall,it may be a not especially unusual mystery/thriller, but it's still a solid and entertaining one at that.Indeed,it is a masterpiece and a must-see!!!

Rockwell_Cronenberg Phillip Noyce's The Quiet American plays into his wheelhouse as a political thriller, but the more interesting aspect of it (on paper) is the love story centered at the middle of it. It's adapted from the Graham Greene novel of the same name and it feels as though it comes from another era. Taking place in Saigon in 1952, on the brink of the Vietnam War, the whole thing has this intriguing neo-noir tone as it boils down in the Vietnamese heat. We center on Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine), a British reporter living in Saigon with Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen), his extramarital lover, when an American named Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) comes into their lives and shakes everything up. The two begin a classic game of vying for Phuong's affection, with a country falling apart in the background.It's an interesting set up and I think that Noyce was able to establish the perfect tone for it, feeling like the kind of noir romantic thriller that would have come right out of the time period. The running time is brief, clocking in at almost exactly 90 minutes, and so he doesn't waste any scenes, with each one providing something necessary for either plot progression or character development. It flies by at a smooth pace, never getting ahead of it's audience but never dragging or feeling like it's pandering either.Michael Caine guides the film as someone with his skill was born to do, taking the whole thing in his grasp and commanding every moment of it. He's in almost every scene and his presence was what drove the film the most, crafting a rich and empathetic character despite his seemingly detached emotional position when it comes to the political conflicts at hand. It's ultimately a story of a lost man, lost in country and in himself, having to look inside himself and discover the things that matter to him. There's a lot of development for his character throughout the picture and as we get into the final act it's fascinating to watch Caine unravel and peel back the layers of this man. It's the kind of performance from a veteran actor where you can truly feel the decades of this man's life being worn on every expression he makes and the way he holds himself. A very strong work from him, that unfortunately isn't quite matched by Fraser or Yen.Brendan Fraser does his best but he's just not a deep enough actor to handle the complexities of Pyle, although when the character is introduced as a naive piece of wood he fits the part to a tee. Yen is probably the biggest detractor of the film, because thanks to her dreadfully flat performance the whole romance angle doesn't work the way that it should have. Caine lifts the project up and Noyce does a good job of bleeding together the romantic plot with the larger political scope of it, but her performance drags it down a bit and kills a lot of the romance angle. Still, definitely a quality film overall thanks to a tremendous performance and some fine writing and directing.