Hey folks, Harry here... We haven't heard too much about this film from Phillip Noyce and MIRAMAX, but from the sound of it, this is another good movie coming to theaters this year. Which is simply another reason to look around and say, "Yippee, I love movies!" At least until the big realization comes along that we've all been hoodwinked. Hope not. Anyways, here's the review... beware of spoilers!!!
Hey Harry,
Dr. Solar here with the scoop on another Miramax test screening here in New York. This evening I am one happy camper. I was beginning to think that they only test screened bad movies.
This evening at the local cineplex, there was a test screening for the upcoming film The Quiet American based on the Graham Greene novel and starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. It was directed by Philip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear & Present Danger) who is very deserving of kudos for this film. We were told before the movie began that we were the first audience to see this film.
The Quiet American begins with a beautiful picturesque view of Saigon at night. In the background we see small flashes of light that grow bigger and bigger by the minute until we realize that there is battle raging in the distance. It is 1952 and the French are losing the war for Indo-China. A body is found in the river. Michael Caine is called in to identify the young man, a "quiet American" according to him. The film then goes into flashback mode as we see how both the American, named Alden Pyle, and Michael Caine's character, Thomas Fowler, come to this point.
Thomas Fowler is a cynical aging journalist stationed in Saigon living with a young Vietnamese lover. He meets Alden Pyle in a outdoor restaurant at the Continental Paradise Hotel where Fowler regularly eats breakfast. Pyle introduces himself as a medical doctor working with the American Economic Ministry assisting the Vietnamese with combating eye disease. He has an aw shucks attitude about him, and he is reading a book called Dangers to Democracy. He is a fan of Fowler's writing, and manages to gush about his book and anti-Communism.
Later on Pyle meets Fowler's lover and falls in love with her. Fowler is married and his wife will not give him a divorce to marry Phuong, his lover. Phuong's sister, ever the blatant gold digger in this film, begins to see Pyle as a richer, and more likely to marry, alternative to Fowler.
A love triangle develops between the three, and ironically, not just between Fowler and Pyle fighting over Phuong, but also between Phuong and either one of them. You see Fowler and Pyle become friends in the film. Even at the most painful moments between these two men there is some bond of kinship between them. Double crosses, triple crosses and truths are revealed throughout this film. I want to avoid my usual litany of spoilers at this point because this film doesn't fall into the category of I might as well just tell you the whole movies and save you ten bucks.
This is as fine a drama and war film as I have seen in a long while. Michael Caine gives one of his best performances, and Brendan Fraser is well juxtaposed as the naive American to the cynical, yet worldly Brit. For Brendan Fraser's character, Alden Pyle, represents American during the early days of the Cold War. Naive, bumbling and not quite understanding the cultures in which he has come into contact with. He spouts slogans and sees the world through the prism of what sounds like a third grade history book. We're ok because we're not "colonialists." In his quest for "saving" the Vietnamese he comes to undertake great evil for the "bigger picture." His quest to naively save Phuong from a life with Fowler who will never marry her, yet causes a great deal of pain to both, mirrors the American experience in Vietnam. Cain gives us every agonizing detail of Fowler's life, and his own uncertainty as to whether or not he has don! e the right thing in the end.
Brendan Fraser gives one of his better performances as Pyle. Although, I would not go giving him any gold statues for his endeavor here. It is Michael Cain who drives this film. However, Fraser plays well off of Cain's Fowler, and, when it comes to it, even in the end his naivety never lets up.
The one thing that really struck me with Noyce's directing, though, was the subtely with which the story unfolds. We know when we first lay our eyes on Pyle that something is just not right with this guy. And we can begin to figure out who and what he really is as the film goes on, but he is slowly revealed to us in little details. Noyce never shoves it in our face, or blatantly tip his hand too early. We start out really liking this guy, but in the end are happy to see him get whacked. His brand of ne'er do well comes from a sense of self riteousness rather than maliciousness. In many ways, this makes him even more dangerous.
The actress who plays Phuong is absolutely gorgeous, and she plays the character as a bit dependent and child-like. Her greatest fear is to end up like the other Vietnamese girls who have French boyfriends who promise to take them home to France but then disappear at the airport. Yet, underneath it all we never doubt that her love is genuine.
The film itself graphically depicts scenes of genocide and war. It doesn't pull its punches from the atrocities of bombings. Interestingly enough, early in the film, Fowler finds the sounds of grenades going off as no big deal. As he deals with the pain arising from his love triangle with Pyle does he come to empathize with the people around him. This is very nicely contrasted with Pyle when, during a bombing in the city, Fowler is running around trying to help people, while Pyle just tries to wipe the blood off of his trouser leg oblivious to the events except when to make sure there photographed for the Congressional Appropriations Committee back home.
I really recommend this film to anyone interested in drama and war films. The French period in Vietnam is one that hasn't been fully explored in American cinema, and it is a good companion piece to the other films in this genre. It also works well as a love story, a mystery and a spy film.
When it comes to spreading the word on this movie, this is one American who can''t stay quiet.
Dr Solar
