Review of The Quiet American (2002) by Richard S — 28 Feb 2012

Now, here's something you don't see every day: A romantic movie that is so beautifully shot that it could qualify as a chick flick if it wasn't also a superb political war thriller as well.

Based on Graham Greene's novel of the same name, "The Quiet American" is also the first "Vietnam Movie" that I've seen that was actually shot in Vietnam. But, this is not the Vietnam that movie audiences are used to seeing where platoons of Marines go on patrol through the jungle or crouch through rice paddies. In fact, it's the first Vietnam Movie where there isn't a single helicopter in sight.

That's because the movie is set in 1952, two years before the French surrender at Dien Bien Phu. In the Vietnam of 1952, the French were fighting a losing battle for control against the Viet Minh, who had a change of nomenclature, when they fought US forces, to The Viet Cong in the 1960s. Speaking of a change in nomenclature, there's a tremendous line in the movie where a character mentions that The OSS is now known as The CIA.

But, to get back to where I started in my review, the very heart of this thriller is the romantic triangle involving Phuong, a Vietnamese dance girl, Thomas Fowler, (Michael Caine), a British foreign correspondent for The London Times, and Aldon Pyle (Brendan Fraser), a foreign aid worker from America.

The director Phil Noyce showcases this movie as a sort of foreign film noir, with beautiful shots of the Vietnamese harbors at night. Indeed, if not for the political setting of Vietnam in 1952, this might as well have been Robert Mitchum and Brad Dexter competing for the affections of Jane Russell in "Macao". But, the historical, cultural and political backdrop add more texture to this story and, thus, make it a better film. Still, the movie employs many noir devices, such as an important character dead at the beginning, voice-over narration with flashbacks to tell what happened and, my fave noir element, the femme fatale.

Michael Caine gives a great portrayal of a world-weary cynical journalist overseas. He hasn't seen his estranged wife or London for years and couldn't care less. He has his sexy, young Vietnamese mistress, that he rescued from the dance halls, and his nightly opium. That's enough for him.

However, filing only 3 stories in the past year is NOT enough for "The London Times". The paper is about to recall him to London when he meets the American, Pyle, at a Saigon cafe. The two foreigners bond in a "bromance" immediately and Fowler takes Pyle under his wing, even to the point of helping him get used to the sounds of grenades going off in the city. In turn, Pyle introduces Fowler to some American embassy personnel. Between his curiousity being aroused by the American delegation and the tips fed to Fowler by his Vietnamese street contact (superbly played by Tzi Ma in an excellent, understated performance), Fowler gets his mojo back and is soon filing stories to London on a regular basis and manages to keep his Saigon gig.

However, there is a complication. And, as it usually is in these noirish tales, it's a woman. Namely, Fowler's mistress Phuong. Pyle becomes smitten with her and wants to have a discussion about it with all the parties involved, himself, Fowler and Phuong. This IS, after all, 1952 and manners of how to deal with these situations were quite different from those of today.

Phuong chooses Fowler over Pyle and that would seem to be the end of it. Until Fowler encounters Pyle more and more often while reporting on the war. Pyle seems to be in a lot of hot spots for a foreign aid worker and Fowler soon learns that he isn't what he's pretending to be.

These hidden agendas and stark, sensual passions lead to complications in both love and politics that I won't reveal. But, you can imagine how they play out.

Brendan Fraser's performance as Alden Pyle is so superb that you STILL can't help liking this cheerful, idealistic romantic, even though his hardline Cold War policies are so repugnant. Indeed, one might be tempted to feel sorry for the final fate of "The Quiet American", whose taste in women wound up affecting both his mission and his life. My advice? Don't. Simply pop in "Platoon", "Born on the Fourth of July", "The Deer Hunter" or "Apocalypse Now" as the second feature and you will see where the machinations of Pyle and others like him eventually led our country.

Compared to so many other Americans who came to Vietnam after him, Pyle got off easy.

And Phuong? She embodies Vietnam. Enigmatic and beautiful, you just KNOW that she will still be there long after Fowler and Pyle are gone. She doesn't live and love so much as she just....endures....