Review of The Quiet American (2002) by Aliya D — 21 Jul 2008

This is the second film adaptation of Graham Greene's The Quiet American. This version is as daring as the novel is in retrospect and it is without question light years away from the propagandist elements presented in the shameful 1958 version.

The film is a journey back into the heart of darkness, and a thoughtful re-examination of the surprisingly persistent contradiction that American foreign policy poses to the rest of the watching world.

In terms that now have obvious parallels to the escalating involvement in Iraq, it openly questions the whole idea of the new American imperialism and how the rest of the civilized world sees it. What is even more gratifying about this film is that it gives Michael Caine yet another opportunity to flaunt his powerful acting abilities as the world weary but still committed British journalist, a man who comes to recognize both the fatal naivety and yet dangerously provocative impulses of a young and idealistic American Alden Pyle (played well by Brendan Fraser).

It is a marvelously sophisticated and yet eminently entertaining film that both accurately depicts a series of fact-based events important in the history of America's involvement in Vietnam and yet also raises interesting philosophical questions by offering us a detailed character study of an individual at the very margins of his endurance, forced to fight for everything his life means to him.

Finally, this is a beautifully shot film and was done so on location in Vietnam.