The Quiet American

The Quiet American
by Phillip Noyce

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DVD details

Actor: Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Michael Caine, Rade Serbedzija, Tzi Ma
Director: Phillip Noyce
Producer: Anthony Minghella
Producer: Antonia Barnard
Producer: Chris Sievernich
Producer: Eyal Rimmon
Writer: Christopher Hampton
Writer: Graham Greene
Writer: Robert Schenkkan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment

DVD Reviews of The Quiet American

DVD Review: Fabulous Performances, Beautiful-Looking Film
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a well-acted and beautifully-filmed movie that surprised me just how good it was. It's one of those "sleepers," meaning a good movie that gets little notice. Man, I'd like to see this on Blu-Ray.

I found it interesting from the get-go with Michael Caine doing a superb job, one of the highlights of his distinguished career. Some have even called it his best performance. The same might be said of Brendan Fraser, too, someone who is more known for his lower-brow characters in far less-intelligent films. Those two, and Do Thi Hai Yen complete the threesome who excel in the leads. The fact this film takes place in Vietnam and she is Vietnamese makes her all the more believable.

The colors in this film are very pretty, interiors and exteriors. The only negative I had was the obvious political bias in here. The movie paints an unflattering picture of the early days of America's involvement in Vietnam with Fraser playing "The Ugly American."

Politics-aside, at least half the film is really a love story, as both male leads go after the same woman (Hai Yen). That has a strange ending, is all I will say. All the way through the movie builds in suspense and intrigue in both the politics and the romance. I've seen it three times and thoroughly enjoyed it all three times.

DVD Review: 3 stars out of 4
Summary: 4 Stars

The Bottom Line:

The movie's decision to start at the end robs The Quiet American of much of its suspense, but Michael Caine is so good and the story is so interesting that it's not really a big deal; if you like Michael Caine or are interesting in Vietnam, this is a movie to see.

DVD Review: Different than the Book
Summary: 4 Stars

I enjoyed both the movie and the book. I found it interesting that, though the they were based on similar plot lines, the movie presented a different story about the British journlist Fowler than that told by the book upon which the movie was based. I found such an interpretive approach risky and refreshing.

The difference is most easily demonstrated during the closing scenes. In the movie, Fowler is presented as having grown from cynicism to moral belief by becoming crusading journalist dedicated to exposing the Viet Nam war. At the end of the book, Fowler is presented as seeking redemption for his role in the murder of Pyle, and, by implication, his life in general - he desperately wants to say "I'm sorry."

As I said, risky and refreshing. Interpretive film making can grow beyond the bounds of the work upon which it is based.

DVD Review: American Idiot
Summary: 4 Stars

I understand Graham Greene began work on his well known novel after meeting an American aid worker of some sort in Vietnam during the early 1950s who lectured him on what needs to be done in that country. Something about the need for "a third force". Dear God. The performances in this film adaptation are superb. Brendan Fraser can act serious if a role calls for it. Actress Rade Serbedzija is wonderful. And of course the one and only Michael Caine deserved his nomination for Best Actor. I love moody, atmospheric films and THE QUIET AMERICAN is surely that. The story revolves around a love triangle between a young idealistic CIA agent, a Vietnamese girl and an older British journalist and is set at the end of the first First Indochina War in the early 50s.

DVD Review: Atmospheric
Summary: 5 Stars

If you love Graham Greene novels, and what literate person would not, this adaptation is well worth watching. Great soundtrack, and Michael Caine, as usual, nails it. There's just enough suspense and mystery about the quiet American, and the flashback structure works very well. Top notch.

Description of The Quiet American

The acclaimed performances of two-time Academy Award(R)-winner Michael Caine (Best Supporting Actor, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, 1999; HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, 1986) and Brendan Fraser (THE MUMMY, GODS AND MONSTERS) power a stylish political thriller where love and war collide in Southeast Asia. Set in early 1950s Vietnam, a young American (Fraser) becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle when he falls for the beautiful mistress of a British journalist (Caine). As war is waged around them, these three only sink deeper into a world of drugs, passion, and betrayal where nothing is as it seems. Based on the classic novel by Graham Greene -- you'll find yourself riveted by the fascinating intricacies and ever-developing intrigue of this outstanding motion picture.

The Quiet American proves that elegant and intelligent filmmaking can be emotionally powerful. Michael Caine plays Thomas Fowler, a British journalist in 1950s Vietnam with a lovely Vietnamese mistress named Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) and a jaded view of the political strife teeming around him. He befriends a seemingly innocuous American named Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), who falls in love with Phuong--and slowly, Pyle's real purpose in Vietnam becomes revealed. Fowler finds that, to hold on to the carefully balanced life he's created for himself, he must make choices he's long avoided. Caine and Fraser are both superb and give a human face to complicated politics; as a result, The Quiet American manages to be compelling as both history and a story about very specific people embroiled in a very personal conflict. An impressive film from director Philip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Patriot Games). --Bret Fetzer

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