This DVD item from Miramax Home Entertainment was reviewed on 25-Mar-2009.
The Quiet American Reference DVD. Classifications : Australia & New Zealand By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Video Period Piece By Theme Art House & International Genres DVD Video General Drama Genres DVD Video Mystery & Thriller By Genr . Click the following link to view the cover of The Quiet American. Related topics: 2002. By Country. Genres. DVD. Video. Period Piece. By Theme. Genres. DVD. Video. General. requestid: 44c15017-7856-41de-8fc6-8c2e19e38744
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1) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. 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.¤ 2) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. 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.¤ 3) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. 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.
¤ 4) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. 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.¤ 5) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. I guess the film does about as well as you can when trying to put a book on screen. The acting didn´t so much bother me as the narrating; Greene´s book tells you a lot about the characters that the film´s narrator (Caine) tries to relay, but it´s only cursory and awkward compared to the book.
Case in point: the scene where Pyle tracks Fowler down up north by going up the river alone. If I remember the book correctly, this scene and its build-up were quite good in terms of "internal dialogue" and description, but I didn´t feel like the movie captured it and Pyle in all his grandiose, well-meaning naivete. You just get Fowler telling Pyle he´s crazy, and then Pyle gets scared by all the guns . . .
Speaking of which, I also thought Greene´s book portrayed Pyle as a more naive character, more of a vehicle for myopic American idealism-cum-imperialism; whereas he seemed more scheming and aware in the film. Not necessarily a villain, but more manipulative than idealistic. Did anybody else get that impression?
By the way, Phuong has "no personality" in the film (as at least one reviewer puts it) because she represents Vietnam itself; both Pyle and Fowler are explicit on this point. Phuong is a sort of passive vehicle or recipient of these foreign suitors. She has "no personality" because this talk of love and liberalism and containment means nothing to her. Will you be there for her? Will you take care of her? Will her life be livable and honorable? That´s all she cares about. Pass the opium . . .
Overall, and like the book, I really like that this is a Vietnam story that doesn´t just frame it as "America against the world," or doesn´t just focus on PTSD or something. It´s more philosophical and worldly than that. Specifically, I like how it shows Vietnam as a colonial issue (not only or necessarily communist), and it doesn´t hesitate to portray American involvement as colonial involvement.¤ 6) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. 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.¤ 7) DVD DVD The Quiet American by Miramax Home Entertainment. 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¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 22-Apr-2009, 786936219760, 240-976-GOB-XBB-6RB-D6B-GCB-8 
The Quiet American, DVD, Image © Miramax Home Entertainment
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