The Quiet American

The Quiet American is a movie that can boast of its simplicity. It is based upon a novel of the same name by Graham Greene. 

Set against the backdrop of the French-Indochina War, the movie starts with the assassination of a young American, Alden Pyle (Brenden Fraser) who was in Vietnam on a medical mission. The narrator, Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is a British journalist in his fifties and is posted in Saigon and has a young and attractive mistress, Phoung (Do Thi Hai Yen) who knows that Fowler can never marry her and take her as his wife.

Fowler becomes close friends with Pyle and introduces him to Phoung. Pyle soon begins to like Phoung. All this happens as Fowler is called back to London by his editors. But he buys out time to cover an important development that takes place in northern Vietnam as there has been a massacre there. They don’t know who is to blame. The French deny their involvement in this, but Fowler and Pyle (who has also reached there) feel that the communists can’t do this as this is against their interest. Meanwhile, a new force is emerging under the leadership of a Vietnamese Colonel called Thé who has broken off from the French allegiance and is fighting against the communists and also resisting the French. He has made himself a General in this new army.

General Thé is financed by a businessman and “patriot” Mr. Muoi. Fowler smells a rat as can’t understand how a businessman who owns a bicycle factory can afford to finance the requirements of such a large faction.

As Fowler is away, Pyle tries to steal away Phoung. But she snubs his proposal. Even through all of this, Pyle and Fowler keep their friendship steady.

The movie revolves around the love triangle between these three characters as Pyle confesses his love for Phoung. But in its depth, the movie is actually about the political mayhem in the nation due to the pro and anti-communist sentiments among the people, the involvement of the French forces and the interference of the United States of America.

The movie takes a twist towards the end as the greed of the American government is exposed.

Even though the movie was made in 2002, the director, Phillip Noyce, has taken efforts to give the film the look of the fifties. One might actually feel that one is watching a movie of that era, even though the sound quality is very modern. Care has been taken to keep the feel of Saigon in the movie by using a lot of natural lighting and natural sounds.

Michael Caine’s brilliant dialogue delivery, clear accent and splendid acting surely deserved the Oscar nomination that he got for this movie.

According to me, this movie does deserve a 4.5/5. AmazinG!