FEST2003

The Quiet American
Phillip Noyce, director  

 Review by Rada Djurica   

Fowler is a rather lazy British news correspondent who is enjoying the sensual life of Saigon with his young Vietnamese lover. Finding happiness in the luxurious colonial lifestyle, he completely distances himself, taking a non-involvement political attitude, neglecting his prime role. War is on the doorstep. Fowler gets called back by his London newspaper, regarding the rarity of his story filing. All this changes when the quiet American, an idealistic aid worker, arrives in the city. Pyle, the quiet American, is a doctor, but soon it becomes apparent that underneath his visible mission he has another agenda. Unprepared for what Fowler will find, he extends his stay in the country.

After two films back in his native Australia, Noyce's Hollywood career, as the director of such big-budget studio films as "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Saint," would naturally maintain his Hollywood connection. It was better to make films in Hollywood with a ton of budget money, than to return to Australia to the world of low budget filmmaking he'd left behind. Returning home for the first time since "Dead Calm," Noyce made not one, but two films simultaneously: "Rabbit Proof Fence" and the politically courageous "The Quiet American."

The story of "The Quiet American" is based on the Graham Greene novel set in the 1950s in Vietnam, and the film centers around drug-addicted reporter Fowler (Michael Caine) and his relationships with a beautiful young Vietnamese woman and a CIA operative (Brendan Fraser). From the first moment Noyce, the award-winning Australian director, was determined to bring the story to the screen.

There is something about the film that is both prescient and timeless, even with relevance to today. Noyce's "The Quiet American" is the second film version of the Greene novel. When the first film version came out, America did not accept it, mired officially in Vietnam. Now, that adventure is over, with other misadventures on the political horizon. The Brendan Fraser character, his passion to fight to the end, suddenly becomes a potential comment about another time and another war.

Michael Caine, for this part, has received the best reviews of his career, and was the film's champion, no matter the film being overlooked by the 2003 Oscar Awards, insisting that Miramax give the movie a go. Everything surprises in this game. It's show business, with no right or wrong. It's just a rollercoaster, a rollercoaster that had its ups and downs for the director, for over 20 years.

"Mate, I was turning 50, time to take stock and slow down. I never do things in half measure. When I was smoking it was six packs a day while a reasonable addict would have had only three. So when I decided to take a break from Hollywood and work in Australia, I decided to make two films instead of one, which seemed reasonable. Miramax would never release the film. I was told privately it was as good as dead. The film never had a release date and privately I was told it was not going to get one," Phillip Noyce said.