The Quiet American is a film adaptation of a book that was written by Graham Greene. That film was directed by Philip Noyce and produced by Staffan Ahrenberg and William Horberg. It won the American Film Institute Award as well as the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films, and the Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture. It also got the starring actor, Michael Caine nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in Motion Picture Dramas.
The Quiet American takes place in the early 1950s in Saigon and follows two men, Thomas Fowler and Alden Pyle, as they make their mark on Vietnam during their time there. Thomas Fowler is a British reporter who was sent to Vietnam to put a story together for the London Times. The other side of this story follows CIA agent Alden Pyle who is in Vietnam in order to gather information on the impending threat of communism that is hanging over Saigon and the rest of South Vietnam. His objective is to not only gather whatever information he can, but also to see if he can reduce or subdue the threat of communism by pulling proverbial threads from behind the scenes. These two men also become involved with the beautiful Vietnamese woman, Phuong, whose perspective we do not see nearly as often as I would have liked. Nevertheless, she is an important character in this story as she exists at the center of a love triangle with these two men.
The Quiet American showcases the theme of impartiality as well as the struggles that come with remaining impartial. This is a struggle that Fowler in particular struggles with as he is tasked with remaining unbiased in his career as a reporter while maintaining and pursuing his relationship with Phuong during the tumultuous time that they found themselves in. His relationship with Phuong results in him becoming even more invested in both her and his time in Vietnam than he initially realizes. He also struggles with impartiality with Pyle as Pyle's enthusiastic political opinions seem to challenge Fowler's resolve during their time together.
This was overall a great film. As stated before, I wish I would have been able to see more of Phuong's perspective in this story. Having said that, I believe that this would be a good film for anyone interested in learning more about the different sides that were in play during the Vietnam War beyond that of the American side that we are so familiar with. This film is fairly critical of the American involvement in the war but is a good source of information and gives a different perspective than the typical ones that we see surrounding the Vietnam War.
The Quiet American takes place in the early 1950s in Saigon and follows two men, Thomas Fowler and Alden Pyle, as they make their mark on Vietnam during their time there. Thomas Fowler is a British reporter who was sent to Vietnam to put a story together for the London Times. The other side of this story follows CIA agent Alden Pyle who is in Vietnam in order to gather information on the impending threat of communism that is hanging over Saigon and the rest of South Vietnam. His objective is to not only gather whatever information he can, but also to see if he can reduce or subdue the threat of communism by pulling proverbial threads from behind the scenes. These two men also become involved with the beautiful Vietnamese woman, Phuong, whose perspective we do not see nearly as often as I would have liked. Nevertheless, she is an important character in this story as she exists at the center of a love triangle with these two men.
The Quiet American showcases the theme of impartiality as well as the struggles that come with remaining impartial. This is a struggle that Fowler in particular struggles with as he is tasked with remaining unbiased in his career as a reporter while maintaining and pursuing his relationship with Phuong during the tumultuous time that they found themselves in. His relationship with Phuong results in him becoming even more invested in both her and his time in Vietnam than he initially realizes. He also struggles with impartiality with Pyle as Pyle's enthusiastic political opinions seem to challenge Fowler's resolve during their time together.
This was overall a great film. As stated before, I wish I would have been able to see more of Phuong's perspective in this story. Having said that, I believe that this would be a good film for anyone interested in learning more about the different sides that were in play during the Vietnam War beyond that of the American side that we are so familiar with. This film is fairly critical of the American involvement in the war but is a good source of information and gives a different perspective than the typical ones that we see surrounding the Vietnam War.
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