The Quiet American

The Quiet American
Phillip Noyce

Stephen Nash

Phillip Noyce has produced a faithful adaptation of Graham Greene's acclaimed novel without quite capturing the subtle power of the book. The story is set in Saigon during the 1950s, the last days of French colonialism in Vietnam.

Greene's novel, written in 1955, astutely forecasts the disastrous consequences of the forthcoming American involvement. This is personified by Alden Pyle, who is characterised by the cynical British foreign correspondent Thomas Fowler as 'The Quiet American'. Ostensibly in Vietnam for humanitarian reasons, Pyle is in fact an undercover agent working for the CIA and is preparing the ground for the Third Force that will come to replace both the French colonialists and the Communists. Fowler is forced to observe, 'I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused.'

The novel and the film are terrifying portraits of innocence at large. However, there is another related dimension to the film. Not only is Pyle seeking to replace the old worn-out colonialists, he also falls in love with Fowler's beautiful Vietnamese girlfriend and seeks his agreement that it would be the best for all concerned if she went with him. This is in fact the heart of the story.

It is the story of a desperate man; a melancholic expatriate , hopelessly trying to hold on to the rest of his life. He seeks this with his Vietnamese girlfriend Phuong, knowing at the same time that loneliness and despair are not far away. Phoung prepares him opium to dull the pain. Fowler narrates and everything centres around him and his motives. Once he realises that it was Pyle and the Americans who were responsible for the terrorist bombing in Saigon he is forced to act, and yet there is an ambivalence as to his motives. Is he acting for the public good or out of personal fear and a desire to safeguard his life with Phoung?

As Fowler says at the end 'I wish there was someone to whom I could say I was sorry'. This is not so much a detective story as a psychological study of a middle aged man attempting to fight against despair. This is an adult theme and getting the balance right is difficult to do. The lead is taken by Michael Caine as Thomas Fowler with Brendan Fraser as Alden Pyle. There is talk of Oscar nominations; particularly for Caine. In my opinion he doesn't quite pull it off. Brendan Fraser as Pyle fails to capture the gauche naivety of the character. Caine dominates the film as he should and he has that wonderful screen presence to retain our interest throughout. However he fails to capture the essence of the character.

When at one point he breaks down in tears at the realisation of what has happened at the massacre and his own despair at losing Phoung the transition from world weary cynic to despairing melancholic is too sudden and unexpected. Michael Caine is a great actor but the mix of self awareness and vulnerabilty needed is just beyond him. Perhaps he exudes just a little too much self assurance for this part. In order to see how this part could be played we need to return to the 1958 film version directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. In this version Fowler is played by Michael Redgrave and in it he perfectly captures the growing despair and vulnerability of the character. When we look into his eyes we intuitively know what is going on. It is this spiritual dimension that is the key to the novel. The politics is merely background.

The 1958 film was criticised by Graham Greene for having been effectively censored by the Americans. The bombing attributed to the C.I.A. in the book becomes the work of the Vietcong in the film. In this sense Noyce remains faithful to the Greene novel. This is to be applauded and indeed there have been difficulties for the film in the US in the aftermath of September 11th. This has less to do with the perception of the film as being anti-American as with the depiction of the terrorist bombing shown within the film. I suspect there may be a general difficulty in adapting Graham Greene novels so far distant from when they were written.

Greene's genius was to situate his characters and their dilemmas within contemporay events and so provide a resonance for the anxiety felt by his own generation. This was captured by Redgrave in a way that is probable impossible to capture today. Neverhtheless I would still strongly recommend this film. There is a genuine attempt to engage with the novel. 'Action' sequences are downplayed so as not to distract from the storyline and the cinematography and the musical score evoke the unique atmosphere of Vietnam. Better still to fully explore the themes read the novel and see the Michael Redgrave performance.