Saturday, November 23, 2002

THE QUIET AMERICAN

Cloaked in the mantle of a thriller, The Quiet American is a contemplative film trying to come to terms with politics of all manner. Based upon Graham Greene’s 1952 novel and previously filmed in 1958, it struggles to make sense of issues that are often imponderable or change as capriciously as the winds from Vichy. Though situated in an exotic and volatile location, the story primarily takes place inside the mind of reporter Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) and creating a terrain that embraces both the interior and exterior landscapes of the drama is a daunting challenge. It resulted in a haunting and flawed film four decades ago and though the current effort indeed has both these qualities and hurdles, it seems to come closer to the power and tragedy of its source.

The film opens in the style of a classic noir. An off-screen voice, heavy with the experience of age, speaks to us in a confessional tone. The camera meanders through the night scene of bygone Saigon, coming to rest on a body floating face down in the water. But unlike Sunset Boulevard, the victim is not the narrator.

Fowler is not simply telling us about his “friend” Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), an American businessman with the outward zeal and integrity of a Boy Scout. He’s bearing witness to a murder under the interrogation of Inspector Vigot, a vestige of the country’s French colonial ties.

Considering the pressure cooker that is Vietnam in 1952 - a country up for grabs with both Eastern and Western agents fostering rebel factions - Fowler has created a life that’s comfortable and predictable. His paper, the Times of London, rarely calls upon him to file more than a piece a month, he lives like a Brahmin and has a fetching local mistress named Phoung (Do Thi Hai Yen) who caters to his needs in a manner unthinkable to his wife back in England.

But two things arrive on his doorstep to threaten his equilibrium: a message from the Times advising him to pack up and close the bureau; and Alden Pyle. He knows how to handle the missive. Fowler dashes off a note advising London that he’s about to go in country for an exclusive and needs a little more time before pulling up stakes. Pyle is quite another situation.

Seemingly meeting by chance in the streets of Saigon, Pyle comes across as a guileless go-getter. Fowler befriends him, believing him to be a babe in the woods in need of a shepherd. So, it’s with some surprise that Fowler encounters him during his trek north. Later, it’s Pyle who serves as his entrée to an elusive military leader and his sage advice proves to be the thing that saves the newsman from certain death.

Ordinarily, Fowler would be grateful. After all the interview and reportage have resulted in a stay of execution. But there’s a wrinkle. Pyle has become smitten with Phoung and, as Fowler’s Catholic wife will not consider divorce, Phoung’s sister campaigns for the American. By now Fowler has come to the realization that his rival possesses a steely determination that cannot be dismissed.

What Greene explored with precision was how circumstance can change one’s basic nature when we believe our very existence is at risk. Played out against a nation that is experiencing something similar on a larger canvas, the effect is chilling and disconcerting. Slowly and inevitably, Fowler moves closer to making a decision that will put Pyle in mortal jeopardy. Somehow he must find a way to justify doing something with obvious positive consequences for himself that may also have wider benefits for the country. It’s an impossible rationalization for a man like Fowler unless he can find a way to live with a lie.

Is it anti-American?

While it’s difficult to assess the creators’ intentions, the wider implications of American policy in the region at that moment are really of secondary concern to the plot. While instructive and documented, the film observes rather than condones or vilifies Pyle’s agenda. He believes in it and we need know nothing more in the context of the story.

Much of the success of The Quiet American comes from a first rate script, an underlying conviction in Phillip Noyce’s direction and the manifestation of Fowler and Pyle. Michael Caine had to have known he was being handed a rich, nuanced character and imbues him with a pitch perfect balance of gravitas, frailty and resolve. Fraser’s performance is just as good, as is the work of several of the supporting players including Tzi Ma as Fowler’s local point man and Pham Thi Mai Hoa as Phoung’s sister. However, the casting of Do Thi Hai Yen as Phoung proves to be a liability. Simply put, she lacks the acting chops necessary to convince us that these two men would wage a war for her attention.

Another curiosity of the film is its failure, or rather inconsistency, in replicating the era. Cameraman Christopher Doyle effectively employs Vietnamese locations but when he moves onto interior sets, it feels like another movie. Suddenly what appeared immediate and visceral takes on an allegoric quality that diminishes the drama.

There’s been some debate surrounding the merits of the two versions and, frankly, I find it difficult to measure them with the same yardstick. The original was made in close proximity to the novel’s publication and retains an ominous quality that any version produced following the escalation and conflict that waged for a decade through 1975 cannot possibly replicate. Wisely the filmmakers of the new adaptation embrace what we know and have experienced and situate their Quiet American in a context that is savvier and bears the weight of history.

A Miramax Films release from Intermedia of a Mirage/Saga Films/IMF production. Produced by William Horberg, Staffen Ahrenberg. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Screenplay, Christopher Hampton, Robert Schenkkan, based upon the novel by Graham Greene. Camera, Christopher Doyle. Editor, John Scott. Music, Craig Armstrong. Production design, Roger Ford. Costumes, Norma Mariceau.

Michael Caine (Thomas Fowler), Brendan Fraser (Alden Pyle), Do Thi Hai Yen (Phuong), Rade Sherbedgia (Inspector Vigot), Tzi Ma (Hinh), Robert Stanton (Joe Tunney), Holmes Osborne (Bill Granger), Pham Thi Mia Hoa (Phuong’s Sister).

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