The Quiet American

By Jeff Kubik

In the early 1950s, Vietnam was a colonial possession defended by French occupation forces. Its people were the companions of visiting troops and the casualties of clashes between French and communist soldiers. Caught in a triangle of incompatible allegiances, the people of Vietnam endured massacres and economic devastation.

Directed by Philip Noyce, The Quiet American–adapted from a novel by Graham Greene– is the microcosmic story of three people absorbed in this building conflict. Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is a British journalist whose involvement in Vietnam has left him with a local mistress named Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen). Unable to leave his wife and compelled to return home, Fowler finds himself at a crossroads.

When the seemingly naïve American Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) arrives, Fowler’s love for Phuong is challenged. While competing for the same woman, and allied to different elements of the conflict, the two men strike a tenuous friendship. Yet all is not as it seems in a country whose identity is as uncertain as the story’s protagonists.

Moving with a deliberate pace, the film does not rush headlong into the intrigue and dramatic confrontation that characterizes its ending. Instead, it builds its characters and setting with a subtle insinuation that borders on sedate.

Like the opium-addicted Fowler, The Quiet American doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere, preferring to simply take in the ambience of a markedly foreign nation.

While the setting serves to accentuate the unique beauty of Vietnam, it is not a dominant element of the film. Darkness fills the environments; from the dimly-lit dancing parlour where Fowler first meets Phuong, to a lone guard tower juxtaposed against a horizon of rice patties at dusk.

In many ways, this film is a statement on the influence of foreign interests in a vulnerable country, foreshadowing the more familiar involvement of American “police action.” Yet its message does not direct the viewer toward a single conclusion, choosing instead to allow the audience to sort through the ambiguity inherent to the situation.

The Quiet American explores a country affected deeply by its contemporary history, yet it is by no means a violent film. It is slow and haunting, leaving the viewer with an experience that defies expectations of a love story set in a war-zone. It is without passion, but not without insight.

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