The Quiet American (2002 film)
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The Quiet American | |
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Miramax Films | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
Countries | Germany United States United Kingdom France |
Language | English |
Budget | $30 million |
Box office | $27,674,124 |
The Quiet American is a 2002
The 2002 version of The Quiet American is faithful to the novel, in contrast to the 1958 film version which abandoned Greene's cautionary tale about foreign intervention into anticommunist advocacy of American power. Like the novel, the 2002 film illustrates the moral culpability of American agents in arranging terrorist actions aimed at the French colonial government and the Viet Minh. Going beyond Greene's original work, the film used a montage ending with superimposed images of American soldiers from the intervening decades of the Vietnam War.
Miramax paid $5.5 million for the rights to distribute the film in North America and some other territories, but it shelved the film when test audiences in the wake of the September 11 attacks perceived the film as unpatriotic.[1] The film finally received an Oscar qualification release in November 2002 and went on to gross US$12.9 million in limited theatrical release in the United States. The film received positive reviews from critics and Caine was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Plot
The story is set in 1952 in
Thomas Fowler, who narrates the story, is involved in the war only as a reporter, an unengaged observer, apart from one crucial event. He lives with a young Vietnamese mistress, Phuong. Pyle, who represents America and its policies in Vietnam, poses as an aid worker but is eventually exposed as a
Meanwhile, Pyle has made advances towards Phuong, promising the marriage and security Fowler has thus far refused her. When Fowler discovers Pyle's involvement in the bombings, the reporter urges Pyle to express remorse for the civilian deaths he caused, or express doubts about the certainty of his actions. When Pyle refuses, Fowler tacitly agrees to enable his assistant Hinh, and Hinh's Communist cohorts, to take Pyle captive. When Pyle tries to flee, Hinh fatally stabs him. Phuong subsequently returns to Fowler, and while the local French police commander suspects Fowler had a role in Pyle's murder, he has no evidence and does not pursue the matter.
Cast
- Michael Caine as Thomas Fowler
- Brendan Fraser as Alden Pyle
- Do Thi Hai Yenas Phuong
- Rade Šerbedžija as Inspector Vigot
- Tzi Ma as Hinh
- Robert Stanton as Joe Tunney
- Holmes Osborne as Bill Granger
- Quang Hai as General Trình Minh Thế
Production
The film was shot in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ninh Bình and Hội An in Vietnam.
Reception
The film earned positive reviews from critics, currently holding an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 156 reviews, and an average rating of 7.65/10, with the consensus: "Thoughtful and wonderfully acted, The Quiet American manages to capture the spirit of Green[e]'s novel."[2] It also has a score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[3]
The first rough cut was screened to a test audience on September 10, 2001 and received positive ratings. However, the September 11 attacks took place the next day, and audience ratings dropped with each subsequent screening. Reacting to audience perception that the film was not patriotic, Miramax shelved the film for a year. The Quiet American was finally screened publicly at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2002 to critical acclaim. The film received an Oscar qualification release in November 2002 and a limited release in January 2003.[1]
The theatrical release ran 118 minutes.[4] Subsequent television and video releases cut 17 minutes, and run 101 minutes. Cut were: love scenes between Fowler and his young mistress, Phuong; Pyle's courtship of Phuong while Fowler is away; and much of the exposition of the police investigation at the end of the film.
Accolades
- Best Actor (Michael Caine) - Nominated
- Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Michael Caine) - Nominated
- Best Actor in a Leading Role (Michael Caine) - Nominated
American Film Institute Awards
- Movie of the Year - Won
London Film Critics' Circle Awards
- Director of the Year (Phillip Noyce) - Won
- Actor of the Year (Michael Caine) - Won
- Best Director (Phillip Noyce) - Won
- Top Ten Films - Won
- Best Actor (Michael Caine) - 2nd place
- Best Motion Picture, Drama (Phillip Noyce) - Nominated
- Best Director (Phillip Noyce) - Nominated
- Best Actor - Motion Picture, Drama(Michael Caine) - Won
- Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture, Drama (Đỗ Thị Hải Yến) - Nominated
See also
- List of historical drama films of Asia
References
- ^ a b Thompson, Anne (17 October 2002). "Films With War Themes Are Victims of Bad Timing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
- ^ "The Quiet American (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
- ^ "The Quiet American". Metacritic.
- ^ "The Quiet American".
External links
- The Quiet American at IMDb
- The Quiet American at AllMovie
- The Quiet American at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Quiet American at Box Office Mojo
- "By the Bombs' Early Light" - essay by H. Bruce Franklin on the historical context of the novel and the 2002 film
- "Michael Caine Makes Noise: He dismisses claims that The Quiet American is somehow anti-American" - Interview with film critic Joe Leydon on controversies surrounding the film
- The Quiet American – Intro on YouTube