The Quiet American has won multiple awards, including "Movie of the Year" at the U.S. AFI Awards in 2003 follows Thomas Fowler, a British reporter, during his time in Saigon as he covered the war between the French and the Vietnamese Communists. The main characters included the British reporter, Thomas Fowler, his Vietnamese mistress Phuong, and the American spy, Alden Pyle. Thomas Fowler is an older British journalist that was stationed in Saigon to write stories. He was married to his Catholic wife in London but had another Vietnamese lover in Saigon who continually asked Fowler to divorce his wife so that they could be official. His lover, Truong, becomes a source of conflict between him and his American friend Pyle who is an American spy, unbeknownst to Fowler. The Quiet American takes place in Saigon during the 1950s and captures America's early involvement in the Vietnam war.
Fowler embodies impartiality throughout the film as a journalist, a friend, and a lover. He values objectivity and does not like taking sides during conflicts. Another important character was the American spy Alden Pyle who is the fictional representation of CIA agent Edward Lansdale. Pyle had the opposite ideology of Fowler and believed that people should become involved, especially in the war. While Fowler liked facts, Pyle based a lot of his views on abstract ideas.
Impartiality and action are important themes in the film and their most prominent example is at the end of the film where Fowler must decide whether or not to get rid of Pyle to save Saigon from further bombings or to stay impartial and keep his friend. Thomas embodies impartiality throughout the film until his final decision with Pyle. At the beginning of the film, he tells Pyle that as a reporter he has no opinion on the situation and never takes sides.
Another important theme that arises in the film is death. As a reporter of the war, Fowler is constantly reporting on deaths and can never seem to escape it throughout the film. Death is the one thing that is absolute in Fowler's life. One of the biggest moments of death during the film was the bombing in Saigon that occurred just outside of a café that Fowler frequents. He saw many people torn apart, distraught, and killed in the city he lived in.
I recommend this film to people who are interested in the Vietnamese war and want to see the war from a European perspective. The director of the film is an Australian named Phillip Noyce who started directing in 1977. This film is easy to watch although I would recommend reading about Vietnamese culture and the Vietnam war before watching for the best understanding of the film.
Review of The Quiet American
