Graham Greene's 'The Quiet American' is wonderful evocation of Saigon and Vietnam during the French War. The story revolves around Mr. Fowler, a cynical British journalist, and Pyle a young American idealist both of whom are in love with Phuong, a young Vietnamese woman. Unfortunately, the film is a bitter disappointment. Greene's deftly crafted canvas has been brazenly mis-handled with the film applying impatient and ill-defined strokes.
'The Quiet American' uses the love triangle as the focal point of the story when it should have been rather more focal on the political and personal intrigue within the book. The film is certainly a commercial one, dumbing down the themes and spoon feeding the audience. I was even let down by the production values, as it did not transfer the lavish and brooding atmosphere in Greene's work. The romance is not creditable and the characters are vastly under developed and malnourished. The film does not spend enough time in any one place and this is probably its biggest fault.
Maybe I am prejudice by my memory of the book but the film is way off-key, poorly conceived and mis-aligned with Greene's words. If the purpose of the film was to capture the book it needs to re-study the masterpiece.
'The Quiet American' uses the love triangle as the focal point of the story when it should have been rather more focal on the political and personal intrigue within the book. The film is certainly a commercial one, dumbing down the themes and spoon feeding the audience. I was even let down by the production values, as it did not transfer the lavish and brooding atmosphere in Greene's work. The romance is not creditable and the characters are vastly under developed and malnourished. The film does not spend enough time in any one place and this is probably its biggest fault.
Maybe I am prejudice by my memory of the book but the film is way off-key, poorly conceived and mis-aligned with Greene's words. If the purpose of the film was to capture the book it needs to re-study the masterpiece.