The Quiet American (film)

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Movie
German title The quiet American
Original title The Quiet American
Country of production Germany
United States
United Kingdom
France
original language English , French , Vietnamese
Publishing year 2002
length 101 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director Phillip Noyce
script Christopher Hampton
Robert Schenkkan
production Staffan Ahrenberg
William Horberg
music Craig Armstrong
camera Christopher Doyle
cut John Scott
occupation

The silent American (original title: The Quiet American ) is a thriller by director Phillip Noyce from 2002. It is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Graham Greene from 1955, which was first filmed in 1958 (German title: Vier Pfeifen Opium ) . The film is set in Vietnam in the early 1950s. The main roles are Michael Caine as the British journalist and Brendan Fraser as the eponymous "silent American".

action

The plot is very closely based on the novel. For a more detailed table of contents and an illustration of the political background, see there .

Saigon , Vietnam , 1952. Thomas Fowler is a reporter for the London Times . He has a young mistress, Phuong.

Fowler becomes friends with the American Alden Pyle, who allegedly works for medical charitable purposes at the US embassy. When Pyle falls in love with Phuong, tensions arise. Ultimately, the men also conflict over their political views. Fowler believes that the Vietnamese first and foremost want to live in peace and have enough rice. Pyle, on the other hand, wants to curb communism and turn Vietnam into a democratic country. When several bombs detonate in Saigon, Fowler discovers that Pyle's medical engagement is just a cover. In fact, the American is an agent of the US secret service CIA and helped bring the explosives for the attacks into the country. Fowler is horrified and then betrays Pyle to the communist underground movement. He even participated indirectly in his murder, whereby he simultaneously eliminated his competitor for Phuong, who had since left him because of Pyle.

background

  • Filming took place in Vietnam and Australia in early 2001 .
  • Production costs were approximately $ 30 million and box office income in US theaters was approximately $ 13 million.
  • The film is an international co-production of the German "IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 2. Produktions KG", the British "Intermedia Films", the French "Saga" and the US-American "Mirage Enterprises" and "Pacifica Film" .

Reviews

The silent American received mostly good to very good, sometimes enthusiastic reviews. Kenneth Turan wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Michael Caine was doing one of the best performances of his career. The thriller is elegant and contemplative . Peter Travers praised Rolling Stone 's portrayal of Michael Caine and the direction of Phillip Noyce.

“Congenial, excellently played film adaptation of the Graham Greene customer against the background of Vietnam in the early 1950s, the end of the French colonial era and the first US interference in the politics of the Far East, hidden behind humanitarian aid […] The mixture the report, introspective humanism and ironic distance hits exactly the tone of the original and convincingly reflects the shock of the hardened journalist in view of the consequences of misguided political interference. "

Der Spiegel drew parallels between the plot that took place immediately before the Vietnam War and the imminent US invasion of Iraq :

"Because" The Quiet American "is not just about wooing in a three-way relationship. Greene's novel is a parable on the entanglement of misguided idealism with terrorism, on the confrontation between American sense of mission and European melancholy. (...) It is the premonition of the horror that Vietnam was still to face with the massive American intervention that later made Graham Greene's text so oppressive. And which also gives the film a highly topical political dimension: the danger of slipping into a war that cannot be won by a superpower that is armed with high-tech weapons. 58,000 GIs died in this conflict and more than three million Vietnamese. "

Awards

Michael Caine has received Oscar , Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his acting performance . He won the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award in 2002 and the London Critics Circle Film Award in 2003 , the Golden Kinnaree Award and the Golden Satellite Award .

Director Phillip Noyce won the National Board of Review Award and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award in 2002 and the London Critics Circle Film Award in 2003. He was nominated for the Golden Satellite Award in 2003.

The film won the 2003 Political Film Society Award for Peace .

The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

Individual evidence

  1. Age rating for The Quiet American . Youth Media Commission .
  2. Review by Kenneth Turan
  3. ^ Review by Peter Travers
  4. The Quiet American. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 28, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. Olaf Ihlau, Jürgen Kremb: A tiger jumping. Der Spiegel, 47/2002

literature

Web links