Great example of adapted fiction (From Western Telegraph)

Great example of adapted fiction

The Quiet American Directed by Phillip Noyce Starring Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Rade Serbedzija, Tzi Ma, Robert Stanton, and Holmes Osborne. Cert. 15, Dur. 100 mins

It seems this week is the cinema equivalent of a slow news week. But the films on release this week would have garnered far more attention if they weren't sandwiched between Harry Potter 2, James Bond 20 and the coming of the next Lord Of The Rings! In fact there are still some movies on release that are worthy of a look. 'The Quiet American' is the best of this week's releases. It's adapted from a story by the great Graham Greene. There are some writers whose literary work could be taken as the rough instructions for making a movie, and Greene is certainly one of them. He tells gripping human stories, but washes them with the colour and beauty that cinema was made for. This adaptation, by Christopher Hampton, is a great example not only of Greene's style, but also of how great works of fiction can be adapted.

Apart from the excellent script, praise must go to the director Phillip Noyce. Something must have sparked his directing genius when he started on this project because 'The Quiet American', (which was shelved by Miramax Films back in 2001) is pretty good.

A remake of the J. L. Mankiewicz 1958 film, it is set in Saigon in 1952. It was then a beautiful, exotic, and mysterious city caught in the grips of the Vietnamese war. The story surrounds a quiet but thankfully audible American called Alden Pyle (played by Brendan Fraser). He's an idealistic American aid worker, a new bred of ex-pat who befriends the local London Times correspondent Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine). Fowler represents the old ways of the empire forced to meet with the fresh-faced energy of the new power in the world, America.

When Fowler introduces Pyle to his beautiful young Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Hai Yen) the three become swept up in a tempestuous love triangle that leads to a series of startling revelations and finally - murder. Nothing, and no one, is as it seems.

It's a classic because it does so well in telling the story of the love triangle but set against, and intertwined with, the intriguing involvement of America in the initial rumblings of the American war in South-east Asia that was to follow soon after.

'The Quiet American' is refreshingly sophisticated. It has everything that a great film needs including a great performance from Michael Caine, which those in the know are suggesting may put him on the right lists come Oscar time.

So often these days remakes are incredibly disappointing. In this case however, it's worthy of all the praise it has already garnered. VAUGHAN SIVELL