MovieFreak.com - "The Quiet American" DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser power a stylish political thriller where love and war collide in Southeast Asia! Set in early 1950s Vietnam - a young American (Fraser) becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle when he falls for the beautiful mistress of a British journalist (Caine). Asia war is waged around them, these three only sink deeper into a world of drugs, passion and betrayal where nothing is as it seems!

Here is one of my favorite films of 2002. Michael Caine is simply great and very convincing as Tom Fowler, the British journalist writing and living in Vietnam, and dating a young Vietnamese woman (Tzi Ma). Into his life comes Brendan Fraser, playing Thomas Pile, a young American with a welcoming smile and a gentle attitude. These two men become friends, journey through parts of Vietnam, and ultimately uncover each of their own intentions.

That is why The Quiet American, directed by Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence), is such an involving film. The characters exist in a place where they stand out. Their home is Vietnam, but they are considered tourists just like any other person visiting from a different country. In this regard the script allows both characters to stand out and make an impact as they story moves along.

Moreover, The Quiet American is adapted from the classic novel of the same name by famous author Graham Greene. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton and Phillip Noyce craft a script that captures the novel’s ideals and moods, although compensating a few things in order to achieve a considerable running time. Despite omissions from the novel, the script is engaging. Again, the characters are the center piece of the film, but it’s also the location that gives the film a certain mood; one that is both peaceful (one’s love) and dangerous (considering the tensions between certain people of Vietnam).

However, the script’s pace moves pretty slow, as does the film, but it’s not a negative aspect. This film thrives and relies on its characters as they move through places, by people, and onto revealing intentions. And with actors like Michael Caine and a surprising Brendan Fraser, giving his best performance since School, the film’s reliability is in good and determined hands.

Director Phillip Noyce strikes an interesting cord in his career, presenting yet another very good film after Rabbit-Proof Fence in 2002, marking two of his films with respect and recognition, both within the same year; a terrific achievement for the director. I think only Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh have recently achieved this (in a timeframe spanning some six to eight years, perhaps—I could be wrong, but anyway).

Moreover, Noyce’s direction is genuine, articulating, and decisive. So many different things in the film feel realistic, such as the relationship between Michael Caine and Tzi Ma, the bunker-under-attack scene, and the town square bombing. Another great contribution is the cinematography, production design, and the film score by Craig Armstrong. Though these are just examples, and many more things make The Quiet American a terrific film despite a very slow pace.

Buena Vista presents The Quiet American in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Compression artifacts or pixilation does not show up, a good sign. The film’s color palette is sometimes blemishing, but overall it is bright and subdued, as necessary. Color detail looks fine. Dark tones and black levels are a bit inconsistent, and grain appears in dark scenes. Buena Vista’s overall presentation looks fine and accurate.

Buena Vista presents The Quiet American in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Dialog scenes are mostly clear and easy to understand. Craig Armstrong’s film score is excellent and it comes across nicely in this presentation. Surround usage is evident especially in scenes with the most sound effects and ambient noise, although there are not many of those in the film. Nevertheless, the sound of those scenes makes for a good experience. The rest of the soundtrack concentrates on the front speakers and overall surround usage is limited to a few exceptions.

Feature Commentary – The amount of participants here is quite overwhelming, and about the same number appears on the commentary for Philip Noyce’s Rabbit-Proof Fence DVD. Providing commentary and recollections from the production are Noyce, Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Tzi Ma, Executive Producer Sydney Pollack, Executive Producers Staffan Ahrenberg and William Horberg, Co-Writer Christopher Hampton, and Tran An Hua, the Interpreter and Advisor to Phillip Noyce. Most of these people have distinctive voices and they also add interesting things to the track. Fraser, however, sounds a little too quiet and it’s hard to understand his every word. Overall, this commentary is quite comprehensive and is definitely worth listening to. On a side note, it would have been better if the commentary were split in two (creating two separate tracks) so as not to feel crowded as it does.

Anatomy of a Scene (22 mins) – The Sundance Channel produces these documentaries for specific films. Here the documentary explores a pivotal scene in the film involving Michael Caine’s character and a town square bombing, though it also delves into the story and characters. The anatomy of the scene deconstructs into a few chapters that concern the location, cinematography, acting, and sound design of the bombing scene. The documentary features interviews with the main cast and crew, and also showcases the scene as photographed from six different angles. Overall, it’s a very good behind-the-scenes documentary and continues the importance/coolness of the Sundance Channel Anatomy of a Scene series.

Original Featurette (5 mins) – This brief featurette entertains the story and acting of the film, but is ultimately too thin and seems more like a promo of some kind. Here interviews are intercut with clips of the film and behind-the-scenes footage.

Rounding out the extras is a section featuring three replicated Book Reviews of Graham Greene’s novel from the New Republic, The Common Wealth, and The Saturday Review. Also included are DVD-ROM links (enhanced Vietnam timeline) and the film’s Theatrical Trailer, plus bonus trailers for Chicago, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Frida, Gangs of New York, and something called “Miramax New Golden Age,” which is a self-proclaiming Oscar promo reel (2:30).

There are obviously not a lot of extras here, and only two of the four extras are really worth it, the commentary and the Sundance special, and for reasons of great quality I have no problem to give the extras a recommendable rating. Again, two commentaries would have been terrific, and perhaps a set of deleted scenes (although I’m not sure they exist). Still, these extras perform real well.

You can select to view the film with optional English subtitles. The DVD’s menus are not animated. The 101-minute feature is organized into eighteen chapters.

Miscellaneous: Please note the DVD cover displayed at the top of this page is not the final cover art.

The Quiet American is one of my favorite films of 2002, and the reason is because the acting, directing, writing, composing, and photographing all come together to create a perfect whole, and if it weren’t for the slow pace this film would be even better. The video/audio quality is pretty good, and of course the two extras are very good. This film and disc comes highly recommended.

THE MOVIE	8
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	7
THE EXTRAS	7
OVERALL (not an average)	8