living, thinking and writing
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| PRACTICE living, thinking and writing |
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Sunday, March 09, 2003 The Quiet American We went to see this movie partly because that is the only one, for the past three or four months, received a bit of positive assessment from the New Yorker (who even deemed Chicago and The Pianist as total failure). Second, most of other movies in theaters recently are really farce, which I felt could not even make you laugh. So we decided going for some serious thing. Lastly but not the least importantly, I love Graham Greene¡¯s writing style, although the only thing I really read is his the End of the affair. Now I know he is not only good in writing about love and faith, he is also very political and anti-American. I have to say, I truelly admire the tolerance of American culture, which allows this British novel going to big screen, not only once, but twice (the first attempt was in 1955). The story is revealing America¡¯s conspiracy of legitimizing their war on Vietnam by setting up and manipulating terrorism towards innocent civilians. I can not help to associate the story to current war on Iraq, and it keeps me reflecting more about media image and framing. And only after the movie I realized the negative connotation of "Quiet" in the title, how Graham dislike and disdain American! There is another story line about a triangle love affair among the British man, the American man, and a pretty Vietnamese girl. To me it symbolized the Westerners¡¯ incurable obsession with this mysterious land of IndoChina and wistfulness for deep involvement. The girl moved in and out between the two men, which to me, symbolized the fate of this colonized nation. Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer, is very famous in Greater China area, since his classic work on a bunch of Hongkong movies like In the mood for love, Chungking Express, or Comrade, almost a love story (one of my favorite). In this movie, he catches the innocent and dangerous beauty of Vietnam, so raw and so rich, both of its natural scenery and city scenario. Michael Cane is magnificent. He delivers a strong performance even better than his Cider house rules, in my opinion. If I have to choose between him and Jack Nicholson for an Oscar winner, I will go for him. He is so reserve while intense at the right moment, profound and elegant. Watching him, you will realize there is something you can no achieve until you are getting older and wiser. posted by lmeimei @12:18 AM| permanent link| | |
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