Set in the early 1950s in Saigon, Vietnam, during the end of the First Indochina War, on one level The Quiet American is a love story about the triangle that develops between Thomas Fowler, a British journalist in his fifties; a young American idealist, supposedly an aid worker, named Alden Pyle; and Phuong, a Vietnamese girl. On another level it is also about the political turmoil and growing American involvement that led to the Vietnam War.
Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine), who narrates the story, is involved in the war only as an observer, apart from one crucial instant. Pyle (Brendan Fraser), who represents America and its policies in Vietnam, is an OSS (Office of Strategic Services) operative sent to steer the war according to America’s interests, and is passionately devoted to the ideas of York Harding, an American foreign policy theorist who said that what Vietnam needed was a "third player" to take the place of both the colonialists and the Vietnamese rebels and restore order. This third player was plainly meant to be America, and so Pyle sets about creating a "Third Force" against the Viet Minh by using a Vietnamese splinter group headed by corrupt militia leader General Thé (based on the actual Trinh Minh The). His arming of Thé's militia with American weaponry leads to a series of terrorist bombings in Saigon. These bombings, dishonestly blamed on the Communists in order to further American outrage, kill a number of innocent people, including women and children.
Meanwhile, Pyle has stolen Fowler's Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen), promising her marriage and security. When Fowler finds out about Pyle's involvement in the bombings, he takes one definitive action to seal all of their fates. He indirectly agrees to let his assistant, Hinh (Tzi Ma), and his Communist cohorts confront Pyle; when Pyle tries to flee, Hinh fatally stabs him. Phuong subsequently returns to Fowler, and while the local French police commander (Rade Šerbedžija) suspects Fowler's role in Pyle's murder, he has no evidence and does not pursue the matter.
Like our image the film is set during the war time when there was alot of tension between the East and West which again is represented through their characters and their relationships. Due to the war there was a lot of spying to try and find information out about the oppositions tactics and weaponry.
Due to the different relationships in the film a sexual tension is created between all three characters which we want to have in our image between the two models; on the one hand there could be this passion and love between the two characters which in our set is highlighted by the location and small space in which they are cofined to. However there is also this hatred, anger and negative tension in the room which we will exaggerate by using atmoshperic lighting and props eg. the gun and cigarettes.
Particularly on the front cover there is a hint of the colour red used to develop images of aggression, danger and blood in our imagination which prepares us for the film; again we are featuring this tactic through the use of a red dress emphasising the woman as the danger in the room.
By researching this film I have created a clearer idea in my head of the sort of feeling we want to have radiating off of each character as well as the general lighting and atmosphere of the room.
No comments:
Post a Comment