[[imdb:0258068 The Quiet American]] is the second movie adaptation of the Graham Greene novel about an older English journalist living in Vietnam in the early 1950s with his young Vietnamese lover. A love trinagle ensues with a visiting american, described as quiet at one point, as well as the beginnings of war between the communists and French.

Somehow this movie reminds me heavily of [[imdb:0104507 Indochine]], mostly in its atmospshere (probably not surprising, both were filmed in Vietnam). Phillip Noyce did a great job with this film. And it seems really well written, you keep vascillating in how you feel about the characters and their motives.

Michael Caine does a superb job as Tom Fowler, the transformation we seem him going from austere to vulnerable is moving. Do Hai Yen is gorgeous, intriguing, and wistful. I’ve never been able to get a good lock on Brendan Frasier, is he a good actor or not. I bought his performance in this movie, that’s for sure.

The score was really terrific, I’ve added it to my Amazon wishlist. Composer Craig Armstrong wrote some truly haunting melodies, I’m going to have to keep my eye on him. After a little digging I discovered he also did the Molin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet soundtracks, and also collaborated with Massive Attack, all soundtracks and CDs that I really liked.