Hey folks, Harry here... I really love that Phillip Noyce has gone back to smaller films of quality from the giant blockbuster films he made with the Jack Ryan films. These films are bringing out the best in him and you can feel in this work that passion which is so clearly behind the project. Good Show! Here's another great look at a film that is quite affecting for folks!

Hi Harry,

Went to a screening of "The Quiet American" followed by a Q & A session with director Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm, Clear and Present Danger).

First to the film. It's based on a Graeme Greene novel of the same title and stars Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. Caine plays a British journalist stationed in Vietnam in the early 1950's, who befriends the titular Fraser, an idealistic and naÔve eye doctor fresh off the boat. But when Fraser falls for Caine's mistress (Vietnamese lovely Do Thi Hai Yen) a love triangle is formed that leaves you wondering who is telling the truth and who you can trust.

For a change reality pervades a romance on celluloid with Caine feeling dwarfed by the young, hunky Fraser, and not being a type of Sean Connery I-can-bed-girls-a-third-of-my-age guy. Noyce actually revealed that Connery was his first choice for the role but they couldn't get him - well, they caught a real break as Caine delivers possibly the best performance of his career, and that's really saying something. His opium addicted, lying, insecure and bitter journalist is a superb creation and should see him come into play during the award season once the film is finally released in the States. One scene where he breaks down in tears is as emotionally devastating as anything he has eve delivered in his illustrious career. The film is an excellent exploration of a time in history that has been brushed under the carpet to a degree. French colonist and the communists are vying for control along with various violent splinter groups. Any American who doesn't know what role their country played at this juncture would be well advised to check out this film.

Which brings me to the Q & A session and how the film's release came to be delayed for so long. Noyce explained how the film enjoyed a promising first test screening on September 10 2001. The following day's events were clearly going to effect the fortunes of a film that deals with America being sponsors of terrorism. Harvey Weinstein (or Harvey Scissorhands, as he referred to him) was late to the screening as he had been away buying Buffalo Soldiers. As Noyce started tightening (and to his mind, improving) the film, they quickly found that while test scores were rising in Australia with every screening, they were dropping sharply in America as people reacted to the scary terrorist climate they were living in. Hence the project being delayed for so long.

Indeed the film may not have seen the light of day were it not for Caine, who threatened Miramax with never working with them again, and with refusing to do any publicity for his upcoming film The Actors. The glorious reception the film received on being screened at the Toronto film festival was what finally earned it the right to be released. Noyce also spoke in the past tense of his career as a "Hollywood" director, stating that Star Power had made it almost impossible to make intelligent films there, or as he put it, "It's all set up for actors and the lunatics are now running the asylum."

He said his next film will hopefully be Kon-Tiki, the story of biologist Thor Heyerdahl who, in an attempt to prove his theory of the South Sea Islands being settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east decided to journey 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. His dream lead man would be Jude Law, who apparently bares a striking physical resemblance to Heyerdahl.

That's all, don't know if it will be of interest to you, but if it is you can call me,

Mr Grocer