Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Quiet American

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-07-2003, 12:33 AM:

Could the release timing possibly have been any worse? (Well, actually, it almost was--it premiered on September 10, 2001.)

Anyway, it's a good film, very well acted and directed. Not a "popcorn movie," though.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 03-02-2003, 12:26 PM:

Regal Warrington Crossing, Warrington PA, 3/1/2003, 3:50 PM show. Hall #18, attendance ~150 -- sold out [Smile]

per the showtimes board at the box office.

As Scott put it, The Quiet American is well acted and well directed. Michael Caine earned his Oscar nomination -- if it weren't for him and director Philip Noyce the movie would never have been released. Noyce got jobbed out of an Oscar nom as did Brendan Fraser.

The Quiet American is still limited, which means you may have to travel a good distance to see it. That plus heightened antiwar awareness by the public is keeping this movie going. As with The Pianist the audience was mostly white-haired ladies and older couples.

Presentation: 1 second of the R1 tail was left on at the R1 > R2 changeover (tail waqs not spliced properly). Green speckles down the right side all the way through R4, R5 and R6. Quiet a bit of dirt in the R4 > R5 and R5 > R6 changeovers. R6 looked dim, at least at the beginning.

Sound: Excellent, either DTS or Dolby Digital.

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 05-03-2003, 06:13 AM:

I finally saw this in third run. Wished I had seen this sooner, before the Oscars. This is a great little film... little in that it didn't have a wider release. It kept my attention throughout. Just the right length. Made me feel a little uncomfortable as an American about the things we do over and over again for the right cause. Michael Caine is perfect in it. He has made so many good films like this in his career. He is certainly the "Gene Hackman" of the United Kingdom.

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-04-2003, 04:46 PM:

I thought it was an excellent film, too. When I saw it a month ago it was only one show per day at one theater in town (The UA Towne Center 8, Clovis, CA.) It has since been expanded to a full day run, but it is still being screened at just the one location. There were probably 150-200 people there the evening I went, and this was a 10:15 PM showing on Saturday night.