Book Review: The Quiet American by Graham Greene

This was a huge treat. After slogging through The Secret Agent by Conrad this was an amazing read along the same line of topic.

Instead of a secret Russia agent in late 1800s London, we have a CIA operative in 1950’s Vietnam. Other than those similarities, there is little comparison. While Conrad and the Agent are slow moving to the point of boredom and the language therein is overly filled with adjectives and extraneous descriptions, Greene and American are clear and concise. Greene realizes that there is much value in what is unsaid as there is what is said.

American is built as a triangle between a Vietnamese woman who is looking for the best benefactor possible, the aforementioned American CIA operative, and a crusty British journalist. The characters make for obvious allegories between the third world, old world imperialism, and new world American hegemony. Greene has his clear biases in portraying the American as an ignorant, blundering—even if well meaning—force that is book read but reality blind. Americans crashing about, causing unplanned damage through the unintended but foreseeable consequences of their actions is a recurring theme throughout the second half of the 20th century but seeing it called out so clearly in the mid 1950’s is stunning. Greene is an incredible observer of international politics and national character. I don’t necessarily agree with the conclusions he comes to through his proxy-character of the English reporter (who is given his own faults—adulterer, coward, drug addict) but damn if he isn’t good at his observations.

Seeing forecasts of the coming Vietnam war through this work (that Greene did not know but certainly guessed at) is brilliant while his portrayal of the use of a third force and insurgent campaigns carries parallels to major US conflicts to come including Afghanistan and Iraq and hearing critiques made regarding mistakes made 70 years ago that still haven’t been learned means this should be required reading for any individual interested in military conflict and the repercussions of seemingly well meaning actions of major world powers monkeying around in locales where they haven’t been welcomed. Just a wicked tourdeforce in this book. Couldn’t place this book higher in my pantheon of readable, enjoyable, brilliantly crafted written works.

Film Review: The Third Man

A general fan of noir films of all ages as well as a Welles fan, I got around to watching this one in the past week. While not as “fun” or as “enjoyable” as say Casablanca it is just as much a classic.

Start with the cast and production…you have the widely underrated Joseph Cotten in the lead as an American fiction writer traveling to post WWII Vienna in hopes of filling a job for a friend he hasn’t seen in a long time played by Orson Welles. A more perfect duo has likely not been seen on film between this and Citizen Kane and other Welles works, they work magic with one another. The film’s writer? Graham Greene, he of The Quiet American and other landmark novels. The producer? David O Selznick of Gone With the Wind, Rebecca, King Kong and numerous other famous films. That just scratches the surface of which I won’t dive here which includes director Carol Reed’s use of camera angles, deep focus on some truly lush sets, lighting design, and a deep examination of the concluding chase through the sewers of Vienna which is simply legendary.

The ruins of postwar Vienna are filmed extensively showing the destruction across large swaths of the city while it tries to get on with its life while being partitioned by various competing parties in the Americans, Brits, Russians, and French. This makes the film dark enough in its tone itself before we even get to the root issue which is the theft and reselling of diluted penicillin to the needy by the friend Cotten has come to see and who is now reportedly dead of a car accident. Hundreds of children and Austrians in general are dying or coming down with crippling diseases because of the actions of Cotten’s scamming friend. Further, a Czech actress posing as a local Austrian under false pretenses to escape the clutches of the Russians is in love with Welles character. All of which creates a doomed love triangle with no hope of redemption for anyone. Some of the darkest, nihilist dialogue created for a Hollywood film is found here: “You know, I never feel comfortable on these sort of things. Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare?”

Just great stuff. You won’t come away with a smile but will come away with a knowledge you have just watched of the best films ever made.