A Quiet American

[Khun_Kong]

Hope this film makes it to TL (and wherever else you may be). Basic plot concerns a Brit correspondent (Michael Caine in one of his absolutely finest roles) in Saigon in 1952, just as the French are leaving Vietnam and the Americans are starting to build their presence.

 

While the film does have a strong anti-war sentiment, that is not why I recommend seeing it. What I think might interest other viewers is the subplot concerning an attractive Vietnamese taxi-dancer and what she and her sister must do to survive in an environment with few options. I think her underlying motives, relationships with farangs and resulting actions could speak for many of the Thai ladies who are topics of discussion on this board.

 

The film was originally scheduled to be released just after 9/11 in the US, but was postponed because it was thought that it might be perceived as anti-American. Seems that there's just no good time to release some films.

 

 

 

 

[adikgede]

See this thread started by Mr Kasanova some time ago.

[Khun_Kong]

Thanks for the tip on that great thread. I was in TL when that thread ran, not logging in and I didn't even think about searching for previous posts before posting this. I'll make sure I pop any other comments over to there. Seems like many board members share some common sensibilities on this film.

[BelgianBoy]

Hi,

 

I'm moving this to 'Art & Culture' where it belongs......

 

Cheers !

[markle]

The Quiet American has been shown here Once at the last Film Festival and more recently at Scala/Lido as part of a 'Oscars Movie' program.

I saw it a couple weeks ago.

Great movie.

[Khun_Kong]

I forwarded some of the posts on this topic to a female farang friend of mine, the lady with whom I saw this film. I thought her questions in the last paragraph were particulary thought-provoking, especially considering the low number of women who post to this board. Anyway, FWIW (my note to her in red, her response in blue):

 

[color:"red"]Me: "What follows are a series of interesting comments from one of the web boards that I read, from Thailand. You won't find any political comments, because they are considered inappropriate for the board. I particularly like the rumor that Graham Greene actually fell for a Viet woman. By the way,as you read,TG= Thai Girl:"[/color]

 

[color:"blue"]Her: Yes, heard that rumor too, and certainly rings true from reading much of Greene a long time ago.

 

Interesting comments - interesting that political comments are considered inappropriate. Are there other Thai venues outside the expat community in which politics are appropriate for open discussion?

 

Interesting to me, as a woman, that this board (or at least this one selection of snippets) appears to be a predominantly (maybe virtually all?) discussion by men. Sure that's not the case generally, but interesting ntl.

 

Here's another second-hand perspective. My first husband (married when I was 19, divorced at 22, what was I thinking) and I are still close friends and involved in each other's lives. His favorite aunt was a military wife stationed in Thailand, and his fascination with the country led him to marry one of those "beautiful creatures" mentioned in the postings. M***'s an accomplished jazz musician, they met in a gamelan (that eerily beautiful Indonesian music I've mentioned to you), and have two sons, one of whom is his father's son with his father's musical gift and is really an engaging and stunningly beautiful kid. M***, however, is increasingly frustrated with his marriage. The beauty and seduction of his D*** are long since demystified by the realities of childrearing and the daily grind of life in a DC suburb, and he's wondering what substantive companionship he may have sacrificed for the web of mysterious beauty of a TG. Interesting too that their second son is an ethereal, enchanting boy who is not really fully present in any moment, very much like his mother, who is his primary influence.

 

This, of course, is one isolated instance. "The Quiet American" depicts the same kind of mesmerizing enchanted beauty who, as pointed out, can seduce and charm a man in one breath. In light of these observations, which are the only close-up ones I have, central questions the movie raised for me are: what happens to the idea of a long-term, committed, monogamous relationship with someone who will grow as an equal partner and still be beautiful with some years on her? How possible is this in an environment of enchantment? What does this mean for native TGs for whom the bloom has faded? What, realistically, does this mean for men with some age on them who will inevitably have to question the commitment of a young enchantress who will have many rivals for her affections? Those questions intrigue me, and are sub-texts in the movie that haven't been pointed out in the web discussions. What do you think?" [/color]

 

 

Well- what DO you think?

[check_bin_krap]

"what happens to the idea of a long-term, committed, monogamous relationship with someone who will grow as an equal partner and still be beautiful with some years on her? How possible is this in an environment of enchantment? What does this mean for native TGs for whom the bloom has faded? What, realistically, does this mean for men with some age on them who will inevitably have to question the commitment of a young enchantress who will have many rivals for her affections? "

 

..........................................................................

 

To take the movie first, I don't think age was the main reason the American got his chance. The big problem was that the elderly bloke could not give Phuong what she desperatly wanted, marriage and security. I think the same situation could have happened even if the roles were reversed, the boyfriend young and the rival old. If he had been able to give Phuong marriage, the American would never have had any chance. That is based upon what I know of Vietnamese girls.

 

When it comes to real life, I think anyone who brings a beautiful Asian girl to his own country will see that plenty of men chase her. I certainly saw and laughed of that in my previous marriage, even if ex is older than me.

 

I will get into the situation mentioned with "young enchantress" soon, as my fiance is 20 years younger than me. We are moving to my country. It does not concern me a bit, there are other worries in the relationship which will be more difficult. My view is that if the relationship can not take that, its not worth a lot. I also know the personality of my fiance enough to know that it won't be a problem. She is far more occupied and concerned about me, which causes friction. I hope she calms down.

 

It will still be interesting when male students at the uni she will go to here start to chase her. But I somehow think of that as fun and somthing to joke about. Time will show?

 

With a girl from my own country age would have been a big issue. The difference in mentality and the gap is big. The strange part is that we older foreigners are attractive to many Asian girls because we have more modern views when it comes to equality between the sexes than our younger Asian "rivals".

 

Another point which my fiance makes is that she feels she can trust a older man better than a younger one, she wants stability. She does not want a guy who runs after other girls.

 

I feel we will need a lot of ongoing work to make sure we stay tuned in all aspects. If we manage that, and only then the relationship has a chance. That would have been needed young/old or whatever.

 

Cheers!

[markle]

"You won't find any political comments, because they are considered inappropriate for the board

> I'd say that's because nobody is interested in talking politics.

 

"the web of mysterious beauty of a TG"

> TGs are only a mystery because the men don't or won't take the time to get to know them. Sorry but anyone who marries a TG because of her 'mysterious beauty' is a moron.

 

[Khun_Kong]

 

Again, the response in red is from a female farang friend (FFF? ) of mine

 

[color:"red"] Two comments make me curious about what experiences precipitated them:

The mention of "Caveat emptor," and another whose author said, "... We all have been seduced by these beautiful creatures. Some of us like me have been lucky to barely get away from their enchanting grasp, but some have have fallen pray to their irresistable charm and beauty."

 

This one I find most interesting: "... We are moving to my country. It does not concern me a bit, there are other worries in the relationship which will be more difficult .... She is far more occupied and concerned about me, which causes friction. I hope she calms down."

I'm inferring that this alludes to an unequally dependent - rather than a mutually interdependent - relationship in which he would prefer she build more of her own identity. Know this is certainly a factor in my ex's case. He took the girl out of the country, but the country largely defined her identity - but we'll talk more about that.

 

This fascinates me: "... The strange part is that we older foreigners are attractive to many Asian girls because we have more modern views when it comes to equality between the sexes than our younger Asian "rivals".

I would guess these more modern views are not attributes just of older foreigners, but young ones as well. This more egalitarian approach, however, combined with financial security and the assumption of fidelity, could certainly, as you(?) said, appear the ideal ticket to a better life in a land of few opportunities for women without skills, a profession, money or mobility.

 

Just off-the-cuff responses - want to think about how this foreign issue compares to perhaps similar issues here or anywhere else in terms of socio-economic, class or other gender inequalities and desires for an easy ticket to "success" - however that may be defined. [/color]

 

[Guest]

>>>Well- what DO you think? <<<

 

 

well, i think that you should introduce that femalefarangwoman to the board. would make some of the discussions a lot more interesting, and would maybe stop those guys who constantly have to bitch about farang women.

 

and, to the point of the enchantress. well, sounds good in novels and some romantic idea etc., but very soon people will realise that same enchantress is like any other human, farts and burps, and has a very critical temper at that particular time of the month...