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Two movies
Movern Callar is a mastery of the understatement, the unspoken and the unexpressed. A dark film, its images border on the surreal, its broiling emotions tucked just under the surface. I spent the first ten minutes in tears, cracking beneath its deliberate and painful non-intensity, its non-drama. The music is nothing short of excellent. On the other hand, The Quiet American is a bad movie about bad things. Perhaps it's because the ideas it presents are not new to me, so I did not experience any shock from the story it tells. However, I think it is close to a truth. Stereotypical images, stereotypically bad music, poorly drawn characters, unconvincing performance by Brendan Fraser. Interesting to note that it was based on a novel by Graham Greene, which I have not yet read. It's a bad movie, but not too terrible — acceptable for lazy viewing. Surprisingly, I was most irked by the character of Phuong, the beautiful, silky figure of a Vietnamese woman whom both men were in love with. A shallowly portrayed character, devoid of any hint of personality - let's face it, if one were to present a cliché, one can at least make an effort to present it well. Karl asked me why — of all stereotypes the film faithfully adhered to — this appeared to trouble me most. After some thought, I decided it's because the stereotype that Phuong was based upon is probably very close to the stereotype that is tagged upon me as a woman of South East Asian origins. It does not help the situation when mainstream films extend upon this stereotype — that the desirable Asian woman is pretty, quiet, softly fragile and demure, and therefore needs "protection" and "guidance" from macho men, white or not. Posted by sniffles at April 01, 2003 09:58 PM