Le Vilain Américain

I was in Viet Nam from June 1963 to March 1964. We saw "The Ugly American" at the American movie theatre in Saigon, the Capitol Kinh Do.

There were many Americans and their dependents in Saigon and in Viet Nam at this time--most were isolated with cocktail parties, teas, and American activities. Most American children went to the American Community School outside of Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Their parents belonged to the exclusive Cercle Sportiff, hobnobbing with the Vietnamese elite who monetarily benefited from the war. There were opportunities for American civilians to teach the Vietnamese English, but I never knew of any opportunities for Americans to learn Vietnamese or national customs.

Many of the children of the diplomatic corps were instructed that if their shirt tails hung out or if they ate with their fingers when eating implements were available, they would be considered "ugly Americans." Nothing was said about the teenage boys drinking, whoring, and racing their motorcycles through the darkened Saigon streets in the early morning hours. Nothing was said about how we knew the way to "win" the war against the popular nationalist freedom fighter known as Ho Chi Minh who organized the successful campaigns against the Japanese and French occupiers.

Perhaps if we had listened a little more, learned the language and customs, and understood that the desire for national freedom is not communism, we wouldn't still be trying to "win" the Vietnam War.

Based on the very famous novel, The Ugly American shows the attempted spread of democracy with a cynical slant. When an intellectual idealist becomes the new American ambassador to a southeast Asian country, he had great hopes for how he can help the people and keep the great American dignity intact. As soon as he debarks from the plane with his wife, he gets a very rude awakening. An angry mob descends on them, and with very little American security, they barely escape with their lives. That's only the beginning. . .

My favorite scene was when Marlon has his first board meeting at the embassy. His coworkers are all lax and blasé, each unwilling to take responsibility for the security breach during the abovementioned crisis. He dresses the men down in a fantastic angry monologue about the importance of protocol. While every word he says is true, the real-world application of his theories don't always turn out. There are betrayals, rebellions, and near-misses around every corner.

I could tell from the overall tone, script, and intensity from the actors that The Ugly American was supposed to be a big mover and shaker. I tried really hard to get into the spirit of things, but I wasn't as moved or shaken as I expected. Since it's still a timeless subject, I think perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood. If this subgenre appeals to you, check it out. It's a classic.

Oscar winner Marlon Brando stars in this prescient drama from 1963 about a newly appointed ambassador heading to his old hunting grounds to broker a deal w/the people of Sarkhan (a fictional Asian country) as the West tries to bring industry (namely a road) to the masses. Arriving already under a cloud of controversy due to his past association w/the rebel leader, Eiji Okada, Brando has his hands full the moment he arrives as he & his wife, Sandra Church, try to broker a peace deal. When Okada & Brando break bread their casual drink & conversation make way for seething sentiments about the nature of the progress being made in the country w/both sides not budging from their positions. Okada's people & movement soon fall prey to Russian & Red China intervention which sets up the final conflict on the beleaguered road being constructed. Made just 2 years before America's entry into the Vietnam War, much of the dialogue could be lifted piecemeal to the rhetoric being lobbied from both sides for & against the war w/Brando, the consummate good looking cock of the walk, pleading his case in vain especially viewing the film 60 years after the fact. Also starring Arthur Hill as one of Brando's co-workers, Pat Hingle (who co-starred w/Brando in On the Waterfront) as the construction foreman & Brando's real life older sister Jocelyn playing Hingle's wife.

It's 1963 and the United States is getting drawn into the internal affairs of a Southeast Asian country named Sarkan. It's got a Communist north and a western leaning south. It has a king ruling with a prime minister with the habit of employing a lot of his relatives in positions of authority.

What makes it a bit different from Vietnam where we were getting drawn in bit by bit is that Sarkan also has a charismatic leader who retired DeGaulle like after Sarkan won its independence from Japanese occupation. He's the key to solving the country's problems for better or worse.

Because of a past relationship with Eiji Okada who plays the Sarkanese DeGaulle, Marlon Brando has been appointed ambassador to Sarkan. Back during World War II Brando and Okada worked well together doing damage to the Japanese occupiers.

Problem now is that the Sarkanese see the Americans as occupiers and the Communists are exploiting the situation to the fullest. A road called Freedom Road that the USA is constructing has become a flash-point of resentment.

It all ends as badly here as it did for America in Vietnam though I certainly won't go into details. Brando delineates a very good interpretation of a Cold Warrior diplomat. We and the Russians fought for global primacy with competing ideologies for over 40 years. Neither superpower was particularly cognizant of the wishes of the countries that blood was spilled over.

Eiji Okada was a major star in Japanese cinema and this was his only English language film. He's an impassioned Sarkanese patriot who's exploited by some evil forces and only realizes it too late.

Smartest guy in the room and in the film is Pat Hingle who is the boss constructing the road. His wife played by Jocelyn Brando runs a hospital for the natives and is beloved. He offers the only real solution to winning the hearts and minds of the Sarkanese. Build a hospital somewhere where you want your bloody road to run and the Sarkanese will fall all over themselves building a road themselves to it. Too bad no one listens.

Brando and Okada make a fine pair of former friends and now dueling adversaries. Hopefully one day we might get an administration who is more concerned with winning hearts and minds all over the world. We might even realize some cheap oil in the bargain.

The Ugly American is still a fine film with some lessons for today's diplomats and military men.

Eugene Burdick's book and this film have a lot in common. I read this book in the 60s, and then saw the film. I still couldn't understand the dynamics of the events unfolding in the film. It was not until years later after I had been to VIetnam and finished my political science degree in college that I finally understood the real meaning of both the book and the film. Vietnam was complicated; too complicated for the average American from either the left or right to understand. The answer was, as most answers are, somewhere in the middle. This film shows the dilemma of Nationalist leaders who want total independence from foreign powers. It is not easy to obtain. National sovereignty is an easy concept to understand, but a very difficult one to achieve. It is not black and white; it is a simple solution. There are three separate forces at work in both this film and were at work in Vietnam (and other countries where we have a military presence). There is the leftist stance, usually communism, the rightest stance, usually a oligarchy combined with military support from the US, and then there is the true will of the people caught in the middle; the desire to not be a colonial outpost, not be militarily tied to one country or another, and, of course, the desire for a country that will be prosperous and make money. These three forces are usually in conflict with each other in several countries in the 21st century. So, this is why this film was not a great success; it was just too sophisticated a topic for the average American to understand. Over 90% saw this film in a black or white mode with no gray area. They were for the American Way, or for America to get out, but less than 10% ever considered what the people of this country really wanted. And we still have this ignorance about Asian Studies in America today. An interesting film; once you know what it is really about.