Drama,Thriller
United States of America
The Ugly American, released in 1963, is a political drama film based on a novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer. The film stars Marlon Brando as Harrison MacWhite, the newly appointed American ambassador to the fictional Southeast Asian country of Sarkhan. The film is set during the Cold War era and portrays the struggle between American capitalism and Russian communism for global dominance.
MacWhite is a highly educated and intelligent scholar, who is an advocate of democracy and freedom. He believes that American democracy is the only solution for the people of Sarkhan and is determined to win the hearts and minds of the people. However, his lack of understanding of the complexities of the local culture and politics leads him to make a series of missteps that end up creating more problems than solutions.
One of the first people MacWhite meets in Sarkhan is Deong, a local opposition leader who is fighting for the rights of his people. Initially, MacWhite believes that Deong and the Americans share the same values and goals, but he soon realizes that Deong is not willing to be a puppet of the American government. When Deong asks for American support for his cause, MacWhite refuses, believing that his job as an ambassador is not to interfere in the internal affairs of another country.
As the civil war in Sarkhan continues to escalate, MacWhite becomes increasingly frustrated with the slow progress of the American-funded road-building project, which he sees as the key to winning the hearts and minds of the people. When a foreman warns him that the rushed construction could lead to disaster, MacWhite ignores his advice and pushes ahead with the project. This decision leads to a tragic accident that causes the deaths of local workers and further alienates the people from the American government.
Ultimately, MacWhite realizes that his view of the world is too simplistic and that he needs to understand the local culture and politics in order to be an effective ambassador. He realizes that the people of Sarkhan are not just pawns in a game between the US and communism, but are complex individuals with their own hopes and dreams. By the end of the film, MacWhite has learned a valuable lesson about the importance of respecting local cultures and the dangers of American interventionism.
