Victory (1996 film)

Victory

DVD cover
Directed by Mark Peploe
Produced by Bob Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Screenplay by Mark Peploe
Based on The Novel 
by Joseph Conrad
Starring Willem Dafoe
Sam Neill
Rufus Sewell
Music by Richard Hartley
Cinematography Bruno de Keyzer
Edited by Michael Bradsell
Tony Lawson
Distributed by Miramax Films
Running time
 99 minutes
Country France
Germany
United Kingdom
Language English

Victory is a 1996 film written and directed by Mark Peploe based on the novel of the same name by Joseph Conrad.[1]

The novel previously has been adapted films multiple times including a 1919 silent version directed by Maurice Tourneur featuring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney, Sr., and Wallace Beery; the 1930 William Wellman directed Dangerous Paradise, starring Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen and Warner Oland; and the 1940 version, featuring Fredric March, Betty Field, and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.

Plot

Through a business misadventure, the European Axel Heyst (Willem Dafoe) ends up living on an island in what is now Indonesia with a Chinese assistant Wang (Ho Li). Heyst visits a nearby island when a female band is playing at a hotel owned by Mr. Schomberg. Schomberg attempts to force himself sexually on one of the band members, Alma (Irene Jacob). Alma is about to be sold to Schomberg by the corrupt leader/director of the band who has enslaved the women for prostitution. She begs Heyst to help her. Having sworn-off close relationships because of his past, he is challenged by her request, but accedes to help her. He escapes from the island with Alma, and they go back to his island and eventually become lovers. Schomberg seeks revenge by attempting to frame Heyst for the "murder" of a man who had died of natural causes and later by sending three desperadoes Pedro, Martin Ricardo (Rufus Sewell), and Mr. Jones (Sam Neill) to Heyst's island with a lie about treasure hidden on the island. Upon their arrival at the island, much intrigue ensues. Jones kills Pedro and then Martin in a climactic scene in which Alma is also shot and soon dies in the arms of Axel. After burning his compound and burying Alma, Axel disappears from the island but is rumored to have later been seen as a drifter in San Francisco and other ports of call. Alma's victory, in death, is having saved Axel's life in that he has again made connections with others.

FILMING: Beautifully photographed on locations in Indonesia.

Principal cast

References

  1. ↑ Mccarthy, Todd (June 2, 1997). "Review: ‘Victory’". Variety. Retrieved August 8, 2014.

External links