Victory
by Mark Peploe
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ir?ne Jacob, Jean Yanne, Rufus Sewell, Sam Neill, Willem DafoeDirector: Mark Peploe
Brand: DAFOE,WILLEM
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-11-19
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of Victory
Movie Review: Tell Tale Heart
Summary: 4 Stars
Axel Heyst (here played by Dafoe), like many of Conrad's outcasts, is a wounded creature who has beaten a retreat from the mainstream of life. But even in the far-flung colonies, the imperial heart of darkness still beats.
Written in 1913, Victory went to press just as WWI erupted and so Conrad considered changing the title of the book so as not to mislead readers into thinking this was a war novel. But he opted to keep the title anyway. The title "victory" refers to the protagonist's victory not so much over historical circumstance (which can never be transcended) but despite the crushing effects of historical circumstances. Arguably, its not much of a victory at all. Its not a happy book by any stretch of the imagination, its a deeply philosophical book about man's alienation from himself. The dense impenetrable tropic setting, as always in Conrad, serves as a symbol of man's dark impenetrable heart. In this book that heart is especially dark and the densely philosophical prose damn near impenetrable.
Although Victory is considered to be the best of Conrad's late period, the achievements of his late period, interesting though they may be, are nowhere near as rich as those "victories" of his middle period ("Nigger of Narcissus," "Heart of Darkness," Lord Jim, Nostromo).
No matter how you approach it, Victory is an awkward novel. What makes it a particularly difficult read is that Conrad does not fully explain what shaped his main character until very late in the book which means that for much of the book Heyst is simply an angst-ridden enigma to us and to himself. The film is, for the most part, faithful to the book and so the film has the same strengths and weaknesses as the book. In Conrad existential brooding and inaction is usually tempered by (and momentarily assuaged by) moments of intense action. But the action all comes pretty late in Victory. Love is supposed to be a kind of clarifying force as well as a salvation from self, but this theme is weakened by Conrad's inability to create a female character. In Lord Jim the female that won the protaganist's heart was an island girl and freedom fighter, but since so much was going on the fact that she rarely spoke did not really seem to matter. Here, the love interest (Irene Jacob) is a European but since so little is going on for most of the novel, the weakness of this character is readily apparent. But whats strong here is very strong. Peploe captures the novel's brooding beauty and the villains (Sam Neill & Rufus Sewell) are top-notch. Arguably, most viewers will feel that too little happens too late, but for Conrad fans and fans of island and/or colonial narratives this is well worth your time.
Summary of Victory
Starring Willem Dafoe (SPIDER-MAN, SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE) and Sam Neill (JURASSIC PARK, THE HORSE WHISPERER), VICTORY is an intense story of a man accused of murder and his struggle to keep himself and the woman he loves alive! In a remote Dutch East Indies seaport, Axel Heyst (Dafoe) lives in a prominent hotel. An all-woman orchestra plays in the hotel each night and the orchestra owner agrees to "sell" one of the girls, Alma (Irene Jacob -- U.S. MARSHALS), to the sinister owner of the hotel. When Alma begs Heyst to save her from a life of prostitution, they escape to a tropical island ... but not before Heyst is accused of murder! Also starring Rufus Sewell (A KNIGHT'S TALE) -- the suspense intensifies as the hotel owner points a bloodthirsty gang of bandits to the island, telling them their lost fortune lies hidden there!Filmed in 1995 and marginally released in Europe in 1998, Victory deserves a better life on video. Adapted by director Mark Peploe from Joseph Conrad's 1915 novel Victory: An Island Tale, this exotic melodrama takes place in the Dutch East Indies in 1913 and '14, where the reclusive Mr. Heyst (Willem Dafoe) lives alone on the secluded island where he once operated a coal mine. Rumored to have killed his business partner, Heyst makes a rare trip to a nearby island, rescues a beautiful violinist named Alma (Ir?ne Jacob) from a wretched hotelier, and returns home with reward-seeking killers (Sam Neill, Rufus Sewell) in close pursuit. A misanthropic pacifist, Heyst faces a dual dilemma: he's fallen in love and must protect Alma at all costs. Preserving Conrad's literary elegance, Peploe opts for a simmering escalation of tension, with a conclusion that Miramax deemed too downbeat for U.S. audiences. Boasting fine performances and breathtaking locations, this gripping film is ripe for rediscovery. --Jeff Shannon
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