Victory (1995)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Mark Peploe, based on the novel by Joseph Conrad
Directed by Mark Peploe
Starring Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Irène Jacob, Rufus Sewell, Jean Yanne, Ho Yi

Rated: R for sexual situations and violence

Anamorphic: Yes.

My verdict: Wait for cable.

It is 1913, and Axel Heyst (Dafoe) lives as a kind of gentle hermit on a small East Indies island. Traveling to the nearby island of Surabaya to collect some of his father’s things, Heyst runs afoul of the wicked and distasteful Schomberg (Yanne). Each night, an all-woman orchestra performs at Schomberg’s hotel, where Heyst is staying. During the narration, viewers learn that these women are essentially slaves, owned by San Giacomo (Simon Callow), their combination pimp and conductor. Schomberg decides, despite having a wife, that he wants to own one of these women: Alma (Jacob), a gifted violinist, for himself. Alma, however, has other ideas, and has made friends with Heyst. When she appeals to Heyst for help, he is finally convinced to help her escape back to his island retreat. Little do they know, however, the depth of Schomberg’s anger at losing Alma.

The acting here is rather good. Dafoe as Heyst is suitably world-weary, and Jacob is lovely and sympathetic without being simpering and annoying. Too bad their supposed romance is rather unbelievable and tainted with melodrama. Neill as the villain Mr. Jones is spooky, if a bit effete and inexplicably misogynistic. Sewell as the greedy and quite possibly mad Martin is occasionally mildly amusing in his quirkiness. It may be the rainy season on Java, because the love is rather grey and wet, too. Even this talented cast can’t seem to save Victory from its mediocre destiny.

Given the gorgeous setting of the Dutch East Indies, you might expect glorious cinematography that takes the sinister shadows of the jungle or the heartwarming brilliance of the sun into account by turns. Alas, the cinematographer here chose instead to focus only upon the actors, leaving them alone to convey mood, emotion, and tone, unsupported by color, shadow, or texture. Even the best cast with the best script might have trouble with that, and here we are given a solid cast with a troubled screenplay and mediocre direction. The result is a superficial ghost of what it could have been and is at best only mildly engaging.

The plot is perhaps predictable in places, but has enough twists and turns to surprise you, thanks to the skill of Conrad. If, however, you aren’t used to think of Joseph Conrad’s work as melodramatic, that's because it isn’t supposed to be. The movie lacks much of the backstory provided by the book, attempting to make for this in a few hasty and overly-obvious moments of explication. We are also rather cheated of the real depth of Alma’s personality, when she secretly snags the weapon of Jones’ lackey. A minor issue also is that the screenwriters chose to change the heroine’s name and nationality, from the English Lena to the French Alma, perhaps to match the woman they cast, Jacob.

In short, Victory is a treat only for viewers who enjoy noir melodrama or who don’t see what could have been for this film. Fans of the cast will appreciate seeing these characters for their novelty, but even that may not be enough to keep you watching this one at normal speed. If you like to ponder deep philosophical issues like the meaning of betrayal, the ethics of survival when you have few resources and no power, the evils of racism and colonialism, then you might enjoy...reading the book. Alas for what could have been, especially with this cast.