''Victory'' is a 1996 French-German

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

suspense film written and directed by

Mark Peploe Mark Peploe (born 3 March 1943) is an English screenwriter and film director. He was the brother of Clare Peploe, and the brother-in-law of director Bernardo Bertolucci. Works As screenwriter *'' The Pied Piper'' (1972) *'' The Passenger'' (1975 ...

and starring

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...

Irène Jacob Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film ''The Double Life of Vero ...

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

and

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' Th ...

. It is based on the 1915 novel of the same name by

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not spe ...

. The novel had been adapted into film on multiple previous occasions, including a 1919 silent version directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

and featuring Jack Holt,

Seena Owen Seena Owen (born Signe Auen; November 14, 1894 – August 15, 1966) was an American silent film actress and screenwriter. Early life Born Signe Auen in Spokane, Washington, she was the youngest of three children raised by Jens Christensen and K ...

Lon Chaney Sr. Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

, and

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' ( ...

; the 1930

William Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on a ...

directed '' Dangerous Paradise'' starring

Nancy Carroll Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

and

Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American ...

; and the 1940 version featuring

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, ...

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, and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.

Plot summary

Through a business misadventure, the European Axel Heyst (

) ends up living on an island in what is now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

with a Chinese assistant Wang (Ho Li). Heyst visits a nearby island where 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 (

). 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 agrees 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 (

), and Mr. Jones (

) to Heyst's island with a lie about treasure hidden on the island. Upon their arrival at the island, much intrigue ensues. In a climactic scene, Jones kills Pedro and then Ricardo; Alma is also shot and 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.

Cast

as Axel Heyst *

as Mr. Jones *

as Alma *

as Martin Ricardo * Jean Yanne as Mr. Schomberg * Ho Yi as Wang * Bill Paterson - Capt. Davidson *

Irm Hermann Irmgard Hermann (4 October 194226 May 2020) was a German actress. She worked in film, television, and the stage, appearing in over 160 film and television productions. She was discovered, without formal training, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder who c ...

- Mrs. Schomberg * Graziano Marcelli - Pedro * Hansi Jochmann - Mrs. Zangiacomo *

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

- Zangiacomo * Michael Lee - Chinese Gentleman *

Leonard Maguire Leonard Maguire (26 May 1924 – 12 September 1997) was a British actor, born in England but most renowned in Scotland where he lived for much of his life. Maguire had a long career, beginning in the 1940s. He died in 1997, aged 73, after a leng ...

- Old Trader McNab

Production

The principal photography of the movie were done at Situbondo and Asembagus regency in

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and ...

. Some depiction of old

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern border of Java island, on the M ...

were also done in the same place.

References

External links

* * * 1996 films French drama films German drama films Films based on British novels Films based on works by Joseph Conrad Films set in the 1910s 1990s historical drama films Films set in Indonesia British historical drama films English-language French films English-language German films 1996 drama films 1990s British films 1990s French films 1990s German films {{historic-film-stub